Do many people have coppercoat?

[David_J]

We have it simply because it was on the boat when we bought it at just over two years old. Now its coming up on five years. Coppercoat chap on the stand at LIBS said no need to flat it down (very light rub down) each year just when needed (whatever that means) so this year as an experiment we just pressure washed the hull thoroughly but no rubbing down. Subsequently the weed growth was amazing. We lost 6 kts in six weeks. Had to have the boat lifted again and the poor guy pressure washing really struggled to clear the growth, then we gave a light rub down with wet & dry. Most of the performance came back. Four weeks of use kept the growth at bay but a few weeks back in Brighton and its coming back fast.
Does this coppercoat work for anyone?

 

[Canopy Locked]

I had Cupprotect on my last boat - guess they're all pretty similar - 1st year I lifted out I just washed down and left it. Weed growth was bad after the boat went back in having been out for 3 months

2nd time, I washed down after lifting and then before I went back in I rubbed down the hull very lightly with 120 sandpaper - I mean really lightly... just enough to remove the oxidisation and then hosed off and immediately banged back into the water. Weed growth minimal when it came to be lifted out again.

I'm no expert but I reckon it depends on how well the copper was applied originally. When I spoke to the original supplier of the cupprotect, he did explain that I needed to rub down and wash off, just before the boat went in, which is what I did the 2nd time

I'd certainly have it again, if I had a new boat.

 

[MarieK]

I have coppercoat and experience similar issues. I contacted copper coat regarding what to do before re-launching after a winter lay up. The advice was NOT to do any sanding or rubbing down as it was the "green" oxidised layer that does the work and rubbing that off to get back to the original copper coating would mean having to wait until the oxidisation built up again. So I did this and the fouling this year has been bad, not quite sure what to do next.

They did also say that after 5-6 seasons there may be a need to sand it back a little but mine was only on 2 seasons.

 

[Bandit]

I see many boats lifted and I am not impressed with the various copper coatings in or on a 2 pack mix, I reckon that the fouling is greater with them than traditional antifouling.

When the fouling is greater so is the drag and the fuel burn per NM.

Personally if it was me in the short term I would leave it as it is and spend the money on increased lift and pressure washes and see what that does. If that does not work you could always over coat it with traditional antifouling but check with Hempels or International if it is ok to do that first.

Have you people who use these copper coatings seen what you believe is greater electrolitic action or anode use?

Personaly I believe that it is cost effective to do a quick lift and pressure wash mid season to clean the hull in late july to save a bit of juice and to check the props, shafts and anodes etc.

 

[Swagman]

We had Cuprocoat on a sailing yacht and it worked fine for 3 years. Then after a six month period of inactivty - we hauled her in Turkey and the growth was astounding. It was warmer climes so we expected something - but not growth and jelloids hanging 12 inches down.........and white coral type covering to 50% of keel.

Did ask the Turkish yard to 'give it a light buff' and came back after a few beers to see a young nipper and taken it back so far we could see the hull in places! No alternate but to then coat with regular ablative antifouling which we've done since then. But interestingly we had some stuff painte don when in Caribbean which lasted not just one season there, but was still working 24 months later whan we slipped her in Portugal! Not sure what was in it, and a shame we can't buy more this side.

But re copper bottoms, as we need to slip to replace anodes each year anyway, we've resolved never to go with any copper stuff again.

Cheers
JOHN

 

[Elessar]

Yes lots of people have CopperCoat. Many thousands!

Cuprotect is NOT the same thing. Cuprotect uses copper nickel stuck to the outside of an epoxy binder coat. CopperCoat uses pure copper in suspension in a special epoxy.

Yes CopperCoat really does work. I've posted this picture quite a few times but will do so again. The difference between the CopperCoat and the conventional antifouling is apparent.

You only need to sand it down using a very fine sandpaper or scotchbrite pad before its first launch and then if it starts to lose its effectiveness after say 7 years. 5 years might be enough to need it but if in doubt ring the CopperCoat office they are always very helpful.

What it isn't though is a miracle cure - it is only an antifouling. The best one available in my opinion but still only an antifouling. You will get some slime build up and if you don't use the boat enough a light growth may stick to the slime. It is stuck to the slime not the boat though and will brush off easily with a stiff brush. I dive mine in summer whilst at anchor and give the hull a once over. Unlike ordinary antifouling you can scrub it as much as you like and you won't wear it away it is very very hard. You can see there is more slime build up on the transom in the photo than on the bottom of the hull where there is more water movement. The trim tabs had conventional antifouling.

As for loss of speed, the fouling has been bad this year. I lost a lot of speed after 5 or 6 weeks but it was all due to barnacles on the legs and props. Cleaning the legs only restored normality, I didn't have to touch the hull.

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Elessar]

We had Cuprocoat

---------8<------------

Did ask the Turkish yard to 'give it a light buff' and came back after a few beers to see a young nipper and taken it back so far we could see the hull in places!

