Copperbot type antifoulings

[paul]

Has anyone had first hand experience of using one of these types of antifoulings? Do they work? I sail the solent so any experience in these waters would be appreciated.

 

[vyv_cox]

This question has been discussed many times before. Suggest you look through the archived pages.

In summary, it mostly works well in sea temperatures ranging from arctic to tropical. Jowever, its application needs to be controlled carefully as adhesion is a problem. There have been some failures due to a rogue batch of one of the products, which had a copper alloy powder instead of pure copper. At least one manufacturer appears to be a near-criminal. Be very careful.

My own experience is not very good. I have it on my keel only and the adhesion of the primer/epoxy to the iron has failed after about 3 years and most of the Copper*** has come off. Not the product's fault, but it negates any expectation of 10 years of life.

 

[yoda]

I applied copperbot about 8 years ago and keep the boat on the Hamble. After about 6 years I found it became ineffective and have resorted to erodable type antifouling. Even when working it seemed to need a good scrub and abrade to get the most from it each season and found this negates most of the advantages. It did however adhere well but only after removing all traces of previous bottom coatings.

 

[Guest]

I have it on my boat and after a year in the French Canals (fresh water) found it useless. I decided to hang on as I then went into the Med but after one year gave up (the growth was really bad) and resorted to standard antifouling. The only good thing about it is that it is an epoxy coating and it all counts towards hull protection. One minor point, the manufacturers kept changing their mind as to whether the coating should be sanded lightly (to expose the copper) or not. I also tried both methods and both gave the same mediocre results. I have had no problems with bonding.

Regards

Tony_R