Gel-coat or Awlgrip

I'm redoing my hull now, and I'm trying to decide on the pros and cons of the two, and decide which to use.

In my experience awlgrip chips off fairly easily, but it has a great finish. Is gel-coat any more resistant to being chipped off? I need something that's fast and tough.

I have experience painting with awlgrip, but no experience with gel-coat.


Opinions on which to use?

Awlgrip shouldn't chip off if you have prepped the surface and used an Awlgrip primer. If you skip the primer, that may be the cause of the chipping off.

Prepping and spraying gel-coat is pretty easy, but the real work comes after it's hardened. I've yet to see one done that doesn't need hours of sanding afterwords to knock off the orange peel finish, and then more hours to polish it back to a good lustre.

No doubt, gel-coat is a hard finish and easier to repair (scratches etc), but you can't beat the finish of Awlgrip and the fact you don't have to wax/polish etc to keep the shine for years....

Awlgrip!
Gelcoating can be done. But it doesn´t hold in that way to the hull like that gelcoat that is made on the hull during the construction of the boat in the mould of the Lasershipyard. The last is a real chemical-union (because the fibreglass was wet and the gelcoat also, when they were made together).
Gelcoating afterwards never get a (most durable) chemical-union to the dry surface again, so, it is a union like with paint. So, better use a good paint like Awlgrip. If you want to spray a 2-komponent-polyuretane-colour, let it make your local car-painter. The 2k-PU-Paint is most-toxic if it is sprayed (a sort of cyanid-gas gets into the air with spraying - rolling/painting is not toxic in that way, but of course also not very healthy)

Maybe I just expect too much out of it, afterall I am using it in a club with over 60 kids running around at any one time, kicking rocks, riding bikes, riding on the dollys, etc. I may have to get hull and deck covers this year...

Gel-coat sounds like too much work, the first regatta is in 12 days, so I don't think I'll gel-coat it in time. I'll just use awlgrip again, hopefuly it works this time .


Thanks for the input.

I can't speak to the gelcoat decision but I agree that Awlgrip chips too easily. I had both of my blades done by an automotive body shop that used the primer and of course the top coat. Materials were NOT cheap. The leading edge of the daggerboard has already chipped away after only 3 regattas The rest of the blade surfaces are nonetheless beautiful in terms of finish but it pains me to have to sand down that ragged leading edge

Hmm, Ordered $435 dollars worth of Awlgrip today... Cloud white deck with silver hull, same as last year .

Wish me luck .

David, did you find that you can do the entire hull with just one quart, or did you need more than that?

pirouette said:

I can't speak to the gelcoat decision but I agree that Awlgrip chips too easily. I had both of my blades done by an automotive body shop that used the primer and of course the top coat. Materials were NOT cheap. The leading edge of the daggerboard has already chipped away after only 3 regattas The rest of the blade surfaces are nonetheless beautiful in terms of finish but it pains me to have to sand down that ragged leading edge

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IMHO, Awlgrip is not the best choice for blades if you are racing. My reasoning:
1. The leading edge of the daggerboard is subject to a lot of abuse from the the front of the trunk, and as you are finding out, the paint is going to have a tough time adhearing.
2. While the finish of Awlgrip is stunning in terms of gloss when done correctly, I still wetsand my blades, which ends up killing the finish anyway.
3. Cost... Awlgrip vs $4 can of Krylon spray paint....

macwas16 said:

David, did you find that you can do the entire hull with just one quart, or did you need more than that?

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I ordered one quart of Silver, it should be here next Thursday (Coming from Awlgrip factory, to Ontario, then here to Nova Scotia. Speical order takes a while )

I'll find out next week, but I'm pretty sure it will. I also got 1 quart of reducer (because I'm spraying), so I effectively have 2 quarts.


I'll start a progress log here:

Day 1)
Sanding off old Awlgrip on the hull with a belt sander, 80 grit. Starboard side down done, port side 25% done. I'm heading off now to finish up the port side, then I'll start hand sanding with 120 grit if I have time tonight.

For hulls I would use Interlux Perfection - its basically the same as AwlGrip (same manufactorer) but its brush/rollable. It comes out just as well - I'll probably use it later this year for mine. For blades I'd go with an epoxy based paint becuase they have more to deal with in the centerboard trunk, VC underwater epoxy probably. I've been saying I was going to repaint my centerboard for two years now and haven't done it yet, but eventually I'll do it and see how hard VC is to do.

I agree with Perfection for those who don't have the ability to apply by spray gun. But for those of us who do, I think Awlgrip is still the best.

David said:

I'll start a progress log here:

Day 1)
Sanding off old Awlgrip on the hull with a belt sander, 80 grit. Starboard side down done, port side 25% done. I'm heading off now to finish up the port side, then I'll start hand sanding with 120 grit if I have time tonight.

Click to expand...

How's the rest of the project going?

Merrily

Days 2-3: Scarey problem: I managed to rip out the hull plug with my bare hands. The rivets holding it in were completely rotted, and some of the fibreglass around it. I'll need to cut a chinck out of the area and repair it once all my sanding is done. I also need to put another layer of fibreglass around my mast step, just for security. I didn't get much more done on day one, and I took it pretty easy for the last two days, a friend from Ontario came last night and I spent the evening with her. I have about 10 sqaure feet of awlgrip left to sand off with 80 grit, and then I'll start with the 120 grit. Hopefuly I can get a lot done today. I'll post again when I get home

Update for today: Got all of the 80 grit stuff done, and about 1/4 of the 120 grit done. I should get the 120 grit done tomorrow, and then the 220 grit done Monday. Things are moving along nicely.

The only reason I'm spending like 3-4 hours a day working is because I have bad asthma. If I spend any more than 4 hours sanding, I start getting sick, even with a mask.

what kind of mask are you using? the paper dusk masks aren't that effective - and do nothing when you start painting. do you have one of the dual canister types - i have ashtma as well but it usually doesn't bother me so long as i have a good mask on?