Looking for antifouling paint recommendations

[moe58]

Hi

My boat will soon be due for its second application of antifouling paint after the first application by the Jeanneau dealership 3 years ago. I am thinking about using Coppercoat. I read past posts about it and did not find anything negative, other than that its application is more complex than conventional antifouling paint, and that its much more expensive, especially if you don't DIY.

I am looking for any advice on this topic. FYI; my boat is in seawater all year round in the Pacific Northwest.

Cheers

[NZL50505]

Some of my friends have tried it and had problems. Even when so-called professionally applied by an official agent. The result is that most of them fall into 3 categories:

1. After years of pain & aggro they have finally had it fixed up and it works as intended and they are pleased they did it
or
2. After years of pain & aggro they have finally had it fixed up and it works as intended but they would never do it again
or
3. After years of pain & aggro they still have a mess on their hands and the are now traumatised by their experience

This is not one of my friends but a typical experience from what my friends tell me:



Maybe if you live close to a world-class coppercoat agent with a great reputation and a long list of happy customers who have had it applied correctly first time every time - then I'd consider it. But if not I wouldn't take the risk.

 

[MalcolmP]

NZL8970 there is certainly a group 4 of those with Coppercoat who are overall pleased. Well worth doing a forum search on Coppercoat.

I do agree it is not perfect and know if badly applied can be disappointing to day the least.

We had Coppercoat put on from new back in 2008. The yard on first attempt did a bad job, too thick so ended up with curtain runs. After a lot of discussion with our broker the yard spent several days hand sanding the bad area's then a total new application, so it now has more thickness in many places. So agree only get it done by a yard with experience and good reputation, or if DIY be very competent.

As for results whilst we were in the Atlantic waters it worked very well, we still did get green weed slime around the waterline, but easy to clean off from dinghy. On occasion we had a few barnacles on haul out, but again easy to clean off.

We are now in the much warmer Mediterranean waters and the Coppercoat struggles and if you are not sailing frequently the barnacle growth builds up. I do dive though and it is easy to clean growth off.

In conclusion I always hated the major chore of prepping and antifouling on my previous boats and after Coppercoat would never go back to painting unless I could afford the yard to do it. It has downsides like most boat things but if correctly applied gets my vote 🙂

[vasko]

Depends which part of the world  - cold waters coppercoat does the job , but warm waters awful... 

My suggestion is coppercoat + one hand pure silicon on top - www.mbfg.co.uk/siliglass_fake_glass.html  - 4kg should be enough - at least this is what  do  

[mikebz]

The only active ingredient in Coppercoat is copper.  Conventional antifouls also contain small quantities of other biocides (due to legislation those quantities are becoming smaller and smaller).   Therefore one would expect a good quality conventional antifoul (chosen based on advice of others where you berth or sail regularly) to outperform Coppercoat (growth-wise) in the short term until it is 'spent'.

I'm with Malcolm, I hate prepping for antifoul in the winter (working underneath under a lift keel SO32 is not fun) - if I were sure to be keeping this boat for 5+ years I would get it Coppercoated (at a yard I know has happy Coppercoat customers).  I would be happy to accept an extra scrub or two a year, in the knowledge that scrubbing isn't reducing the effectiveness of the antifoul and I won't need to do anything below the waterline over the winter.

[MartyB]

Being as you are in BC, a bit north of me in Seattle, but overall same waters........ I do nto personally know of too many around here with copper coat. there is a Petit Trinadad available on my side of border with 60+% copper, and it may also include Irgarol. I used SR40 with irgarol while it was available, then off the market, not back. I found the irgarol was really good for the weed growth I have down this way. No real issues with shell fish if pulled every 2-3 years.
I put Vivid on 2.5 years ago. Came out with very few shell fish. But the type of copper and zinc did not do as well as the SR40 did with slime IMHO.
I've recently painted the first week in July with Sea Hawk Color Koat. A similar paint mix to Vivid and Trilux 33. But it has Econoa in it. 15% cupprous Thiacide vs 25% for other two. 4% zinc vs 6%. and IIRC 2-3% Econoa. I can not nor will I say the Sea Hawk is doing well yet. Appears to be.
Before the SR40, boat had Micron 66 since day one. Overall that worked well too for a few paintings I did. Original owner used it 100% for first 20 years.
A number of people I know do like the Trinadad well. Vivid/Trilux33 seems to be popular, especially for those that race, or have power boats that keep them on trailers. As are the Micron versions of Interlux. A few use Baltoplate.......that takes 2-3 week scrubbings to keep them truly clean, and only higher finish racers seem to use it.

Marty