On another boat some years back I used "Peel-Away". As long as you weren't stingy and put it on thick enough, and were patient about how long you let it sit before you started scraping, it worked great. I would definitely avoid sanding. Dust from anti-fouling paint is nasty, toxic stuff, as well as the sanding being a whole lot more work.

I tried both of these as well as scraping and I just wasn't making any progress.  I knew I was in trouble when my #36 sand paper clogged up within 20 seconds of operation.  I didn't try peel-away or any other commercial stripper but I did try some industrial stripper that a friend of mine in the industry was able to get me--supposedly stronger than anything commercially available but it didn't do any good (It had no paper though).  I finally resorted to a sandblaster.  I have heard there are those who use walnut shells or even baking powder to minimize damage to gel coat but I couldn't find any in my area.  It certainly did the job and removed all paint, even in the tough areas around the aperture.  There was some damage to the gelcoat but not too much.  I spent an afternoon going over the dings with epoxy and later sanded it down to a smooth finish.  The total time I spent doing this was less than previously spent trying to get the stuff off so I was happy with the results.  Put on a barrier coat and two coats of ABLATIVE paint--I never want to go back there!  If you do resort to this option your in the hands of the sandblaster so be certain you are comfortable with him and set limits.

I prefer sanding.  My own experiences with strippers like Peel Away have not been particularly positive.  It can work well in some instances, but you have to put it on very thick, like 1/4"--that can be tough--and it needs to be completely covered.  They don't give you enough paper in the kit.  It's also expensive, and generally you end up with a residue or remaining paint that you have to sand anyway.  I haven't used the stuff Mark mentioned (Star 10)--it sounds like it worked for him.  I suppose both are worth a test to see how they work for you.   No matter what, it's a nasty mess, and still plenty of hard work involved.  I've seen citrus-based strippers that get the job done, but not without several re-applications and plenty of scraping and sanding.

Call the EPA on me, but I prefer sanding to dealing with strippers.  If it were a question of using methylene chloride, then I'd say go with the stripper, as you probably know, it really powers the paint off, but will eat your gelcoat before you can say "oh my!".  Funny how only the harshest strippers really work...kind of like the old TBT-based bottom paints.  I used a 7" angle grinder with a soft pak pad to strip my bottom--37 years of paint.  It worked as well as could be expected, but, yes, I am still finding red sanding dust in the ground.  It was about 8 hours worth of sanding to do the whole thing.   For the topsides, use a DA sander and coarse paper to remove the paint.  Invest in a full-face respirator, like the 3M 7000 series.  It's the only way to keep dust out of your eyes.  Use the incredible sandpaper available at McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com).   Sanding is admittedly miserable and tiring, but you'll be doing plenty of sanding even if you use the stripper, especially on the topsides.

What it comes down to is what works best for you in  your situation.  Both will eventually get the job done; it's a series of tradeoffs either way.

This winter I used a product called 'Star 10'  (http://www.starten.com/) on 40 years/8 layers of
interior paint. When used properly, it works well. It claims to be have less toxic fumes than the rest (it has no methylene chloride).

I went through a learning curve of not leaving it on long enough, not putting in on thick enough, and brushing it too much. If you go the route of a chemical stripper, I think the last one is particularly important. Whatever you use, use a brush to get the stuff on, but don't 'tip' it  -  don't touch it after you apply it. Brushing the stuff around releases more of the volatle components which are design to lift the paint - not good.

I've since had to do some sanding on parts that weren't stripped, and I've found it easier to deal with piles of paint strippings than dust everywhere. You have to be careful where the paint strippings fall, but I think they are easier to clean up than the dust.

Whatever you do, get a very good mask, rated for organic vapors. Even if you're sanding bottom paint, why take a chance with stuff that's intended to be toxic?

A few years ago I used a product called "Peel Away" with pretty good success.  It claims to be a safer and gentler product than the typical paint remover.  I had to leave it on longer than they claimed because of the cold temperatures I was working in.  You paint the stuff on thickly and then cover with paper and leave for 24-48 hours.  They imply, without actually claiming, that you then just peel the paper off and the paint comes off with it.  Be prepared to scrape the hull as you peel the paper.
The residue is easily washed off with water.  Any remaining paint can then be sanded..  Stuffs expensive, maybe $150 for a Triton.

I did "Liberty" this winter, used Peel Away, great stuff. You spread it on & cover it with the plastic coated paper supplied. Wait 24 hrs and pull back the paper, work the paint with a scraper or putty knife, 40 years of old bottom paint will fall right off your boat. The remaining paint becomes
powdery and brittle and easily sands off. I got right down to bare glass - amazing!! The stuff is pretty nasty going on - use gloves, long sleeves etc. After it reacts with the paint, it nutralizes itself so clean-up is pretty safe. West Marine sells it but it's cheaper at home depot.

A tub of the stuff costs about $25.  Get one tub and try it. You'll need 4 more to finish the boat. You'll need some extra paper too, they don't include quite enough.

It's been a few years since I used Peel-Away, but I recall that like Dennis say, you don't get quite enough paper. I think I used shelf paper when I ran out of the stuff they supplied, and it worked fine. I don't recall the 24-48 hours though - I thoughT it was more like 4-8? Maybe they've changed
the formula since then....

Hey everyone, speaking of the bottom paint stripping, there is a tool that some boat yards have that attaches to a vacuum cleaner and with no mess involved, COMPLETELY strips your bottom of however many years of paint it has on there. The yards around here charge 3 times the worth of my boat to do this (which actually isn't really saying much) like $1400.. but the tool itself only costs about $1500... so the Triton Factory is thinking of purchasing one (ie. Barbara, Bob and I)....

I am REFUSING to sand anything I don't absolutely HAVE to and therefore will consider any way out of it regardless of cost!!!  Anyway though, once we have this thing... we can probably do other people's bottoms and we WON'T charge anywhere close to $1500 to do it (if you own a Triton!!).  forget the respirators people!! we may have found the solution to this problem!! (let's hope!!) I keep thinking there must be a catch to this thing... but it seems there isn't!