Rails ("Rails de fargue" in French)
The rails on my Swan 41 look a bit tired and I would like to know if any one could give me an advice on how to refresh them. Is there any product I could apply to get them shiner or has anyone tried to apply paint and what was the outcome? Thanks in advance for any feedback you may have.

If you mean what I wouldl call the toe rails (the aluminum edging at the top of the freeboard, outboard  edge of the deck) - I would offer this -

DO NOT PAINT - I recently bought my 411, the boat was absolutely perfect, except for that - the toe rail had been painted - it seems to me that the primer was solid and applied maybe when the hull was done, but the aluminum topcoat is chipping and in some places water has gotten under (easy to do once a chip is in) and really looks like hell - I am now deciding what to do myself.  I know I do not want to be touching them up for the rest of my days.  Knowing a little about paint, I am not so sure the best paint system would matter, e.g. 2 part epoxy hard paint is certainly better than Rustoleum aluminum spray, but either way that toe rail takes abuse and no paint will be immune to damage under conditions of use.  From an engineeirng point of view - I think the best thing to do might be to take them off, get them stripped chemically and/or with some mechanical smoothing/grinding/buffiing, then go to a medium or hard coat anodize, possibly clear or with color as needed, then rebed.  Forgetting how hard it might be to find anyone with an anodizing system that can take big lengths, this approach would in any case be most expensive, but also would last the longest. 

At the end of the day, the toe rail is a piece of hardware that takes some punishment  - so if it doesn't look pristine 24/7, I myself won't worry.  So, for what it is worth, my advice is simply don't paint.

Best Regards,

Geoff in Wisconsin USA

Christoffe;

I also own a 41 with anodized toe rails. The anodized finish is only damaged at the points where snatch blocks are attached, and that doesn't both me very much. One the whole they look quite good from the outside of the boat.

The problem I experienced was that there was quite a bit of galvanic corrosion and general pitting around the toe rail screws. I wanted to arrest this corrosion and came up with 2 possible scenarios:

1) Remove all the screws and countersink the holes to accept larger size screws, thereby machining away the corrosion - it would be a major job to gain access to all of the nuts on the inside of the boat, however. Therefore, I did not take this option.

2) Instead, I masked-off and painted the horizontal surface of the toe rails (the surface that is flush with the deck) with Amron II high-build 2 part epoxy industrial tank coating. The coating filled all of the pits and the corrosion around the screw heads. I sanded the first coat before applying a second coat. The result is a smooth surface in which the screw heads are no longer evident. Note: It may take as many as 3 coats to get a smooth finish. 

Here's a trick used by the pros when they have to mask an area off for multiple coats:

Get a different colour masking tape for each coat. Apply the 1st mask to the exact line at the edge of the finished paint job. Apply the 2nd mask 1 mm larger than the border of the 1st mask. In other words, you should be able to see a 1 mm line of the 1st mask protruding from under the 2nd mask. You need to apply one mask for each coat. Remove one layer of mask after each coat is applied.

John

Christoffe;

John,
I wonder if after more than two years you are still satisfied of the job of covering the base of the aluminum toerail with epoxy.
Was it transparent, or did you cover with a top layer of a mat aluminum paint?
Thank you for giving some details, a job made in your way might result less expensive.
Matteo, Grampus 47'