Blue hull is HOT! (White better?)

[tomasrey88]

Hi,

Anybody ever compared the white hull with the blue hull regarding interior temperature? Does it make a difference? I've never been on a white hull Mac 26M before. It's really hot here in the lone star state and I'm wondering if the blue hull is unwise. Maybe I should repaint it white? Seems stupid to do so since I paid extra for the blue hull and it also looks a lot better, too (IMHO).

Please advise.

Thanks,
tomasrey88


(search terms: pros & cons, vintage, comparo, comparison)

[Scott]

I have a white boat and all of my soft worms in my tackle box melted together.

Does this help??

[David Mellon]

I have a white hull. It gets aweful hot here in the coastal desert. That's right, Orange County is a desert. My experience with blue, black, dark green and white vehicles led to my choice of white. I figure that if white cars are cooler a white hull must be too.

[captin5317]

Hot is Hot, blue or white, seems to be all about air flow.

[RandyMoon]

I would guess that the black windows are good heat radiators.

[jackie m]

I understand that when you pop the hatches on the blue hull, the breeze travels through a lot faster therefore cooling down the interior faster.

Or something like that. Maybe it was that the blue hull forces the hot air to expand and exit faster.... is that it?


jackie m

[MacSeeker]

Ho, ho, ho. Why don't you head back to sailing anarchy and dis rich guys about how their $500,000 crusing boats are "4kt sh@tboxes and leave these folks alone pal...

[Jim Cate]

Hi,

Anybody ever compared the white hull with the blue hull regarding interior temperature? Does it make a difference? I've never been on a white hull Mac 26M before. It's really hot here in the lone star state and I'm wondering if the blue hull is unwise. Maybe I should repaint it white? Seems stupid to do so since I paid extra for the blue hull and it also looks a lot better, too (IMHO).

Tom,

I'm here in Houston, and it's hot here in August whether the hull is white, blue, or purple. I haven't actually compared the comfort level of the two colors, but I've been waiting for a few weeks for the weather to moderate before going out again despite having the white hull. In other words, you picked the wrong month to start sailing, and you may find that the blue hull is comfortable 10 months out of the year and perhaps warmer during winter months. Of course, the blue-hulled boats are faster, so perhaps that will make up for the discomfort.

Jim

[Night Sailor]

Walk through your local boat dealer's lot, sail or motor, and put your hand on red, green, black, or blue hulls, or use a electronic thermometer. Then do the same to a white hull. There's a difference in what is absorbed or reflected, and whatever is absorbed will contribute mightily to what is radiated inside. There'a reason most boats sold in the tropics are white on deck and hull, even if it is blinding in direct sun.

[Nickyd]

My experience, having only owned the white hull here in steamy south Louisiana is that even through the carpeted wall you can feel how much warmer it is under the black stripe. Walking on a black part of the deck will burn your feet while the white part is just a little warm.

Nick

[Tom F.]

You will give up sailing speed with the white hull and thus be warmer under sail with the reduced wind. I painted my 26X hull blue and usually have to reef even at wind speeds of 5-10 knts just to keep control of my speed.

[ssichler]

This actually a legit question regardless of the posters reason for asking. I've read on other boats in the tropics having a dark blue hull can make a 5-10 degree difference. Anyone done any actual comparisons? I could bring my small digital temp. gauge to MDR BBQ next weekend and we can try it out although my assumption is our almost always 75 degree weather won't have the same results as the tropics.

[RandyMoon]

One method the Myth Busters could use would be to use an infrared measuring device (like the one used to look for cold spots in a house) to go in various boats and look at temperature patterns. From the inside of different boats, see if the blue hull comes across stronger than white hull boats.

Common sense would say that blue will absorb more heat than white. How that translates to inside heat transfer would be visually represented on an infrared device.

[ssichler]

One method the Myth Busters could use would be to use an infrared measuring device (like the one used to look for cold spots in a house) to go in various boats and look at temperature patterns. From the inside of different boats, see if the blue hull comes across stronger than white hull boats.

Common sense would say that blue will absorb more heat than white. How that translates to inside heat transfer would be visually represented on an infrared device.

Or we can just say the white hull is just cooler than the blue hull. You guys don't buy those for practical reasons anyway;)

[baldbaby2000]

If the hatches are battened down with the blue hull on a hot day, the temperature could build up and expand the air inside to the point that the hull could violently burst!