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This brings up something that's bothered me for a while. Some people like to mix graphite in their epoxy in order to make a 'slicker' surface, thereby reducing skin friction. Hogwash. At the speeds a kayak moves, this makes no difference at all. The water that's touching your hull is, for all purposes, 'stuck' to the surface, and you in effect are shearing a thin layer of water that surrounds the kayak. Differences in skin friction of any wood, fiberglass, or carbon/kevlar boat will be negligible; all are fairly smooth. But given the roughness of most polyethylene boats, I would have to say that the difference there would be measurable.
Dean
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Guillemot Kayak - High
Performance Wooden Sea Kayak Designs
