Congratulations on the new boat. Looks like a keeper.

They could have sold off the tower & had the holes filled in.

Bimini looks weird. Can't you just get some different poles for the back?

Never seen a Bimini forward like that, it looks a little odd. If it was on a smaller boat, it's good for getting in/out of and not having to go under/around it... pretty boat, love the red, just not the work it takes to keep red.

Where's your adventurous spirit? This red will be a piece of cake, 268 was a LOT of blue to keep looking good. 225 Green wasn't too bad, nor the black on the 318.

Look at that shine!



Finally had time to get the bimini turned around and new mounts installed - looks good. The red is really growing on me.

How much was the new trailer? It looks great.

I'm afraid I agree about fading of red gel coat ! My 2004 Sundowner had some red gelcoat , my 278 has red gel coat as well. When the Sundowner was at home, the stern faced West. I used to cut/ polish it fastidiously every year, starting at the stern. I swear that by the time I'd worked round the boat to be at the stern again some 6 hours later, the red there had already faded ! There was also a strange demarcation that appeared when it was faded; invisible when newly cut/ polished. I can only assume it was due to 2 different lots of red gelcoat used in production, which had different UV stabilizer levels.

Thanks for the pics, why didn't you opt for electric over hydraulic since it was custom built?

How often did you wax it? I've been twice a year on my 318 and the black looked great.

I used to cut it pre season and wax the same day, followed by another wax application the day before launch. Once on the water it'd be something like 2 weeks later I'd apply more wax, but the fading would be evident already.

This is/ was on the red gel goat above the rub rail. The red gel coat on the vertical hull sides below the rub rail never faded on either boat . This must be something to do with the incidence angle. Above the rub rail the gel coat is virtually at right angle to the incident rays. I noticed your Vista had white gel coat above the rub rail. Your Horizon has red gel coat there !

I used to cut it pre season and wax the same day, followed by another wax application the day before launch. Once on the water it'd be something like 2 weeks later I'd apply more wax, but the fading would be evident already.

This is/ was on the red gel goat above the rub rail. The red gel coat on the vertical hull sides below the rub rail never faded on either boat . This must be something to do with the incidence angle. Above the rub rail the gel coat is virtually at right angle to the incident rays. I noticed your Vista had white gel coat above the rub rail. Your Horizon has red gel coat there !