Why is wet sand slower than dry? I'm for sure slower in wet/damp sand as opposed to dry when running hills.

Is it because it's more stuck together and hard for the paddles to turn thru then spit out?

 

You got it..it clumps together and becomes harder, so paddles don't dig through it as well...

 

At least everyone's penalized the same, just sucks that it's so slow.

 

so would it be safe to say that wet sand would be faster for someone running a tread pattern other than paddles?

 

It depends on how wet the sand is.
When its really wet, almost hard pack, and when its wet like 1 foot down in the sand, nobbies are the ticket. When its only the top few inches, paddles are the good set up.
As far as hill shooting goes, the wet heavy sand gets churned up in high traffic areas, and its just heavy. It takes more power to displace a heavier mass.
Up the hill in the wet sand, paddles work as well as nobbies.
Stay off the hill on wet days, its jsut works your motor too hard, go bowling! Or find jumps, when its wet the take off stays good for alot longer, before you get pitched sideways!

 

You get a much better ride on knobbies in the wet sand. I have seen paddles be a disadvantage in wet sand. If the wet sand is only a few inches deep, the paddles cut through and find the loose dry sand, and get stuck. On knobbies they can stay on top of the good-traction wet sand.

 

put more air in the paddles it will make them spin easier.

 

personally i like adding a lil air to my paddles and riding in the wet sand. I've found that I get much better traction than when i use knobbies.

 

running less paddles helps also

 

When I run a little more air it vibrates me to death.