Race Stickers on Epoxy Paint

[jamhass]

Go to a local sign shop. They make magnetic stick-on signs. A bare one would make a great substrate.

[MicHughV]

You could always just leave the numbers on..'jes sayin'.....

[KelseyB]

Thanks for all the suggestions here, lots of great ideas. This wouldn't be an issue if we weren't concerned with leaving the stickers on or with leaving residue or peeling paint, but with the time and labor we've dedicated to keeping the paint looking at least semi-decent, it seemed like a good idea to at least try to find a way to avoid putting such large stickers (they're 17 x 26, apparently) on the paint itself.

I just ordered some blank car magnets, and we're going to see if putting the stickers on those and then using the magnets on the boat will do the trick.

[MicHughV]

Where are the stickers to be placed or does that matter ?

Up by the bow, risks a wave knocking the magnets loose....amidships is probably better or even the stern.

Curious to know what your hull color is and also the color of the numbers ??

Is putting the numbers on the mainsail an issue ?? Many boats have numbers on the main for all to see. Numbers could be attached with duct tape...just floating some ideas for you...

Alternately the numbers could be put on piece of thin plywood and attached between stanchions, just above the deck...or on the bow pulpit..

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Where are the stickers to be placed or does that matter ?

Up by the bow, risks a wave knocking the magnets loose....amidships is probably better or even the stern.

Curious to know what your hull color is and also the color of the numbers ??

Is putting the numbers on the mainsail an issue ?? Many boats have numbers on the main for all to see. Numbers could be attached with duct tape...just floating some ideas for you...

Alternately the numbers could be put on piece of thin plywood and attached between stanchions, just above the deck...or on the bow pulpit..

They're numbers assigned by the race, different from the sail numbers (which we already have). I asked about putting them somewhere else creative, like your bow pulpit suggestion, and race committee said they must be on the hull itself, on the bow. I explained the reasoning for why I was looking for an alternative solution (as in, these stickers are not designed to come off of my paint), and especially given that we're racing in the cruising class for high-PHRF boats (quite literally the least competitive class, if I had to guess) in a low-stakes regatta with not very many boats, I was hoping they might be able to work with me. I even pointed out that the hull is bright sky blue and easily identifiable, since the main point of the bow numbers is identification, but no luck. The rule here seems very stringent for such a low-stakes class in a low-stakes regatta, but that's my opinion and I don't make the rules, so we'll try the magnets if they insist.

[Rucksta]

Racing has a number of administrative & physical pre-requisites that must be met.
It's part of putting your race face on.
Good luck and sail better than the other guy.

[MicHughV]

Well, I'm plumb out of ideas then.

I had a steel boat for a number of years, and while I never stuck numbers on the hull, I did have to stick a State registration sticker on it once a year.

I never had a problem with the paint though. My hull started of with a royal blue color, then a light blue, and finally white. Each color was on around 5 years. The royal blue was epoxy paint, the light blue and white a two part polyurethane.

[MicHughV]

I did often race my boat and was able to put numbers on my main using duct tape..

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Well, I'm plumb out of ideas then.

I had a steel boat for a number of years, and while I never stuck numbers on the hull, I did have to stick a State registration sticker on it once a year.

I never had a problem with the paint though. My hull started of with a royal blue color, then a light blue, and finally white. Each color was on around 5 years. The royal blue was epoxy paint, the light blue and white a two part polyurethane.

Yea, there are registration stickers on the paint, but I'm not bothered by those since 1) obviously they're required to be there all the time and 2) if I do have to peel them off at some point, at least the area is small and it will likely already be at a time that the boat's on the hard/in a good position to repaint. The trouble with the race stickers is they're very large, I don't want to leave them on, and if they take paint when we remove them, we'll have to repaint in the water. Which is doable, I would just definitely prefer not to.

[Pandor]

I’ve applied many of these race stickers. They are not very sticky at all. You usually need to worry more about them falling off on the waves. You certainly don’t need anything special to peel them off, even if left on for a week.

[Antares]

I understand your concern. As an alternative you could zip tie plywood squares the size of the stickers to the life lines at the bow. If concerned about race committee acceptance just check with them ahead of time.

[wholybee]

I have used both magnetic signs and vinyl sticker signs on vehicles. You shouldn't have any issues removing the sticker, and it won't damage the paint. Even if left on for years. (though the paint would fade unevenly). I have had to do this to change branding on company vehicles. Just a bit of heat, and they peel right off, you don't even need to clean up adhesive afterwards.

I have even done this when I renamed my boat after purchase, also painted with awlgrip. A heat gun and the old name came right off.

The magnetic signs I stopped using on company cars decades ago, because they scratch the paint.

[Chrisatlantic]

We used to polish the hull before putting stickers on, which would make it much, much easier to peel them off after the regatta. Peel them off after the last race, the longer you leave them on there the more the adhesive cures. The polish that we used was the Starbrite Teflon-based one. And like an earlier post suggested, a hair dryer will help if you have any difficulty peeling them off.

[DreamWeaver III]

I have left most of the backing on and only used a 50mm strip around the edge, i have removed using a heat gun to soften the adhesive, you could use a hair dryer I guess

[kindrunnermike]

Highly unlikely it’s bottom paint unless you applied it yourself and know it to be so.

My experience: I built a boat and painted it with Interlux standard one part bright side paint and after placing a registration sticker on it for two years, I could not remove it with taking 50% of the paint under it off.