John, congratulations on your recent acquisition and welcome to the forum!
My DW used a heat gun on low setting to remove much of the decal stripe on our 4500. She was careful to keep the heat gun moving and used a plastic scraper. We tried metal scrapers, etc, but they tend to damage the gelcoat.
You could try the heat gun. Others on this forum have also had success with fiberglass-specific
paint strippers. Still others have removed
paint from gelcoat using just a 3M purple pad (EDIT: purple pad with lots of water).
When we removed the stripes, a shadow was left. Surprisingly, we were able to mostly get rid of the shadow by applying bar keepers friend with a soft cloth where the stripe had been removed.
Good luck!