Gelcoat

I have done two boats...one was a 78 Ski Tique with white gel and yellow/black lettering.  It had scratches and spiders and we compounded and polished and the white came out well.  It is not perfect but good looking post work.  Some have to sand too but more than likely for white, you can heavy duty compound, polish and wax and be happy.  Matching white is tough!  So I would think twice before grinding spiders and scratches unless they are not seen (on the hull bottom).  Sanding a scratch and then doing the above process gets it looking good from 5 feet.  See my thread http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40614&title=new-to-me-78-tique for pics and discussion.  Your hull is prob faded but also, the white used by factory was not bright white.  It was a little off.  Others can chime in on the color.  We tried to match in some places and we had to tint the white with some yellow I recall.