A lot of how you go about fairing depends on what your starting with. When I was building boats we built Kialoa IV. 80 ft boat built on a male plug. This means the outside of the hull is finished by hand. It took many months of sanding by three shifts to get the hull to spec. which was no more than 10 thousandths movement in a dial gauge with a sampling of about 6ft.

I would say that the standard board file will work on most production boat hulls.

I think the most important step in any sanding - fairing is to use a guide coat. We used Dykum Blue mixed with acetone and wiped the boat down with that or you can use flat black spray paint to dust a light coat over the area that your sanding. Chose your grit and sand. The highs and lows will be obvious. It will save you time because you will know when the hull is fair or when the sanding scratches are gone.

Leave the radius for last. Sand the flat areas first. Sand within a one foot high area sanding at a 45 degree stroke. Don't move too quickly down the hull but don't stay in one area too long. Decide if your goal is to take the highs down to the lows or are you going to fill the lows.

I use Evercoat filler. No pin holes. If you sand through to raw glass chances are you'll have pin holes in that area.

If your going to paint use a high build primer. 2 part. Epoxy or urethane. You can spray this primer over the pin holes then take a spreader and smooth over.

You can use anything over polyester. I would let the last coat of primer set for a week before sanding.

Just throwing some stuff out there.