PGplastic wrote:If I may add a question regarding the bootstripes. What are the criteria, if any, for choosing a double stripe vs a single? I noticed the "daysailor" has relatively thin double stripes and looks fantastic. Is there a time when that would look stupid say on a shorter boat?
It's amazing to me how something so simple can make or break the look of the boat.
There are no criteria other than personal taste and aesthetics.
In general terms, a double stripe, properly executed, will appear more elegant and dressier than a single stripe. Typically, traditional designs have a single stripe, while double stripes of varying configuration are more common on modern designs. But this is not a hard and fast rule. Double stripes can look good on a traditional boat as long as they are done properly; the applicability will depend on the boat, though. A lot of traditional boats have no boottop at all, harking back to their workboat heritage. I think boats look boring without boottops.
The height of the topsides has something to do with the choice. High topsides benefit from double striping because it helps reduce the visual height of the topsides. Lower topsides don't require this visual reduction.
I like the look of two stripes of equal width on a traditional boat, which is why I went that direction with the daysailor striping. For that boat, it just seemed to fit.
That said, Glissando has a single stripe, which I think looks good (though similar stripes like those on the daysailor would look nice too). I can't explain why I went one way with one boat and the other with another boat. Each situation is different.
Another decision to make is whether to leave a space between the bottom paint and the bottom of the boot. I think there needs to be a space when double stripes are used; it adds to the elegance. A single stripe can be butted against the bottom paint or raised with a gap, though each way looks a little different. Again, the gap adds a bit of elegance to any boat.
The amount of contrast between the various colors makes a difference in the choice too. For example, blue and green look great together, but they really need that definition of a white stripe between them to make the colors jump. So in the two examples here, note how the blue and green are separated by white in each case. I think this looks better than having the green and blue touching, which lacks definition.
Well done stripes never look "stupid" on any boat. The key is ensuring that the stripes, whatver they are, fit the boat--size- and stylewise. For a boat like your Com-Pac, you could go either way, depending on the look you want. If you went double, the stripes would need to be narrow--3/4" to 1" max. I think the double stripes on the daysailor are 1-1/8" visually; the single stripe on Glissando is 2" visually. The smaller the boat, the narrower the stripes need to be in order to keep things in proportion. The higher the topsides, the wider the stripes can be.
There's a lot to this, and it's hard to explain in writing, but it's not complicated in the end. What looks good, looks good. There are usually a few different ways to get to the "looks good" criteria for any given situation, so there's no single right answer.
While personal taste and opinion certainly factor in here, I believe there's an indefinable quality to something that looks "just right" that all (or at least 90th percentile) people can see. Not everyone can put their finger on what makes something look better than something else, but it typically comes down to little details. With boats, that's often things like boottops, proper proportioning, and finish trim details. Often, the style of the boat doesn't even matter.
It matters. The devil
is in the details.
