Drilling into Gel Coat

I'm installing tower speakers and I'm a little concerned about drilling through the gel coat for the speaker wire. My main concern is that the gel coat will chip when I try to drill through. Any suggestions?

run the drill in reverse, sounds stupid but it works

Put masking tape on the area you will be drilling. Here is a very informative website for do it yourself projects. http://bierbower.net/diytower/home.htm

And don't forget to countersink it and sand it smooth after you drill the hole!!!

Mask it, mark it, and run the drill in reverse all the way through the gel coat. You'll be able to tell when you're through by the color change. Then put your drill in forward and finish the hole.

Sometimes that drill bit will try to slip around too, a little tap with a hole punch in the the spot you want to drill will stop that noise.

These are the drills to use. I have drilled probably 30+ holes in different boats and have never had a problem chipping the gel or anything. They make a super clean hole. Just take it slow going through the gel.

I wasn't too excited about having a hole in my gel coat (or in the boat for that matter), so I ran the wires through the tower tubing (obviously), then removed the nearest tower mount and drilled a tiny hole in the center of the mounting location.(w/masking tape and a sharp bit of course) Pulled the wires through, re-mounted the tower, and wa-la. No exposed holes, or wires.

I agree with the prior post.....makes sure you go slow and counter sink if applicable and you should have no problems. I have never had to drill in reverse but sounds logical.