I am considering something that some ( me included ) might consider blasphemous.

What do I like doing better , sailing , sanding, painting or varnishing . SAILING by a large margin . I admire a high finish boat like Sirocco , but if it sails just as fast I'll take one that looks like a NY taxi and not worry about dings and scrapes.
You can become a slave to the boat ( and car , house, yard, or motorcycle) , but I own a boat to go sailing not putz around with.

There is a product called Azek , a PVC board , available in planks and sheets.
It is used widely in the 'beach-home' construction biz.

I want to sail my boat , not work on it all the time or fret about the varnish .I may just replace the coamings with this stuff , it doesn't rot or need painting .

A friend ( worked on the schooner with me) is building a 22' sharpie out of it and it looks great.