Just go for the cheap ordinary house gloss paint (not enamel) used to paint things like door frames etc, As to the number of coats, just enough to fill the weave and make the canvas watertight and reasonably smooth, probably about 3 coats,avoid to paint too thickly. You can used fine sand paper between coats, say 120 or 180 grit sand paper , but only very lightly, just enough to get the roughness off! Try and avoid more coats than that because the thicker paint would crack more easily and make the boat heavier than necessary.. on the other hand, If it's too rough, it produces drag and make the boat slow.
Have you used something on the frame, either linseed oil or varnish before you put the skin on? Its a bugger otherwise!
To be honest I don't know if it says if its oil, I think some do, but not sure.I am not very good at reading the instructions
I would not use emulsion though