Been reading some old posts on peoples paint woes largely caused by people wanting to paint there topsides them selves. I was a painter for over 30 years, rare to find original 40 plus year old gelcoat thats still looking good, I know with my own Tophat which sadly needs a total paint job inside and out, luckily for me I know a painter lol silly old one legged rooster but geez he can pull off a good paint job. Now trying hard not to brag here my current favorite paint is Norglass Modified Polyurethane Enamel, they say not recommended for areas of constant immersion but anyway back to my story, if your preparation is spit on and your fastidious with cleaning, sanding etc I can pull of a job with a brush that is comparable to spray, I can do both but I prefer brush. The act of proper enamelling is an art form, flood coating is an art form, you wont learn this in 5 mins.
i read where one fella bought a yacht freshly painted, in paint used to do metal fences. Now most enamels could be used on fibreglass they lack one thing UV Stability, meaning inside of two years your paints gone chalky, you can solve this by over coating in UV Stabilised Marine Clear , Once you paint over gelcoat look forward to doing it once in a while, a coat of clear every two years isnt too stressing, this applies to your hull sides too