Carl,

I dont know enough fluid dynamics to say who is right regarding laminar flow around hulls. It does seem a bit counterintuitive that a hull moving trough even small waves should have laminar flow. I know Tom Speer once posted that he was uncertain how much laminar flow even our foils see. Perhaps another reason why laminar sections dont always deliver to their theorethical promise?

The guy I referred to with the 600grit finish knows his stuff tough. Among other interesting stuff, he has buildt banana foils for ORMA60 tris. Better finish will give less drag, that is accepted. But how much work is it to put on that 2000grit finish vs the returns? Would be fun to see theorethical and practical data for drag from the same foil or hull at 600, 800, 100, 1200 and 2000grit in both flat water and different waves.
For foils, I would think adherence to the theorethical sectional shape to be much more important. A small building error could make a big difference.