Painting Laser Deck and Hull

Nathan Omand

New Member
I'm hoping to repaint an old (1980's) Laser dinghy but I'm worried that I might remove the grip layer on the deck and I don't want it to become smooth. Any tips? Thanks!
 
if i were you, i would avoid painting the deck and just paint the hull because i think that the nonskid layer on the deck you are talking about is applied on at the factory and painting over it would ruin its grip
 
Well it is really needs painted, it is marked and has gone an off yellow colour and is desperate need of painting. Think I might just have to do without the grippy surface. :/ Do you know how to go about applying paint to the bottom of the hull?
 
I don't have much experience painting boats, but i can tell you that you should first apply the paint with a roller, and the smooth it out with a brush to get the smooth, glossy finish. I think there are also some videos on youtube you can check also.
 
Is it an appearance issue or cracked gel coat?

Like above, I'd avoid painting. Intensive scrubbing the deck with a stiff brush and Comet cleanser.

A Laser with a slick deck would be like trying to ride a greased pig. :eek:

The bottom can be wet sanded with 400 / 600 grit to bring back smoothness and erase a lot of stains.
 
just give it a good scrub all over with international hull cleaner and then use farecla gelcoat restorer to polish up all of the smooth surfaces hull, transom and cockpit use it with lots of water you get a deeper shine. you shouldn't paint a grp boat it devalues them to no end and makes them look rubbish a well polished boat with cracks scratches and scrapes looks better than one that has been painted and as a reply to do you have to reapply gelcoat no unless you can see fibreglass in that case just spread it on nice and neatley if you arnt bothered about racing' however if you want to race you'll have to wet and dry it back level with the sourrounding area. gelcoat repairs clean the repair site with acitone maskingtape it off, heat it up you want it quite warm highest setting on a hairdryer is safe i would say use a heat gun but a lot of people overheat boats and bubble the gel with a heat gun. then mix 5ml gelcoat with 3 drops of catlyst mix thoroughley and apply to affected area. heat up the area again for a few muinets it is dependant on a lot of things e.g. position on boat, how close your holding the heat source, how hot the heat source is and environmental fctors. you usually need to keep the heat on for between 2-5 muinets. and dont use sellotape or clingfilm i dont know where that idea comes from it just makes a mess and leaves low spots ive repaired so many boats i wouldnt even know where to start counting and have never used sellotape or clingfilm and i don't know of any boat repairer that does.
 
thanks for that that really helps. Will this method restore the colour back to white? The boat sat outside for years unused and has turned a horrible yellowy/off colour and it needs to be returned to the white/vela colour. The boat is sail number 80*** can't remember it off the top of my head but roughly 1980-1981 and the value of the boat will not be much.
 
the colour as a guess should be dawn grey BUT it may not be as at that time laser was playing around with lots of colours it could even be cream yes i have repaired a cream coloured laser can't remember the exact name but there are many different colours from around then there are even some hybrid colours e.g. smoke grey with a dash of white. And yes this method should restore it to its origeonal colour the boat may not be worth much money wise but all boats are worth something to someone if you need any additional information on the gelcoat/ fibreglass work of a laser feel free to inbox me. your local chandlrey/ boat builder should be able to tell you the definate colour by looking at it. oh if all of the discolouration is not removed by the hull cleaner the gelcoat restorer (cutting compound) will get it back to its colour. p.s ive never actually read the instructions on the bottle of hull cleaner i just pour it on neat out of the bottle wait 5 mins and give it a good rub with a rag and the deckgrip a scrubbing brush then rinse it all off it works fine ive got a feeling that your probibily soupposed to water it down or something.
 
Ok thanks alot. I also forgot to mention there are alot of small rust stains on the bottom of the hull and then one large strip of a stain. Should this come out with the hull cleaner? My grandad is actually our local boatbuilder and he works with wood, occasionally GRP but he has some idea of what might need done. Thanks
 
If the cleaner doesn't get it up to your spec don't hesitate to get out the 400 or 600 wet sandpaper and go over the hull with this.
 
Yeh it should take the rust stains right off no problem and never wet and dry a boat to get rid of marks use cutting compound it's far less abrasive and gets rid of the marks just the same cutting compound may take off less than 1 tenth that sanding will
 
If you are going to paint the deck I would use a roller. (choose a coarse roller) If you dont like the idea of that,
some people roll on a coat or two and sprinkle sugar over the top of the paint and then when its dry they wash
it down with warm soapy water (to dissolve the sugar grains).
The idea is the bigger the sugar grains are the more grippy it is.
Still, just cleaning up the nonskid and rolling a few coats would be just fine.
Many people think that the lasers unique grip is to
fine, but it actually rips up your shorts.;)
 
If you are going to paint the deck I would use a roller. (choose a coarse roller) If you dont like the idea of that,
some people roll on a coat or two and sprinkle sugar over the top of the paint and then when its dry they wash
it down with warm soapy water (to dissolve the sugar grains).
The idea is the bigger the sugar grains are the more grippy it is.
Still, just cleaning up the nonskid and rolling a few coats would be just fine.
Many people think that the lasers unique grip is to
fine, but it actually rips up your shorts.;)
Just remember the classes fundamental rule. It doesn't just apply to things that make the boat faster.
 
My boat was resprayed both deck and hull and i did not loose much of the non skid decks grip.
 

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