---------8<------------

we've resolved never to go with any copper stuff again.

Cheers
JOHN

Cuprocoat? Not a product ever made, just what did you have? If they wore it through to the hull it was NOT CopperCoat, it is too hard to sand through.

It's a shame that because CopperCoat is so successful, every pretender product with Copper in tends to get called by the term CopperCoat used in the generic. And because your boat had an inferior copper product on it you've fallen into the trap and dismissed all copper products.

My Lada broke down so I'm never buying a car again........

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Elessar]

I see many boats lifted and I am not impressed with the various copper coatings in or on a 2 pack mix, I reckon that the fouling is greater with them than traditional antifouling.

When the fouling is greater so is the drag and the fuel burn per NM.

Personally if it was me in the short term I would leave it as it is and spend the money on increased lift and pressure washes and see what that does. If that does not work you could always over coat it with traditional antifouling but check with Hempels or International if it is ok to do that first.

Have you people who use these copper coatings seen what you believe is greater electrolitic action or anode use?

Personaly I believe that it is cost effective to do a quick lift and pressure wash mid season to clean the hull in late july to save a bit of juice and to check the props, shafts and anodes etc.

Glad to see you have seen some boats with some form of copper on.

I have CopperCoat so can speak from experience. It saves fuel because the hull stays clean longer. It does not effect anode life - all the copper bits are electrically isolated from each other.

BTW I had CopperCoat on the boat before I had anything to do with the marine industry so bought it out of real money just like everyone else.

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Nick_H]

I put Coppercoat on the Windy last year, and haven't been over impressed with it. Of course it's a lot better than nothing, but you get more growth than you do with normal antifouling.

You don't need to re-apply it each year, but you do need to do 5-7 coats to start with, and abrade it from time to time, and it's about 10 times as expensive, and you still need to lift most boats each year, so over 10 years i'm not sure it saves much time or money over conventional anti fouling, and it's not as effective. I wouldn't bother again.

 

[volvopaul]

I have owned 1 boat with coppercoat, im glad I didnt pay for it to be done, as the theory I was told on how it works will only work on boats in total salt water.

The theory being that copper and salt water create a barrier of hydrochloric acid which should in theory not allow anything to grow on it.

To be fair weed didnt grow, only on the tabs, but a brown like furr grew on it, simply washed off with a hose when lifted.

The only gain I can see is that there is no work in painting antifoul on, but unless you decide to have it done and keep the boat for a good number of years then just stick to plain old AF.

 

[Elessar]

To be fair weed didnt grow, only on the tabs, but a brown like furr grew on it, simply washed off with a hose when lifted.

The only gain I can see is that there is no work in painting antifoul on, but unless you decide to have it done and keep the boat for a good number of years then just stick to plain old AF.

Hmm... weed didn't grow. Just a little fur stuck to the slime that came off easily. That sounds to me like it works. What is it you were expecting?

The other gain you've forgotten that is that it is about 15-20 times more waterproof than gelcoat. I had 2 identical yachts in the yard recently of a similar age, both for CopperCoat. The one had had some form of poorly applied copper/epoxy treatment when new. It had been applied to a hull that hadn't been properly abraded and was coming off.

Even so the boat with the epoxy had readings on the tramex meter of 8s and 10s, the other (immaculate) boat had readings of 14s and 16s.

Epoxy coatings are proven to keep moisture out of the hull and CopperCoat is an epoxy coating.

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Elessar]

and it's about 10 times as expensive,

I wish!

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Elessar]

and you still need to lift most boats each year,

this is an interesting point. It's where yachties can gain over mobos because they can do a quick scrub and anode change on a cheap or free grid so don't need a lift out and thus the savings really rack up. We could paint our legs on a sandy beach if we wanted to be really thrifty but most mobos go for the lift. Leg servicing is an issue though. Shaft drive boats just need an anode change - this and a scrub can be done in the water by a diver.

When I find a leg and prop solution that's as good as CopperCoat is on the hull then mobos can stay in more easily too. You can get very cheap lift deals in the summer though, no need to come out in winter. As you don't need to rub down and paint the hull you can change the leg oil and anodes as well as a quick spray of trilux in an ovenight lift and hold.

Even with a lift every year though, CopperCoat is cheaper than conventional antifouling, Your 10 times figure is way off, and after 5-7 years you will need to remove conventional antifouling, after watching efficiency slowly drop off as the conventional flakes and gets bumpy.

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[Bandit]

Glad to see you have seen some boats with some form of copper on.

I have CopperCoat so can speak from experience. It saves fuel because the hull stays clean longer. It does not effect anode life - all the copper bits are electrically isolated from each other.

BTW I had CopperCoat on the boat before I had anything to do with the marine industry so bought it out of real money just like everyone else.

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

i say it how i see it.

Yes as well as a boat owner and enthuiast I am also in the trade.

It is suprising how little weed, a brown fuzz for example will start to slow the boat down.

