Here's one to stir things up a little: I have read many different descriptions of how to prepare a fast bottom, some of which are contradictory in terms of what degree of smoothness to attain. When my boat (fresh water) has not been cleaned in a week or two, it has a thin coating of real slick slime on it that can be wiped off with a bare hand or a sponge, but that won't come off when it is sailed, even in a strong breeze. It feels much slicker than the bottom itself after it has been cleaned. I have heard people say that it is the same slime that is on fish, but don't know anything about that. I've read of guys wiping down with soap, vaseline, and more exotic treatments to make the bottom faster, and wonder if a minimal coat of this natural slick growth might not be about the same - in other words, what if a guy cleaned the bottom a week before a race, rather than the day before?