I think even if you remove the paint you will end up with no gel coat . If its non slip areas prep it and use some thing like kiwi grip for the non skid
if its an old boat like mine the gel coat on deck was getting thin . Mainly form not being looked after over the years in my case.
Perhaps that's why it was painted

Some paint strippers are ok to use on polyester resin, I would experiment down that path

Given the time one could do a chemistry test. I love this stuff.

Get 5 or 6 jars, put some flakes of the paint and some flakes of gel coat in the bottom of all 5 or 6. Put a few drops of petrol in one, paint stripper in another, MEKP in another, turps in another and maybe acetone ...... wait a day and check which one has dissolved the paint but not the gel coat.

Cheers, looking forward hearing from you!!!