My experience is that three similar boats antifouled at the same time and in the same marina for the same length of time :

A/ with a good proprietary antifouling on

B/ with a copper powder suspended in epoxy

C/ an epoxy base coat with spray on copper alloy granules blasted on to it

I would suggest that after say 12 months that the boat with the least resistance is A followed by B then C.

I am not scientist, but I am independent I see my boat i can measure the improved MPG after a mid season scrub, i know that darker AF,s hide the problem ( weed growth) and white ones show the problem worse than it is. I used to operate hydrofoils where a fine fuzz is the differnece between perfoming well and being sluggish.

 

[Gwylan]

Coppercoat

Seems they are not always clear on what to do.

After a doubtful start in 2006 we are very pleased with ours.
This last winter she came out and had a pressure wash because it was in the price. Not really necessary.

Spent 3 months on the hard before going back in this Spring.
This summer when we have dried out I have been delighted to see growth at all.

But we did have to speak quite firmly to it with a Scotch Pad back in 2007. Takes a long time to rub down a 35 foot bilge keeler with a Scotch Pad - but did the business.

 

[Nick_H]

I wish!

I spent about £700 on 9 litres of Coppercoat for a 34 footer with fairly narrow beam. Even after 7 coats I had a couple of litres left, so say £500 worth was really needed. Two and a half litres of conventional eroding antifoul would be more than enough for one good coat, probably two, and you could buy that for about £30, or better stuff like Blakes Tiger Extra/Cruiser Uno for £50/60, or the best of the best for £100, so it's 5 to 15 times the cost in materials to Coppercoat a boat than to apply one or two coats of conventional antifouling, which I averaged to 10.

 

[Elessar]

i say it how i see it.

Yes as well as a boat owner and enthuiast I am also in the trade.

It is suprising how little weed, a brown fuzz for example will start to slow the boat down.

My experience is that three similar boats antifouled at the same time and in the same marina for the same length of time :

A/ with a good proprietary antifouling on

B/ with a copper powder suspended in epoxy

C/ an epoxy base coat with spray on copper alloy granules blasted on to it

I would suggest that after say 12 months that the boat with the least resistance is A followed by B then C.

I am not scientist, but I am independent I see my boat i can measure the improved MPG after a mid season scrub, i know that darker AF,s hide the problem ( weed growth) and white ones show the problem worse than it is. I used to operate hydrofoils where a fine fuzz is the differnece between perfoming well and being sluggish.

Hi - apologies for thinking you were one of the many observers that critique without real experience of the product, which you obviously have in abundance. Patronising comment (sorry, it's more so on re reading) withdrawn!

I respect your observations and mostly agree with what you say. I think the mid season scrub is of benefit too and I would add though that when you scrub the conventional antifoul its performance degrades, with CopperCoat you can scrub as much as you like whilst retaining its performance. Therefore the 12 month performance after a scrub or 2 and the antifoul performance would have dropped right off in my opinion.

 

[MarieK]

What is the answer regarding trim tabs, mine are awful regardless of what I try. I have no swim platform so they get alot of sunshine and growth seems to happen overnight.

 

[Elessar]

I spent about £700 on 9 litres of Coppercoat for a 34 footer with fairly narrow beam. Even after 7 coats I had a couple of litres left, so say £500 worth was really needed. Two and a half litres of conventional eroding antifoul would be more than enough for one good coat, probably two, and you could buy that for about £30, or better stuff like Blakes Tiger Extra/Cruiser Uno for £50/60, or the best of the best for £100, so it's 5 to 15 times the cost in materials to Coppercoat a boat than to apply one or two coats of conventional antifouling, which I averaged to 10.

You only need 4 coats of CopperCoat but I do prefer to put on 5, having said that I'd have said 8 litres for your boat (3.2m beam?) so you were doing very thin coats indeed.
Cruiser Uno only good for about 20 knots so you need something harder/more expensive.
So even on the DIY route and not factoring in the cost of labour you are nearer 5 or 6 times than 10.
With labour on a new boat the factor is nearer 3.
And if you want like for like performance you need an epoxy under your antifoul......

________________

ARC. Antifoul Removal, Epoxy Coatings, CopperCoat

Noisekiller Marine. Automotive acoustic technology now available for your boat

Sail for Fun. Yacht and Motorboat charter

 

[epervier]

I paid out for coppercoat and came to the conclusion that if you are afloat 24/7 it would probably work, however in my case of sitting on mud during springs but afloat during neaps, I found that from the keel up to the first chine where she sat in mud I ended up with a fruites der mer, tube worm, barnacles, mussels,and other crape I left it for 6 months just to see if it did what it said on the tin. By that time, wot maxed at 3200 and knocked 10 kts off the top end went over to sealift2 in cowes who collected the seafood in a holding tank and can tell you how much you have been carrying around, mine was nearly 1/2 a tonne. I have photo's if you wish to see,so as far as I'm concerned it may well have been cheaper to stick with eroding af, I should add that where the boat didn't touch the mud she looked great.