Have Boats Ever Been Built With Clear Gell Coat (or none) Below The Water Line?

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Nigel_Ward said:
Years ago I worked for the White Fish Authority.

Any GRP fishing boats built to their rules had to have clear gelcoat under the waterline.

One of our surveyors showed me why. When the mould is released you can see any moulding faults or shoddy workmanship straight away. If ther were any major faults the moulding would be rejected.
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Three of mine were WFA approved, clear below the waterline, including the current one, which has osmosis, it's not proof against it. Not heard of any being rejected, but certainly they would check for any voids/bubbles and they would be injected with resin. They also checked the hull for hardness at birth.
 
oldgit said:
Think may find no military vessels bother with gel coat as its its merely there to make the boat look pretty. !
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I thought that gel coat served as a better barrier (at a molecular level) to water than a polyester resin; perhaps I am wrong?
 
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Back in the days of Soling Competition for the Olympics there was a Soling sailed by John Oakley and crew that was translucent GRP; whether this was a weight saving ploy I don't know,but was recognisable when sailing in the trials against David Thomas et al.

ianat182
 
I don't beleieve any one would have built a boat in a mold without first applying a gel coat. The gel coat is simply a thin layer of resin which is allowed to semi harden (gel) so that when subsequent layers of fibreglass and resin are layed on to the gel coat the strands of glass do not protrude to the outside surface. The next layers are applied before the gel coat has gone very hard to best get the chemical bond of layers. This for asthetics as well as smoothness and resistance to osmosis.
If the surface is to be subsequently painted then there is no point in putting pigment into the gel coat. As said no pigment makes the lay up more translucent so that flaws can be seen.
On the other hand for an old boat if pigment was put in the gel coat then it is easier to see if gel coat has been sanded off. If it has been sanded off then it needs a coat of epoxy to replace the barrier coat of gel coat. Before painting.
If no pigment then the surface should be carefully inspected for condition of the transparent gel coat. Or just epoxy anyway.
olewill
 
oldgit said:
Think may find no military vessels bother with gel coat as its its merely there to make the boat look pretty. !
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Really, I'd have thought that strands of glass on the surface would create all kinds of opportunities for capillary action sucking water in, which might then freeze and cause your boat to crumble.
 
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