Repainting the topsides

[Leonidas]

I am considering to repaint the fainted blue topsides of my 20 year old boat with Awlgrip rather than re gel-coat as per original. I welcome any views on this choice and also whether by experience using Awlgrip instead of other brands such as International or Hempels is a good ( although probably a more costly) option.
Thank you

 

[sailorman]

Awlgrip G Line is the only product to use, mine has been done 17 yrs & still looks like new apart from slight yellowing at the bow. I used Off White.
another boat done at the same time used International, i saw her 5 yrs later & the paint was dull. Also bear in mind International change their colours so you may not get the same colour if ever needed

 

[Kelpie]

I'm pretty sure AwlGrip is the expensive option compared to International or Hempel. Some people say it is harder wearing than actual gelcoat!

 

[pvb]

I am considering to repaint the fainted blue topsides of my 20 year old boat with Awlgrip rather than re gel-coat as per original. I welcome any views on this choice and also whether by experience using Awlgrip instead of other brands such as International or Hempels is a good ( although probably a more costly) option.
Thank you

The end result is completely dependent on the care taken to prepare the surface; and there's no easy way to reduce this very labour-intensive process. After that, for successful application of Awlgrip, you need a clean, dust-free, protected environment, with staging built around the hull so that you can spray the whole lot in one go. The G-line paint Sailorman referred to is good, but it's a polyester base which is difficult when it comes to repairing scratches, etc. I chose the acrylic Awlgrip 2000 when I had paintwork done on my old boat, because it's much more tolerant of polishing out scratches, etc. If you're going to do it, you really need to have it done properly and professionally, and it will cost a lot of money - much more than it will add to the value of the boat (although it will make the boat easier to sell when the time comes). A difficult decision.

 

[Stemar]

We used an International 2-pack paint when we did ours several years ago. If spraying isn't practical, you can do as we did and roll on with a gloss paint roller (check your choice of roller doesn't get eaten by the solvents in the paint, some, especially cheap ones do) and tip off with a foam brush. It won't look like it was sprayed from 2 feet away, but from 20, there's no difference, except to the bank balance.

We did the prep ourselves - a LOT of work, as every scratch needs to be found, filled and sanded. An undercoat revealed more scratches we'd missed, so back to filling and sanding. We got a local boat painter to put the paint on as we aren't accomplished painters, and I reckon it was well worth the extra cost.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

It all depends on the preparation and skill in application. Too often I see people use Awlgrip (or Epithanes varnish) because they believe the perceived 'quality' will somehow compensate for poor prep work.

So be realistic about how good you can do the work to prepare the boat, or how much you can afford to pay someone to do it. Then choose a finish which is commensurate with the quality of that.

A couple of things to remember, International and Awlgrip are both brands of the same firm (Akzo Nobel) and there's no reason that all from the Hempel stable are of a similar stature. But Awlgrip in it's early days spent a fortune on positioning itself as the premier product and Akzo Nobel bought the brand for their position in the superyacht market, not necessarily their technology. Do your research and only compare apples with apples. Be wary of advice, as with so much in the marine world, many 'happy consumers' spend a lot of time justifying their spending.

Stemar makes a good point about being clear about your 'expectation from your paint finish'. At the boatyard, we were an early authorised user of Awlgrip in the States. Their advertising was such that people said "I want it done in Awlgrip' hoping that alone would guarantee a finish just like the photo in the adverts. When it was explained the cost of fattening, or long boarding to achieve a 'perfectly fair finish, they often wondered if something more 'affordable' was possible. So in all our paint contracts we included the 'inspection' criteria. Do you want it to be perfect from an oblique angle at 1 foot (cost $50,000), or blemish free from 1 foot perpendicular to the surface ($35,000), perfect when viewed from perpendicular at 5 feet ($25,000) or looks good at 20 feet ($10,000)?

Then there's the question of 'how shiny'. The shinier the finish, the more you can see any imperfections. So 'flatteners' are used in the paint because overall, from a fair distance, in reasonable light, the overall appearance looks better. But if you want a super 'wet finish' shine, then you can spec this (the reflectivity is measured by the number of inches along a ruler you can read in it's reflection when held on the surface at 90 degrees). But flatteners degrade the durability of the finish.

Lots of decisions, but overall, customers are only disappointed with their paint finish if there was a mismatch between their wallet and their expectations.

 

[Topcat47]

My boat was painted with Awlgrip when I bought her. There were problems which resulted in a re-paint. The repaint went worse than the original and I have blisters and flaking all over my coachroof and deck. The little blisters have reappeared on the topsides. Make sure you have a REALY GOOD and EXPERIENCED firm do the painting and preparation under cover. A good shed, not a crap old boatshed with a plastic tent inside. I wouldn't give you tuppence for the "guarantee" either. CAVEAT EMPTOR!

 

[Boathook]

My boat was painted with Awlgrip over 11 years ago. I did a lot of the major preparation and then the 'boatyard' took over with final preparation. Boat was brush painted by a professional and looked very good. Overall the paint has worn very well apart from where 2 fenders managed to trap and grind dirt into the paint and just about wore it out but then gelcoat would have suffered as well.
I'm not sure on the type of Awlgrip but it was expensive !