J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Non skid

There are several large areas I need to repair and paint on my deck. Lots of scrapes and voids where there were air bubbles between the gelcoat and the first layer of mat. I would like to know what other people have done for non skid and if anyone has used "Ulta Tuff" non skid paint or Intrlux grit in a LPU paint.

Thanks

I re-painted my deck using Interlux Brightside and the non-skid additive. I believe there are two grades of the additive available - the one I used in my opinion isn't course enough. I would have liked it to be a more aggresive grit. I think I had the less course additive. It had a tendency to dull the paint - which was good - since i wouldn't want a glaring paint on the deck.

I had the entire deck repainted two years ago. For non-skid we used Griptex by Awlgrip. There's three sizes: fine, coarse, and the new extra coarse. I used coarse, but in retrospect the extra coarse may have been better. If you use good deck shoes, even when wet the traction is ok. But if someone isn't wearing deck shoes, they'll slip. With these grip additives the key to getting a uniform look on the deck is to make sure the painter mixes the Griptex with the paint well and freqently, otherwise you can get an uneven distribution of the grip material on the deck that doesn't look right. Like you we had few repair locations, but opted to repaint the entire deck so it didn't look like a patchwork of repairs. Preparation is key to a good job. We removed all the hardware and sanded down all the gelcoat grip pattern so the base was perfectly smooth - and thats a lot of work! But the results were marvelous, I get a lot of compliments and the boat looks like new on deck. Good luck!

My latest thought of non skid--Has anyone tried spray or roll-on bed liner it is a rubber material and i think it has good traction when wet. I am considering using it on Jezabelle's deck. The previous owneer has re done the non skid(unsure of which type) and I need to see if the two paints are compatible with each other.

Clint
Before you try bedliner paint take a look at "Ultra tuff". It is a rubbery paint with rubber bits for a gritty texture. I bought a quart of it and painted a piece of plywood to see what it looks like. It seems to have very good grip but doesn't look as nice as LPU paint with the non skid additive. It's very reasonal as far as price, about $50 a gallon. I'm still considering using "Ultra tuff" but I'm leaning towards the Interlux or Awlgrip additive in paint right now. I took my plywood samples around to the sailing club and so far everyone like the Interlux sample best.

Where does one purchase ULTRA TUFF. can it be sprayed.

www.ultratuff.net
There is information on the web site on spraying and a phone number. You have to call them to order it. I used the roller that they sell with the paint and it worked very well. You might want to try the roller before trying to spray it. One thing I didn't like was that the "marine white" was more of an off white, it looks a little dirty next to the original gellcoat.