gel coat vs paint

Don’t use a clear coat over the top unless you plan on applying a metal flake finish.

Clear coats will just complicate things.

 

Clear coats, metallic and flake paints are pains on the boats (and often on cars...), with their big surfaces and many possible scratches. These paints are impossible to repair correctly and do age badly when exposed to the sun and weather. I did some for customers who wanted it even after being warned. One year later they were unhappy as the clear coats were yellowing and worst some peeling, and all the reparation of scratches looked badly.
Some colors can be problematic also. The dark ones overheat in the sun and become fragile being overcooked, and some greens can become truly ugly, a pissing yellowish thing.
The longer lasting are the very light greys, "broken" whites and some yellows. Pearly is spectacular, it do gleam in the sun and it's very durable as the pearly agent is very stable, often a mica flour; and it's a full constituent of the paint. The lone con; these pearly paints must be applied on a dark primary or a black coat. And three coats are needed for full effect, thus it's more expensive.