Exterior Latex as Hull Paint ?

[PAR]

The bottom line is acrylics don't do well immersed for much more then a day or two. If she's in the drink for a week or so, a half a dozen times a year, the paint will come off in big sheets.

As a topside paint, it's fine and in fact the newest modified acrylics are actually tougher and have better gloss retention then the cheaper alkyds.

Paint is one of those areas where you do get what you pay for. Epoxy based paints tend to chalk in time, but are fairly hard and can be buffed back to a high gloss. Petit Easy-Poxy is not an epoxy, but is a modified alkyd. I've found this paint takes a long time to fully cure and chalks up fairly quickly, though also can be buffed up and self levels nicely.


The single part polyurethanes are the best bang for the buck now. They are easy to apply, self leveling and have good gloss retention.

Lastly, the two part polyurethanes (LPU's) both solvent and water based are the hardest, glossiest and most durable products going. The latest generations of WR-LPU's have solved the problems of previous formulations. It's still not quite as good as the solvent based LPU's, but getting close. You'll need you first born handy when purchasing this stuff.


In the end, you're asking too much from a top coat paint, to tolerate emersion for a week or so, 3 - 6 times a year. The LPU's will handle it the best, with some lifting to be expected after a year. The single part polyurethanes and modified alkyds would be next on the list, with lifting occurring sooner. The acrylics would be least likely to survive this level of submersion.

This leaves anti fouling paint as your real choice, if you expect some level of performance from the coating.