for large flats i tend to run at full speed or within a click or two of that.

if your sander can handle a vacume attachment, i find that that make a big difference if you can pull the dust out of the sanding area in terms of keeping things from gumming up

i wouldn't apply too much pressue when sanding.  clogging up is a function of heat/warming up the epoxy so hot it becomes gummy... which is effected by the ambient temperature (better to sand when cool than hot), pressue of the sander on the material, how long the sander is in contact with the material in one location,  and if you are clearing the debris/dust.  so you might try working a larger area paying careful attention to keeping the sander moving and not hovering over one spot and letting things get heated.

other things that may impact the situation is ...is your epoxy fully cured?  it can typically be sanded the next day ...but it will still be soft relative to a 3 to 4 days of cure.

its a bit of an experiment....so try a couple things and see which gives you the best results.  a peeler's a large boat so you are going to go through a lot of sanding consumables regardless.

keep it up....it will get there.

howard

 Doesn't matter what you're using tool speed(the cutter) and feed are important.  Pressure needs to be applied to hold the cutting surface, sand paper, to the work. But too much is counter productive.  I run mine a couple settings down from full speed and apply just enough pressure to hold the sander to the work, letting the sandpaper do the work.  I still wear down the sand paper. That's why they have hook and loop attachments.   

   I have no scientific proof to back it up... but, my perception was that I had less "swirling" at a higher speed.

I am also a fan of a vacuum attachment.  On a side note.  Probably more than the one-time boat-builder would want to spend... But, I recently picked up a Jet Vortex Dust Collection System.  This thing is amazing.  Hooked it up to a floor sander and did the entire house without any noticeable dust.  Wish I had it when I was sanding my Skerry.

Steven David Roberts

http://www.skerrybuild.com

   I would look at using different types of grit material like aluminum oxide ro silcon oxide. Maybe even a product like Mirka Net Sanding

I would also look at using a vacum or dust extractor but you may need to adjust the suction by either slowing the vacum's motor or a vacum breaker added to the hose to reduce the amount of suction. Too much suction will pull the abrasive into the material and add swirl marks.

It is also important to remove any grit that may have broken off from the sanding medium since this may continue to add swirl marks when present with a finer grit.