Originally Posted by bcarpman

I used to think the answer was obvious: because it isn't as smooth. As an engineer, I should have thought that one through, but I've recently been told by several sources that you GAIN speed by roughing up the gel coat, which makes sense from a fluids perspective.

In fact someone advised waxing the bottom and NOT wiping the excess off to help protect the bottom from fouling. They said it wouldn't affect top speed. I tried it and it didn't hurt top speed as advised.

So why is bottom paint slow?