Striping Tape

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:29 pm

Does anyone have a source of striping that is suitable for bootstripes? My current boat appears to use a tape (viynl or otherwise) tape for the double boot stripes and I need to replace it after some repairs. I would perfer paint, but that will have to wait until the entire topsides gets painted. Thanks for any info!

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:17 pm

West Marine.

My old boat had it but I don't think I would use it again. Paint is easier to maintain for me. A good bootstripe is not linear either. Its width varies to compensate for the curvature of the hull.

Post by **Tim** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:20 pm

I think striping tape for boot tops is best left for very small boats and slab-sided powerboats that can get away with the consistent width of tape. It never looks very good on sailboats because of the need for significant variations in width to maintain the proper visual consistency and height.

earlylight · Post by **earlylight** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:06 pm

While on the subject of striping tape, I saw a very nice 3/4 inch wide tape used for the cove stripe on a boat last year. It appeared to be some sort of mylar, was tissue thin and had the appearance of true gold leaf. I was never able to find the boat's owner to ask about it. Anyone here know of such a tape and a source for it? I have tried numerous searches on the internet with no positive results.

One Way David · Post by **One Way David** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:19 am

You mention that the width (height) of the boot strip varies. How? how much? Where does the variation start? How wide should it be to start? Or are these all esoteric questions and left to the eye of the beholder(s)? Dave.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:06 am

Kind of up to the eye of the beholder.

As the hull curve changes the perception of the bootstripe changes.

Generally in the middle of the boat the hull is probably the most vertical and the bootstripe is the narrowest. At the stern, especially on my Triton with the overhang, the angle is as much horizontal as vertical and the bootstripe is much wider. Offhand I think something like 3" in the middle and maybe 12" at the counter. A little widening right up near the bow looks good too.

The idea is to make the bootstripe look the same all the way around. Because the hull curves away from the viewer the perception changes. The actual amount varies by boat hull shape.

As part of my hull project description, I mention a bit about getting the bootstripe right. Somewhere on Tim's site I know he does too. My version is copied directly from Tim.

Post by **Tim** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:08 am

It is based entirely on the "visual width" of the boottop, and there are not any rules as to how to lay it out other than it needs to be right. How a stripe is shaped depends entirely on the individual boat. Curvature is always different fro boat to boat.

The actual width of a visually straight stripe varies on a boat because the curvature of a hull--most notably at the stern but also at the bow--makes a constant-width stripe appear to become narrower when viewed from the side, as it would be with the boat in the water. So to make the stripe appear consistent in width, it must become wider as the hull curves away from the viewer. Visually, however, this maintains a constant width when viewed from the side. If you were to put, say, 2" wide tape on there, it would look like it drooped towards the ends of the boat. This looks awful.

That's the basics of why. How one goes about laying it out on an individual boat is easier done than explained.

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:35 am

There are 2 ways I know of to lay out a boot stripe. One is to use a transit. This is what I did on my boat. I happen to own one, so I used it. The other is with a simple mechaniclal tool that helps transfer the vertical location of 1 elevation in respect to another to your hull in spite of the curve. It uses a bar and 2 adjustable and sliding pointers. A real simple sketch of it looks like this:

You lay out the waterline. Then you use it to reference the top of the boot top. As the others have explained, the boot top width varies with the angle of the hull at any given location.

bcooke · Post by **bcooke** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:41 pm

That's a good illustration. Pretty easy to see that the second bootstripe is wider than the first but it is the same visual height.

My link earlier probably doesn't help much because from the photo the bootstripe looks the same all around. That's the point after all. In reality it is much much wider at the stern.