painting/preparing foils

I am planning to paint and repair my centreboard and rudder for my dinghy which is stored dry. I have no experience painting foils so any held would be appreciated. The centerboard has a few minor scratches. How should i prepare the surface for painting and what paint should i use? I am looking for a glossy finish. Thanks

 

Depends on what paint you are using, and how you are going to work it after paint. Is this a race boat, or are we looking for nice cosmetics?

 

Its an NS14 dinghy which is raced on weekends. Im hoping to repaint the foils over the winter break.

 

painting foils

To start, make sure everything is clean clean clean, then keep your bare hands off them.

For you, I'd recommend you use one of the single part linear polyurathanes, such as Brightsides. They're easier to work with than the nastier two-part paints. The final finish is a bit softer, but its no big deal to touch up the foils yearly as part of your annual maintenance. Depending on the existing surface, you may need to prime first, or simply give a 220 grit sanding so that the new paint will stick.

Apply several coats of paint.... rolling with a foam roller, then tipping with a paintbrush, can give a decent finish on its own. But if you're racing this boat, you'll want to build up enough of a base of paint to allow you to wet sand it without fear of sanding through the paint. Use a sanding block, wet, starting at 220 grit, then work your way up through 600 grit. That's fine enough for your purposes. On the leading edge you can use a thin long strip of sandpaper in your hands and a "shoe shine" motion back and forth, working your way from one end of the foil to the other.

Phil