Many people use different types of paints. Several things go into choosing the paint that is right for you. Without a doubt, Awlgrip is one of the, if not the hardest paint to use in terms of prep work and spraying. It is primer process specific and tedious. If sprayed requires multiple coats within an hour or two of the previous one. It is exceedingly thin compared to everything else, which means it's like spraying water. There is a very fine line between a dry spot (not enough paint to make it shine) and a sag (not a run, more of a little droop). Most paints are toxic to spray; Awlgrip is at or near the top of the list. A gallon which makes 2 gallons of spraying paint cost me $340 not counting the reducer, catalyst, and accelerator. How thin is the paint? Two gallons of paint ( before reducer etc.), $680 painted the hull (below the cap rail) twice. There is a lot of hull on my boat. Awlgrip isn't supposed to be wet sandable (Awlcraft [made by the same company] is sand and compoundable) as the shine is only on the surface. So you need to maintain the surface to make it shiny. If you compound Awlgrip, it will be nice again, but not like the original shine. So why go to all that trouble?
Awlgrip once cured, is super durable (hard). If you wax it once a year minimum and rinse the salt off it, it will easily last 15+ years out in the weather and sun (no cover from the elements all year). This stuff is the benchmark for paint. The best you can use; the worst as far as cost, preparation and application. If it was easy to use and priced comparable to others, nobody would use anything else!
Cost of paint to me wasn't an issue. Compared to labor cost, the paint is free. If you're doing it yourself, it's expensive. If you plan to own the boat 10+ years and care what it looks like, labor isn't an issue as you will only paint it once. If someone else is doing the painting, you're pretty much tied to what they use. Paints are very different to spray. Awlcraft is thicker and easier to spray. Someone who sprays Awlcraft will have a learning curve on Awlgrip.
Awlgrip is for the person who plans to keep the boat a long time and doesn't want to paint it twice. I hate to do things twice because I skimped the first time on materials. My boat is about 10' gorgeous. Closer than 10' there are a few paint imperfections a couple of sags and a few painting seams (you can't wet sand and compound Awlgrip like an automotive finish). I couldn't be happier with the results!
Below is my charter boat. Top sides were painted in the Spring of 2003 (13 seasons) and the hull in 2010. Hasn't been waxed in ten months and been sitting on the hard all winter. Hull still shines and she looks great!
Ted
