Brightwork is brightwork. Varnish gives the look. It also gives you a smooth surface that sails, lines, etc don't stick to. It also looks better.

Oiled wood weathers. It still gets raised grain. It comes from the mositure in the oil and later water. Once you oil it you will always oil it cause varnish won't stick unless you can remove all the oil from the wood. Too much sanding. Oil also can stain things like white sail cloth, lines, etc. I have had some linseed oil take the color out of teak and leach it onto things when wet.

Varnish does not have to be removed entirely to recoat. Just remove the "loose" areas. You will also just touch up sand it before it "needs" it and recoat and things will be fine.

I swore off urethanes years ago for outside use, but the more recent ones seem better re: chipping, fading, and yellowing and they go on smoother than urethanes from years past...easy to repair too.   I know this is varnish blaspheme but what about using the more recent exterior, gloss, latex polyurethanes on bare wood spars (meaning no epoxy first)? 

Curt 830/997-8120

It's not blasphemy, just possibly more work in the long run. It's all about using a product that's specifically designed for the application.

A varnish that's specifically designed to last long in an outdoor marine environment will, over the long term, cost less because of reduced maintenance than a general purpose product. Since that market is smaller than the general purpose market, the manufacturer will have to initially charge more. The question becomes, is the extra performance worth the extra price to a specific builder?

A piece of wood that spends most of its life in the garage and comes out on the water only for a few hours on really nice weekends probably doesn't even need varnish at all, let alone the expensive marine varnish.

One that stays docked in the marina for the season needs the good stuff, unless the owner likes to re-varnish.

At some point between those situations you hit the crossover point.

So decide what your goals are and pick the best fit, And remember - as the builder you can do whatever you want and if it doesn't work you can fix it.

Have fun,

Laszlo