Surf Nano Products

Board enhancer or snake oil?

http://www.surfnanoproducts.com/index.htm

From the product description page:

Surf Nano Products, LLC announces the launch of a revolutionary product for the water and snow sports industry. The “Board Enhancer” is a clear, hydrophobic coating that when applied to the underside and rails of a surfboard and allowed to cure, creates a water repellent surface which reduces drag, increases board speed, and increases quickness in the turns. It is not a wax, silicone, or teflon based product as is the competition. The product is actually comprised of milllions of glass and ceramic particles that are molecularly bonded to the surface through an evaporating ethanol carrier solution during the one hour air curing process. The result is an ultra-thin, non-stick coating that is 30 nanometers thick, and for some perspective, one human hair is 10,000 nanometers thick. Its UV resistant feature reduces board discoloration.

Form the second paragraph:

The product, manufactured in Germany, was originally developed for glass windshields...

Sounds like RainX!

So from, what I was able to find - ethanol is hydrophilic - meaning it attracts water. So the theory is that the coating will attract a thin layer of water creating a super thin boundary layer. The reduction in the boundary layer thickness is what creates more speed. The board is only pulling along a super thin boundary layer of water, whereas an untreated board might have 1/2 inch of boundary layer that it's pulling along.

The theory sounds good!

interesting... im a bit hesitant right now till more reviews appear

Could I get a lifetime supply with a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy and a bottle of everclear from the liquor store? Or is the consistency / viscosity of the stuff different?

LOL at Shawn re the everclear - if it didn't work, you could enjoy the rest of the day! The "enhancer" seems to have other stuff in there, but it's definately heavy on the ethanol. Ethanol will dissolve in water, it doesn't float like gas or oil, so I'd think there must be something that helps keep the ethanol "attached", or it could just be that since it's carrying a positive charge and water a negative that stuff is working off some "electron" foundation. I don't know! Will be testing it in a few hours. @ Pete, I'm with you...it sounds more snake oil'ish than anything.

let me know what you find out

Tried it on the board yesterday. You can definately feel that the board is slipperier, but in terms of a speed increase as claimed by the manufacturer I didn't have any of that. I wasn't going to go blasting by the boat I tried a bottom turn out into the flats and didn't recognize any difference in how far out I could go. yet, the board seemed to release better - I could "sorta" pop it off the lip - which for me is AMAZING I did 3, count 'em 3, 360's in a row and I don't do that. I don't know that I can attribute those to this stuff, but if it IS, then it worked great! However, 3 seemed to be the limit, so maybe the stuff washes off? I tend to think I just got lucky on the 3's and it wasn't so much this product.

There is definately a noticeable feeling of the board being able to slide or release better - I was telling someone that it felt like I had lost 10 pounds. I think that's probably the best way to describe it. Of course, YMMV with stuff like this.