[Radicalcy]

There are alternatives to sanding off the paint. It may be easier in the long run to use a chemical stripper. Do some research and choose the one that fits your needs. Sanding is a long and tedious job, and it''s easy to bite into the underlying gelcoat, which will cause more work. Once the finish is off, you can do a light sanding prior to repainting. Here again, you have alternatives. You can pay someone to spray the topsides, or you can roll and tip it yourself. I did a 33 foot Columbia Sabre over a three weekend period, and it looks like it was sprayed professionally. One has to really look closely to tell its not new gelcoat.
Do some research and get all your ducks in a row.
There is no cheap fix, and you only want to do it once, so do it right the first time.