I bought a 24 foot Carrera project boat .. I havnt realy had a chance to dig into it yet but it looks to me like it was painted .Owner said it was original gel coat..I know this should be an easy one but I just cant tell .. The entire surface has small (1/32") cracks in what looks like old paint ..Ive never seen gel coat do anything like this . I was hoping I could buff the hell out of it as its all white , but it looks like IMRON time.

I am not sure but it does sound like gel cracks and if it is you will have to fix all of them you can not seal and paint because they will show right back up. Maybe you can have a glass man just look at it. You might talk to too old I think he just fixed some of those on his. Best of luck.
Hope this helps

They arn't stress cracks ..It looks like it was painted and the entire surface shrank..Like that antiquing paint they sell to make furniture look old , except its making my boat look old

That sonic is looking sweet ! I always liked those boats with all the non skid and flat areas to get around..
I realy think the problem I have is old paint.. The cracks are very small , like 1/64 of an inch and covering the entire boat..I was convinced it was paint , but when I try to buff through it , I cant.. I think it might be like an awlgrip or something .. I wish I had someplace indoors to work on it , id start sanding.

I havnt realy had a chance to take anything apart..Its at my lake house which I only get to on the weekends.Im bringing it home as soon as I finish the bass boat thats in my garage ..Previous owner peeled the original Carrera ss7m stickers off the side and its mint white gel coat underneath.. But the area around where the stickers were doesnt have a ridge like if it was painted..Ive seen gel oxidize but Ive never seen it do this .. Ill pull some hardware this weekend and see what it looks like.. Someone mentioned a crazy idea for a paint job and its starting to stick in my mind ...Camoflage !!! Cant wait to bolt on a couple promax's