Today I was making some good progress toward getting my first flatwater start, unfortunately the stoke overcame caution and I paddled straight into a rocky shore and scratched and pitted the leading edge of my front wing. There's a few scratches and 2 or 3 dints a few mm across and deep.
Will this seriously affect the performance of my low aspect wing? Is sanding it smooth with wet and dry a good idea?
Total novice so any advice appreciated.
Cheers matt
If you are planning to take on Edo in next years M2O, then you can make up an epoxy and graphite powder bog, use a toothpick and dab and poke into any holes and scratches, use a new razor blade and fair your repairs in roughly, then sand with 400 grit, followed by 800 grit, and finish up with 1200 grit (you may wish to do a liquid 4000 grit polish if the water is super warm where you ride).
But, for the other 99.9% of us, in general use, as long as integrity in the foil is maintained, scratches will have a minimal to zero noticeable affect at base speeds.
JB 
Select to expand quoteWindgenuity said..
If you are planning to take on Edo in next years M2O, then you can make up an epoxy and graphite powder bog, use a toothpick and dab and poke into any holes and scratches, use a new razor blade and fair your repairs in roughly, then sand with 400 grit, followed by 800 grit, and finish up with 1200 grit (you may wish to do a liquid 4000 grit polish if the water is super warm where you ride).
But, for the other 99.9% of us, in general use, as long as integrity in the foil is maintained, scratches will have a minimal to zero noticeable affect at base speeds.
JB
Can make the foil noisy.
You should post some pictures so we know what we're talking about.
Generally, if it's just paint scratches, sand it out and go ride.
If they're deep scratches into the carbon , fill it a bit with epoxy putty, or whatever else you have, sand it and go ride.
I like to keep my foils smooth, mainly to avoid rough edges that could cut me. Generally it's the heel side tip that gets ground into the sand and stuff at the end of a session.
I used to fill, paint and sand to make them look nice. Now I like the mongrel look. It's quicker and easier.
I like to avoid sanding away too much carbon so filling with epoxy putty or paint is good for that.
I like PC-7 for carbon foils, and PC-11 as a general filler and on my white foils. PC-11 is a little easier to work with but it's white. You can buy it from Bunnings. Others like JB Weld.
Select to expand quoteGorgo said..
If they're deep scratches into the carbon , fill it a bit with epoxy putty, or whatever else you have, sand it and go ride.
For this, UV repair kits are very practical, and repairs are done in minutes.
- fill with the resin
- stretch a clear tape (non UV-blocking) on top of it
- expose to sun or an UV lamp of the proper wavelength, 385nm for SOlarez, 395nm for DuraRezn, etc... for 5 to 10mn
See solarez.com/solarez-uv-resin-faq
- shear the repair flush with the rest of the foil with a sharp blade (it saves sanding time)
- sand it by hand with water, no need to go finer than 600 grit (smoother is less hydrodynamic)
