Bottom paint

[paydirt]

Hi, most sailboat bottoms I see are white. My 87 compac 16 has blue on the keel but it is really faded. My question is "is there any good reason not to paint the entire bottom side?" I don't see too many that are entirely painted and so before I make a decision I wanted to ask the experts on this site. I trailer the boat to a saltwater bay so it doesn't stay in the water overnight? Any thoughts, suggestions? Thanks

[brackish]

I've got to make some assumptions here so when you are talking about the "keel" being painted you mean everything below the waterline?  Is the blue paint anti fouling paint?

Normally a boat that is to stay in the water for extended periods of time will have the area below the waterline painted with an epoxy based barrier coat and then anti fouling paint to both lesson the chance of osmotic blistering and slow down the inevitable marine growth.  This is not necessary for a trailer sailor that does not stay in the water.  The hull above the waterline is normally not painted until the gel coat gets old, faded, chalky and may have had repairs done.  Then it is painted for cosmetic purposes.  Prior to that it is just cleaned and waxed.  So if you don't plan to keep the boat in the water it is purely cosmetic.  However if the blue paint is old, flaking, orange peeled etc. by sanding back to gelcoat or sanding smooth and painting with a hard slick paint your sailing performance will be enhanced noticeably.

[Garyandjoanlee]

If I understand your question, you are thinking of painting the entire boat - to the rails- with the blue paint that is used on the bottom? There is a huge difference in hull speed with a clean bottom and polished sides above the waterline. Your boat would be considerably slower if you used bottom paint on the sides. I would not do it and hope you don't.