You know why we were wet-sanding the hulls? The very first regatta we went to with our Hobie 18, in 1980 at Sandusky Saiing Club in Ohio, our boat was beautiful and new and shiny. Then someone pulled into the rigging area with a dull, gray, ugly Hobie 18, no stripes or decals or anything on it. It was John Barnett. We were informed that he was the hotshot dominating Division 10. We were newcomers who had never even sailed a Hobie before. Well, we beat John in the first race, much to his surprise; but he won the regatta. So we decided we were going to have to wet-sand our hulls and make them dull and ugly like his.

Apparently, that wet-sand theory has since been debunked, but at the time....well, you do what the winner is doing.

By the way, do you happen to have a picture of Rick working on the hulls? I would like to put it on my refrigerator.