I teach a boat detailing class once a year here in Stuart, Florida.
I've detailed a lot of boats, wrote a book on detailing boats but I'm always learning.
Couple of things,
1: Gel-coat doesn't polish out to perfection like paint. You can get close but not perfect like paint.
2: It's hard to please all these high intensity swirl finder lights and flashlights, so in your case it might be a situation of putting away the flashlight.
Here's a few pictures from this year's class. For this years class I added an EXTRA step to get these results.
Note this WAS using a high intensity swirl finder light and the results were impressive.
Pictures: 2017 Marine 31 Boat Detailing Class - 25' Bluewater Center Console - Wetsand, Cut & Buff
condition.
25' Bluewater Center Console
Before
After