So, what colors are available for production boats? What works best on the water for:

1) Visibility to other boats
2) Glare off the deck
3) Not getting hot in the sun
4) the "wicked" factor

Is it true that I could ask for just about any color in the rainbow? Do they charge more for color vs. basic white?

I think this color would look good with smoke colored sails.

Every primary color has been done. The best looking paint job I've seen was on a Tornado and it was faid from blue to red.

My 2 Hurricanes were Grey and Pink hulls with Grey/pink sails

(and yes that was a very big gust, and yes we should have had more traveller out).

If I was spec'ing a new ship it would be hot green!

White is the best... sadly, because it is the same color marine tex.

New Teal

Waterbug_wpb,
I think yellow would be the colour that best fills in your stated requirements.

Ever tried spraying yellow on a boat, I assume it would be the same with yellow gelcoat.
It is difficult to get a good and consistent colour. You end up using a lot more than you would if spraying white.
I don't know if it does but it should cost more.

Regards,
Phill

You should be able to get a Nacra in almost any colour. Not sure about silver or gold though. Just provide a colour sample.

Yes there is an extra charge for it.. Depends on the dealer how much..probably $1000 to $1500 extra.

yellow is a translucant colour and and will allow any shades underneath to show through. An opaque colour will always use less with light blues covering most quickly. Lime green would also give the rescure results you want and a "modern' feel. We have a 40 foot race cat here in that shade called "Slime"!
fast boat.

with "international Orange" foils

IMHO, you will never be satisfied with the chip resistance and general durability of a "painted" boat. Regardless of the quality of the product or of the application, in the end, it's just paint.

For durability and ease of maintenance and repair, nothing beats plain white gelcoat.

I am very clear about that and am unhappy about having to paint. but needs must.

I decided to paint my boat after everyone I talked to said spraying gel coat was not on and would not make a good job.
Anyone out there who can shed another light on it?

3) Not getting hot in the sun

Actually, anything else than white will get warmed by the sun. I owned a full carbon A cat with no paint on and you could cook eggs on. Every foam looses stiffness at a certain temperature which is easy to reach with colored hulls. When I went to sunny Italy for the Worlds at that time, I painted the carbon A white in fear otherwise the boat wouldn't survive. Later the boat became light green, and even in the cold Netherlands, it became so hot you couldn't touch it.

A few years ago, light grey hulls became fashion in the A-class. It is a very very light grey. Even those boats can become very hot in the sun while a white boat parked next to them nearly doesn't heat up. When looking at the grey, its so close to white, but still it heats up quite easily.

Nowadays epoxy prepeg vacuum build sandwichconstructions mostly uses a stiffer foam with a higher temperature resistance and can deal with heat by sun more easily.
I think Marstroem cats are a good example of this. The autoklave baked VX40 even were completly pure carbon look black.

If you choose a color, you can easily test it by making a sample and lay it in the sun to see how much it will heat up.

Good luck!

Waterbug,
Being you are in FLORIDA, white is your best option because of fading. If you have to have a color, cover it with topgun, Sunbrella material or store the boat in a closed area. I had a few yellow boats and they too faded in the blistering Florida sun. Red will turn to pink and I don't know what color green will look like after a while. Grey will begin to turn a whiteish-grey color.
Bob <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

After several rounds with it I am no longer afraid of gelcoat. Gelcoat can be a little tricky and you will have to wetsand and polish to get a good finish. But it can be done and if done properly, will not take THAT much more time than paint but be much more durable.

You would do well to take a close look at costs. Paint is(was) more expensive and requires more maintenance. Try to project total costs, including your time, three years on.

I recently bought a gallon of (tinted) Gelcoat for about $60 to $70 US. Add in some thinner (styrene) and the PVA needed to top coat it and you're at about $100 US...plenty to do a whole 20' boat. I thin the gelcoat anywhere from 40 to 60% with styrene (PLEASE where breathing aparatus - this stuff turns soft tissue to goo). I've listened to plenty of advice - some yelled loudly to use the wax additive for the air dry but I've had miserable results with it and I've done a lot of sampling and paid a hefty fine for an incomplete cure. I recommend, instead, to spray a layer of PVA over the uncured and freshly sprayed gelcoat to cure it (using air-inhibited gelcoat of course adn allowing enough time for the styrene thinner to flash off - usually about 10 to 20 minutes). It's very dependable doing it this way.

And oh yeah...I don't have any direct experience but there are those that say spraying gel coat over epoxy will never work (some say it works OK).

Thanks for that. Sadly I have used epoxy to fare the boat and I don't have enough skill with a spray unit to DIY. Locals just won't spray gel coat. I will be more careful next time as I feel like a Luddite painting it.