painting the hulls blue

Use gelcoat. Sand off most, or all of the existing gelcoat and tint the new stuff any shade you like.

Awlgrip not gelcoat. Much easier to paint and lasts longer than gelcoat.

Lee

There are other threads that deal with this issue extensively. One was in the last month or two. Try to find that.

Paint seems like the easiest choice. Two years from now, when you're tired of the constant cosmetic repairs, you can sand it off and do it the right way.

Ive heard a number of reasons for white boats, most of them are that white boats dont stick out on the starting line.

If you are working with room temp cure epoxy, you need to be careful with it softening above 140 deg F. A dark color surface can get to 160 deg F in the sun on a 100 deg day in Texas.

The HT hulls are vinylester and glass, so I dont believe you have to worry about heat. You could find a resin chemist and ask them if vinylester will soften at or below 160 deg F.

Or you could just keep the hulls covered, or in the shade, or splash them with water before you put them under any stress.

Go for paint, it looks better then gelcoat.

Bill

Two years from now his boat will still look great, with little or no maintenance if its been painted with a two part marine paint.

Maybe I'll paint a stealth color (some sort of green/gray) so they won't even see me over early! Then change color for the finish line...

If you're painting, why not go with the color-flecs that change the hue of the paint depending on what angle you're viewing it from? Kind of like the

mother of pearl

finish on cars. Always liked that....

Or THIS color:

In New England we say there's only two colors to paint a boat, white and black...anyone who paints a boat black is crazy.

Regards
Chet

I was wondering why they dont make white tramps as my black tramp gets very hot in the florida summer sun..

I also used to have a black mast on my TheMightyHobie18 that was to hot to hold for more than a few seconds and would burn off all my fingerprints (kidding)

Legit reasons:

The hulls will get phenomenally hot. At the very least you want to paint the decks a lighter color.

You won't be seen as well if Goddess forbid you should need help. Blue hull, blue water, you won't stand out much... White is bad for that too, for that matter...

The all white boat thing is boring....

what about a reflective mirrored coating, or wood grain, or hawaiian shirt material, or clear coated carbon/kevlar, anything other than boring old white gel coat.

I toyed with doing something really differient, like a wood grain veneer in the mold, but never pulled the trigger.

Peter Johnstone painted his HT a silver with a slight fleck, that was really neat looking.

Bill - have you seen the Chromaveil products? They're some sort of printed fabric/substrate that you include in the lamination for, what appears to be, a really wild exterior finish. There are some other sites where people are talking about application experience with it. It appears, however, that it doesn't work well with in conjunction with dark colored fabrics (carbon).

http://chromaveil.com/5001tub.html

I still thought this was a very cool image.. (from an old post)

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showflat...true#Post131260

that boat had a 30 foot finish. It looked good 30 feet away or more. Any closer and you could see the wrinkles - that chrome vinyl does not flex at all.

And is very expensive and will not last more than a year give or take six months.

then it turns dull white.

How would a laminate hull covering or paint affect one-design rules? Do rules for classes (N20 for example) dictate gel-coat, or can you refinish your hulls anyway you want?

Don't you guys don't replace your hulls evey year??? <img src=

alt=

/>

Aren't Tornados painted? Mabye get one of those. I'm sure they're cheap now that they're not

offical Olympic class

anymore...

And what of those Extreme 40 boats? Isn't Hillfiger black hull?

The N20 rules do not specifcally say it has to be gel-coat but it does say:
==========================================================
2. PROTECTION NACRA CLASS DESIGNS
2. 1 THE HULLS. Daggerboards, rudders, stocks, standing rigging, spars and sails are strictly controlled except as specified in these rules.
Interpretations of these rules shall be given by Performance Sports International, Inc. (P.S. I., Inc.) in consultation with proper committees of the International Nacra Class Association (hereinafter referred to as INCA) . In the event of a conflict between rules, official plans, measurement form and/or measurement diagram, the matter shall be referred to INCA. (NOTE: To doubly guard against

loophole destruction

of these fine NACRA Class Catamarans and their potential for lasting racing pleasure, every deviation from past practice or precedent which is not specifically spelled out by plans, specifications or Design Rule is assumed illegal until
approved and thus recorded in writing by those dministering the Class Designing Rules.)

========================================================

As long as the material added does not improve the preformance beyond what was original I'm sure there won't be an issue, but if it does... then there is probably going to be a problem.

so none of that

sharkskin

stuff that drops water resistance by 60%? Dang, there goes my secret evil plan...

Bill: I could be wrong on this but I don't think CC understands about preparation and adhesion. YOUR boat will look good two years later. Someone new to all this. . . not so much.

White gelcoat is the inexpensive, lazy man's way. If you want to jazz it up, PM Robi for some decals.