And I would like to know if vinyl wrapping can allow salt corrosion under, as it can do with painting. I would like to hear from owners of boats who have had vinyl wrap for a fair length of time. 

I do it as a job.
Pros - generally less expensive than paint. Can have a plain colour or fully customised image. Boat can be wrapped in a day. If wrap gets damaged or old just peel it off and apply new one - no sanding or prep required. Won't get salt corrosion under it providing it is applied correctly and the right film is used. Won't flake lie paint does.

Cons - it is NOT as tough as paint, but still pretty good. Where paint will chip, vinyl will tear. Is not practical if you want every square centimetre of vinyl wrapped including all welds - would become too labour intensive to apply, and likely have difficults areas that will fail.

it depends where you launch from.  I have a vinyl wrap and looking back it might not have been the best option for me.  My local ramp has a centre pontoon and often has sideways currents so it is unavoidable touching the boat against the pontoon.  And it tears quite easily. But I suppose if it was paint it would still get marked, and I'm sure it will be cheaper and easier to get the vinyl replaced then a repaint.

Kevin.S wrote: it depends where you launch from.  I have a vinyl wrap and looking back it might not have been the best option for me.  My local ramp has a centre pontoon and often has sideways currents so it is unavoidable touching the boat against the pontoon.  And it tears quite easily. But I suppose if it was paint it would still get marked, and I'm sure it will be cheaper and easier to get the vinyl replaced then a repaint.

You are bang on. I have the same ramp issue as you, but as Saltyc mentioned, use fenders at all times on the ramp. My wrap still looks like new after 4yrs of use but I'm fastidious ensuring it never brushes along anything or it will tear.
Painted boats at my ramp also look pretty marked up, but in alot of cases the marking on the paint could be buffed out. Not so with vinyl.
If you can look after your equipment well and can avoid running into or rubbing along jettys, I believe vinyl is a good option

Time_Bandit wrote: where you based waihime ?

Hamilton. PM me if you want more details or advice.

For the outside of the hull, there is a reasonable colour range if you get the right type of vinyl. Standard vinyl types are not designed to take the pressure of water on the chine and will lift off. I've witnessed a catastrphic failure where the whole side lifted up caused by water getting under the vinyl. It happened on one trip, not over a period of time.
You can also do a digitally printed wrap, where there are no limits as to what you can do
For inside the hull water pressure isn't a problem so you have greater options in vinyl types a large colour range. However this is an area that would be subject to knocks from gaffs, nets, rods etc, and I think you'd find thats where the vinyl will tear.

Joker wrote: The lifting off issue is caused by not sealing off the edges properly. There is something a bit like nail varnish that the professionals apply to the edges to stop this. There is no lifting at all on mine and it has seen some really heavy seas.

The product your referring to is Edge Sealer. It is must but still won't prevent the wrong type of vinyl lifting