I've noticed a lot if not all Sun Cats have colored hulls. I love the look of a colored hull but I'm nervous about the upkeep. I understand it's gel coat not paint. Does this make it more robust? How difficult is the upkeep? What does the upkeep entail? Are you glad you have a colored hull or do you ever wish for the basic white hull? If I'm careful when docking will I be happy with the colored hull or over time do they look terrible?
Best,
Brent
I like my (painted) navy hull, but it does get scuffed up and needs maintenance every few years. From the distance at which people see my boat, imperfections would be difficult to spot. When I am inside the boat, sailing--impossible. ;D
I have a green gelcoat hull and tan topside on my Suncat. I keep the boat in my barn when not off sailing somewhere and I wax it yearly to try and keep the hull looking good. If my boat lived in the water all season there is no way I would want a colored gel coated hull.
For what it's worth. Wherever I travel with the boat I receive comments from people about how good looking she is. I don't know if it is the Suncat design or the combination of design and color that people like about it.
I have a white SunCat. Before this I had a dark blue Sea Pearl 21. I've done minor gelcoat repair on both The blue hull was hard to keep looking good and much harder to color-match a repair. So in my limited experience I'd say a colored gelcoat looks great, at least when new, but expect it to be take more maintenance. I'm interested to read others' opinions.
When we bought our 2006 Sun, green hull, the PO already had purchased a high quality green marine paint, which we applied (after scuffing the surface a little). It went on well and quickly, and looks fine after several seasons, one in the water all summer. Still, given a choice, white would be less potential trouble, show scuffs little or not at all (not so with green paint!) and will not need a new paint job in a few years. The original green was pretty badly faded (stored inside, not out a lot over those years) but we (or the PO) did not look into refreshing it some other way.
our 19 is painted with Interlux Perfection and the paint itself is extremely durable. the gelcoat will scratch off before the paint will.
Thanks for all the feedback, based on my hunch and your input, It's going to have to be a white hull for me.
Good choice Brent. She'll sail the same and with less upkeep, you'll sail more!
Bob23
I agree that white is a good choice, and would now be my choice as well...but our green sure does look nice!