Back to colors. I am not a fan of white topsides. On the Gulf coast, I am not a fan of heat, either. Thus, we have a problem. Pretty much all of the discussion in the boat forums I have read is unreliable and contradictory. An architect friend of mine reduced my choice to three factors: the LRV (Light Reflectance Value) and the SRI (Solar Reflectance Index) of the color and the conductance of the material beneath the paint. The paint absorbs the heat and the fiberglass conducts the heat. My goal is to keep the hull as cool as possible without going white and to do what I can on the conductance side. Yankee is balsa cored, so that is a plus. I have already applied and will apply more Nansulate GP on interior surfaces. Now for color. LRV and SRI color cards can be pulled up online. Of course, black is terrible. Atrocious. I measured one black boat surface at 165 degrees F with my IR gun. Darker blues are not far behind. It is interesting that one can go to a bone, shell, or ivory white and do pretty much as well as a blinding snow white.

Time for more fiddling with the Alexseal color card.

The little boat in the photo is in the yacht harbor on the island of Nisseros. I wonder that the LRV of "Greek blue" is?