repaint or gel coat hulls?

My 1984 16' Has six small 2" soft spots/holes in the hulls from rocks. I am going to fix the holes and would then like to repaint or gel coat the hulls. How do you gel coat and can a person do a good job himself?

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I wish winter was not so long in Sask. Canada. It's hard to sail on ice! 1984 16' hobie cat Sail# 84848

I think painting is the best way to go unless you know what you are doing and can spray the gel coat. Auto paint is easy to use and does a nice job. I have done several hobies and other boats using either 2 part (Imron) or in the old days simple acrylic enamel (Centari)..... It is very durable. The downside is if you scratch it badly, the old color will show through. That doesn't matter on the bottoms really.

However, it is pretty easy to touch up.

Gel coat would probably be the ultimate but is harder to do well.

Here is my most recent job.

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Jack Woehrle
Wave #100
H20 #287 "Tallahassee Lassie" (down in FLA)

I'm am currently re-gel coating the hulls of my hobie. I can say one thing... it is a pain in the a$$. It requires a ton of block sanding and time (and I don't say ton lightly) however, I think it is well worth it cause it looks great (especially cause I have white hulls already) and it is much stronger than any paint and lasts much longer. I would say if you have the time, and maybe some help (one person on each hull makes life much easier) I would go for the gel coat!

What color is your boat?

If it's white, you're in luck because matching white gel is fairly easy. And actually, most of the time you don't 'match' white you blend the repairs to trick the eye. I have never seen a boat of any kind that needs a complete re-gel other than for a color change. The beauty of gel is that you can sand out the oxidation, buff and you can get it to look as good as new. So if you can blend the repairs, then buff the entire hull it's much easier.

Paint is waaaay less durable than gel, and the first time on the sand or trailer it will chip and scratch. A-class cats are usually painted to keep the weight down, but they don't touch sand or trailers, and they usually use Awlgrip, which is a very special, and therefore expensive type of paint.

Gelcoat is cheap and durable and I suggest using it if possible.

If your boat is blue or yellow or any other color than white, I don't have any suggestions other than try to match the existing gel.

This boat was 're-gelled'. It took about 2 weeks of weekends and after work time and around $300. Those two punks sailing it did all of te work in a converted container/ shop. I have some pics somewhere of an A-class we just repainted. Materials alone were around $600 and it took serious skill to get it right- complete job was around $3000

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Use gel coat on the holes after you lay up the fiberglass. Paint or gel coating the entire hull can add a lot of weight to the hulls. The 16 is real weight sensitive so you'll be slowing the boat down. Rubbing compound will take off the oxidized top layer of gel and it will look way better.

1984 was the first year of manufacture that the weight of 16's dropped to 320 lbs. The racing minimum weight dropped from 340 to 320 in 1986. I waited and got my first new boat in 86.

cheers
Bill