I was looking into sealing the gelcoat on the Nacra. It picks up brown algae stains from lake sailing. Some folks are using Zep floor gloss polish in place of PolyGlow. Did mine yesterday and it looks great. Lowes haa it for $25/ gallon. I plan to repeat apply at end and start of season. It is recommended for old gelcoat not new. I will keep you posted as to its effectiveness.

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John

Nacra 5.0
CT
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I used to get this, but never again since I refinished the boat with Interlux Prime Kote and Perfection paint. Clearly costs a lot more than Zep floor polish, but the 2-part paint is not permeable to water or organisms and does not stain. At some point, I think you have to agree, gel coat just gets to be a ridiculous amount of work and looks constantly oxidized. My boat is a 1985. I am currently finishing a 1987 Precision 23 sailboat the same way. No more buffing and waxing, ever, and no brown stains.



Edited by tominpa on May 01, 2021 - 10:09 PM.

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Tom
NACRA 5.7 (1984 Sail 181)
Pennsylvania
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I should add, this allowed me to correct some bigger repair along the skegg hulls and even an older hull penetration from a road accident. It was repaired, but never really faired and matched. The hulls are faster, more water-tight and look great after refinishing.

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Tom
NACRA 5.7 (1984 Sail 181)
Pennsylvania
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The hulls are faster, more water-tight and look great after refinishing.

Faster?
Adding a dozen lbs of paint makes it faster? i find that hard to believe. unless you lost 14 lbs in the process of painting it :)

As per. the OP:
I use new glass 2. i am sure it's the same as PolyGlow. It is a lot of work to clean the boat prior (any stains will get sealed under the product) and it takes a lot of "laps" around the boat to apply but 1 day of hard work and i have a mirror finish that lasts for months. if i am smart i add a new coat every few months of exposure. other wise i have to do a pretty full job re prepping for a new set of coats. (i am not that smart)

My friend used to go the floor wax route. It did leave a shine but it was a different kind of shine than mine. Mine was a mirror shine his was a non mirror shine. Probably doesn't matter 1 bit but i just like the product i use and it is sold by someone semi local who has provided amazing support to me and i want to support a small business and not a conglomerate

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No more buffing and waxing, ever, and no brown stains

My 5.5 is gelcoat
my 6.0 is 2 part epoxy (imron): I could be wrong but i think this is basically the same as car paint and just like, it i think it needs waxing. I use nu finish once a year. pretty easy to do but i wouldn't go without. it does the same thing car wax does. protect the surface of the paint.

I've done a fair amount (not an expert) of auto paint, and having just painted my 21 with Interlux Perfection, I can attest that the basic chemistry is indeed similar, however the formulation is decidedly not. It behaves entirely differently going on, and I think that's their intent. It's designed to flow longer and maintain a wet edge longer than auto urethane's, which are about always sprayed. That's why you can roll and tip the stuff better. Auto urethanes spray better in my opinion, and yeah I'd guess all the urethanes are going to need some wax to keep them happy longer. Just another something between it and the UV rays, plus it makes it shiny. Forgot about the Nu Finish stuff - it does last a long time...

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Chuck C
NACRA 500 Mk2
Hobie 21se (sold)
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I can attest that the basic chemistry is indeed similar, however the formulation is decidedly not.

it tastes the same to me