It’s definitely not the Zen way to do it…but if you want to “gett’er done”…A low speed (under 1750 rpm) heavy duty sander/polisher with an 8” diskkit is much faster than a belt sander but it requires a very skilled operator…lack the skill, choose the wrong grit paper, or stop for in instant in one spot and you will have major problems...In the right hands it will cut your time to a fraction of what a belt sander will take. In the wrong hands it will destroy the fairness of a boat in minutes. You have to constantly stop, step back and LOOK at the work.

When I was building custom million dollar yachts (65’-105’) in the eighties the only thing we used belt sanders for was sharpening our wood chisels when it was too far to walk back to the shop to use the bench grinder…LOL. Sander/polisher> 6” DA> long board…The awl grip hulls of our boats were like a mirror.

Regards,
Bob