News
War Machine - Haul, Scrape and Paint Report
Published Mon 31 Aug 2026
There is a lot of fun to be had sailing and racing our magnificent machines; bum maintenance is not one of them!
War Machine came out of the water at Panmure Boating Club 15 or so years ago for a birthday and crew bonding scrape-and-sand. That was when we were a lot younger, poorer, and stupider.
“The Machine” has come out of the water every 18 months or so since then for more crew sanding, and a professional spray. We always tried to remove the previous layers, but over time the microns built up, and the molecules stopped holding hands.
We needed to get back to basics and gelcoat, but this time the owners agreed to get the professionals in. With the very
handy Pier 21 closed and engine work to be done by specialists out West, a trip to the not-so-convenient Hobsonville Marina was needed. Fortunately, this made the very experienced hull coatings specialists and Young design racing and cruising enthusiasts Bryce and Toni Wood from Above and Below Marine the "strippers" of choice.
To their credit, Jim Young and Roger Land decided to use the higher quality Vinylester for hull layups rather than the cheaper but more osmosis-prone Polyester. Apart from the occasional small blister, our boats have had few issues with gelcoat water ingress, even after 40+ years. Saying that, it is worth investing in barrier layers to keep the water outside the hull.
For a race finish, Bryce recommended a careful manual scrape-back and fill & sand process using his experienced team rather than the magical-sounding garnet blaster. Next up, a Carboline primer barrier coat to help protect and waterproof the gel coat layer. All finished with Altex Premium Ultra, a suitably hard antifouling for a race boat cleaned regularly. We also decided to get the topsides professionally polished whilst we were at it.
Overall, a great job well needed and worth getting in the experts. Budget $5-$10k depending on the scope of work, how much manual labour your crew contributes, the quantity of paint you need to remove, and the spec for the new paints. Whatever you do, talk to experts first.
The photos paint the picture. You will notice a gap where the sail drive is missing, out for a refurb … but that is another story!
War Machine came out of the water at Panmure Boating Club 15 or so years ago for a birthday and crew bonding scrape-and-sand. That was when we were a lot younger, poorer, and stupider.
“The Machine” has come out of the water every 18 months or so since then for more crew sanding, and a professional spray. We always tried to remove the previous layers, but over time the microns built up, and the molecules stopped holding hands.
We needed to get back to basics and gelcoat, but this time the owners agreed to get the professionals in. With the very
handy Pier 21 closed and engine work to be done by specialists out West, a trip to the not-so-convenient Hobsonville Marina was needed. Fortunately, this made the very experienced hull coatings specialists and Young design racing and cruising enthusiasts Bryce and Toni Wood from Above and Below Marine the "strippers" of choice.To their credit, Jim Young and Roger Land decided to use the higher quality Vinylester for hull layups rather than the cheaper but more osmosis-prone Polyester. Apart from the occasional small blister, our boats have had few issues with gelcoat water ingress, even after 40+ years. Saying that, it is worth investing in barrier layers to keep the water outside the hull.
For a race finish, Bryce recommended a careful manual scrape-back and fill & sand process using his experienced team rather than the magical-sounding garnet blaster. Next up, a Carboline primer barrier coat to help protect and waterproof the gel coat layer. All finished with Altex Premium Ultra, a suitably hard antifouling for a race boat cleaned regularly. We also decided to get the topsides professionally polished whilst we were at it.Overall, a great job well needed and worth getting in the experts. Budget $5-$10k depending on the scope of work, how much manual labour your crew contributes, the quantity of paint you need to remove, and the spec for the new paints. Whatever you do, talk to experts first.
The photos paint the picture. You will notice a gap where the sail drive is missing, out for a refurb … but that is another story!
- Mike Leyland 
Reference
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