Sanding a mile of scratches

That looks like a hell of a lot of work.

I think around about post 30 I would have seriously considered a two pot paint and then polish option. But it looks ok, and who really cares?!

It probably weighs less now and will go faster...

DISQUALIFIED! :cool:
 
That looks like a hell of a lot of work.

I think around about post 30 I would have seriously considered a two pot paint and then polish option. But it looks ok, and who really cares?!

It probably weighs less now and will go faster...

DISQUALIFIED! :cool:

Re: helluva lot of work. -- yes it was. I don't recommend it. There's no rational reason to do that much work on a boat this old. From every rational perspective I should just have bought a new boat.

Re: paint. I was far enough into the job there was no way I was taking on the additional work of a two part roll-and-tip job. I've already got way more into this boat than it's worth. And who could possibly sell you a paint with that funky 70's orange anyway? We used to have a car that color back in '73. But I digress....

Re: it weighs less and will go faster...

From the Laser rules:

11. HULL FINISH
(a) Waxing, polishing and fine wet and dry sanding
of the hull is permitted, provided the intention and
effect is to polish the hull only. Polishing/sanding
shall not be used to remove mould imperfections.


(b) Sanding and refinishing of the hull with the
intention or effect to lighten the hull or improve the

performance, finish, materials or shape beyond the original is not permitted.

My intent was clear, and the photos demonstrate it. I suppose you could argue the effect. But my sander collects a lot of the dust (I won't say all of it) into a bag. There's no way that what I emptied out of that bag even added up to a full pound. Now there's no way to measure what blew away. But if I caught even 30% of the dust, then I didn't remove two full pounds of gelcoat, not to mention the bondo I put on to fix those trailer-induced dents.​

The boat looked like crap, and I wanted it to look good. I fixed the appearance, though not as well as I would have liked.​

I sail with old, heavy, varnished, wooden blades because I think they look cool and show the history of the boat. I like sailing a '75 laser because it was built roughly around the year I learned to sail. (By that logic, I should sail a '72/73 but they're even harder to find. The only older boat I saw for sale this year was in even worse shape than this one...)​

I digress. But the point is that my conscience as a corinthian sailor is 100% clean.​

I race the SF Bay and my hull number is 25090, though I usually fly an old sail with a three-digit number on it for most events. If you race against me, feel free to protest me. We can follow all the procedures in Part II Rule 2, including measuring and weighing my boat, and the boats of 10 competitors.​

But wouldn't it be a better use of both of our time to hoist an adult-beverage and talk about laser sailing?​
 
Thanks for posting all of the pics and providing the info. It was a lot of work and I congratulate you for your diligence.

A friend and I will be working on a 1990 boat this spring, and we will be going the clean/compound/teflon wax route.

I will say that if I owned a boat with this type of cosmetic problems, (and in some ways, my 1979 is) I would've sanded, filled w/ fairing compound and then taken it to a boatyard that does painting. For a few bucks, you might be able to get someone to spray it as a piggyback job with whatever 2-part they happen to have in the gun (the vast majority being white or navy blue). The major cost of any paintwork is the preparation and you were almost 90% there.

In any case, you have the satisfaction of having done it yourself and it certainly looks better than it did before. Good Luck!
 

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