wakeboard surface tech.

I am going to spray my girlfriends witness and my substance. I once read that the bottom of the board is supposed to be textured somewhat for speed reasons. My substance is smooth as glass, but my old CWB has an orange texture to the bottom. I havent got the witness yet but Im assuming its smooth like the 07 substance. I dont want to apply a smooth urethane finish to the bottom only to slow the board down more than it already is. I can always spray a dry coat or add less reducer and more hardner for an orange peel effect if thats whats best. What do ya think?

I think the best thing to do would be to add phasers.

whats a phaser?

Yeah...phasers sound like they're exactly what you're going to want.

Phasers would be great if you lived in Florida, as I'm sure they would help repel any possible alligators. I see that you live in WI, and you do have pretty big muskie that live there, so phasers probably would be smart there too.

hahahahahahahaha that is hilarious add a phaser yea add some phasers and you're gonna need to mold in some more fins so it will track better once it has all that speed. there is nothing like having a ton of speed and not enough fins that the board won't track. hahahahahahahahaha this is hilarious.

anyone with any knowledge in this area?

On a serious note Mitchell, why do you want to 'do' anything to the bottom of your board, especially a brand new Witness? I don't do anything to my boards, and I would argue 99% of wakeboarders don't...and they still work fine. Do you want it to be shinier or something?

When they run racing sailboats they can get a fractional speed increase by having some particular textures on the surface instead of just smooth and waked. The idea is to break the surface tension of the water that slides over the hull. On the surface area of a board it's not likely to be noticeable to a rider.
Put a wax or teflon spray on and you might get a difference. Just hold the board on end and spray water on it. Watch how fast the water slides down. It still would not be a difference you are going to notice unless you are really perceptive.

And I would argue the chances of 'dropping' your board as you are pulling it out/putting it back in the rack would increase exponentially as you increase its 'slipperyness'. I would much rather have the board be slightly slower and save the gelcoat on my boat.

dont do anything to the bottom of your board, especially if its new, the boards come the way they are for a reason....just leave it alone

Maybe he is an artist and wants his own designs on his boards...

Try it and see what happens on an old board.

make sure the paint you use doesn't come off of the board and on to your vinyl. I don't paint the bottom of my boards for this reason, but I do paint the top of them!

don't do anything to your board. if you want something faster go out and buy a new board that rides faster or just up the boat speed. a board will only go as fast as your boat is going. you can add all you want to the bottom but if your boat is going slow the board will feel slow. so lengthen your rope and up the speed and land in the flats as if your name is randall harris.

Ive painted a few board and always just left them smooth. Havent had any complaints.

Ribbed and studded for her enjoyment

I am an airbrush artist and paint many motorcycles with a european urethane. this stuff is almost bulletproof, they spray offshore racing boats all the way down to cars, it is the same finish that is on most higher end vehicles these days. I would like to put some nasty skulls over a red flake or an old von dutch style with the flying eyeball with an airbrush or a mack pinstriping sword in his claws. Basicly I think they should fire there graffic artists these boards look like hell. I just want the top and the bottom to match. Trust me its going to look crazy. Oh yeah I still dont know what a phazer is. My buddy use to have a phazer sled. Mabe used in a sentence PHAZER SOME GOOD LOOKIN GIRLS I TELL YOU WHAT!

(Message edited by sauerpuss on December 06, 2007)

a phaser is a little dimple on the bottom of the board. Back in the olden days, they used to put several of these on the bottom of the board, as they thought it might have some useful effect.

I think what you plan on doing is awesome, and I have to agree on the fact that most board graphics are pretty ugly. Painting your board will make it one of a kind, and put some personal style into it.

Make sure to show us pics when you are done!

just paint the top if that is what floats your boat. painting a board is going to void any warranty

very good point scott.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH PHASERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PHASERS came on the old old Hyperlite, back when they said H.O. on them. They about golf ball sized dimples maybe about a 1/4 deep all over the bottom of the wakeboard. Remember these we directional board so we are talking like the beginning of the whole deal. Anyway they were supposed to create pockets of air when you land to soften up the landing. All they really did was create an air pocket around your fin so the board was slippery.

They you have the history of the phaser, I think it lasted a year.

Mitchell post up some pics of your painted board! I dont think that it will hurt it at all to paint the board.

I still think you should put phasers on it.

phasers FTW!

give up on the phasers im sure e knows we were kidding.