Nautique 200 - Gelcoat rubbing off ...

[wpgfooter]

Is anyone else having issues with the gelcoat being rubbed off the bottom of their Nautique 200 ? If so, did you find a way to avoid it from getting worse ?

Our club had a 2012 that had this problem. We figured it was something that we were doing wrong and/or a specific problem with the trailer we have. However, we just upgraded to a 2013 and it has the same problem. Not as bad ... but the same problem. So, now I'm thinking it isn't just us.

In these pictures you can see the dark spots where the gelcoat has rubbed off are in the same place.

Any thoughts / suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks !

[LakeRats]

Is the trailer made for the 200? The trailer for the 200 has a different bunk layout. My dealer told me never put my sport 200 on a regular trailer.

[Zach@n3]

Gotta be the trailer. There were some companies that had a really had time dialing in the trailers when the 200 first came out. They caused gel issues. We recently switched to Boatmate and all of the guys love the way the Boatmate loads compared to other brands. No known issues with gel while loading.

[swc5150]

Definitely the trailer. You may have to start putting the trailer deeper in the water than you'd like, and float the boat on.

[core-rider]

I would almost say trailer too, but both these trailer are different. Look at the bunk locations. I can't tell if it is a weird reflection in the pics or not, but is there a feature on the hull that causes that part to protrude making it prone to more wear? How do you load the boat? It almost looks like the trailer could have been put in the water deeper so the boat floats on the trailer more not causing as much rubbing. Maybe try that and see if it helps.

[CradGen2]

Looks like the marks are in the same locations. That is odd to me. Does the boat sit on a lift?

I agree the trailers are different. Is the ramps causing the trailer to sit odd? It takes a lot to rub gel coat away.

[swc5150]

To me, the red one looks much closer to the chine, which is explained by the bunk setup. One question though, are you sure that's gel rubbing off and not a black streak from the bunks? I had similar streaks on a 196 from a Ramlin with black bunk carpet once, and the streaks came off.

[wpgfooter]

Hi all. sorry for not updating this earlier. I wasn't checking the thread as I thought I had an email notice set-up on it, but it appears that wasn't working.

To answer the questions:

• Both trailers are different (one boatmate, one EZ loader) but both came from the factory designed for the 200. The bunks are wider on the EZ Loader, which is the blue boat.
• Yes, there is notch (for lack of a better word) in the hull where the rubbing is the worst.
• Yes, the black is from gelcoat wearing off. It isn’t just black rub marks.
• Neither boat was kept on a lift, only the respective trailers.
• Thinking further, I think the ramps that were used for both boats are pretty steep. When the trailer was put in deep, the nose of the red boat went under the front roller above the winch, which put a chip in the top of the gelcoat. So, we started leaving the trailer a bit higher. In the end, this may be the problem.

It’s starting to look like loading the boat on a steep ramp needs to be a two stage process. First, deep trailer to float the boat on, but being careful not to bring it all the way to the front. Then, when the boat is mostly on, pull the trailer out a bit to position the winch roller below the top of the bow, and then bring the boat the rest of the way on. A pain … but it may be the only solution.

Is there anyone else out there with a 200 that is having the same problem ?

[pe4me]

First, deep trailer to float the boat on, but being careful not to bring it all the way to the front. Then, when the boat is mostly on, pull the trailer out a bit to position the winch roller below the top of the bow, and then bring the boat the rest of the way on. A pain … but it may be the only solution.

I have done this with steep ramps as well...its a pain, especially if only have rookies to help with the process.