savageseadog
Well-known member
We're not dry-sailed so antifouling is needed, I am considering minimising time in the water. What do fellow racers recommend? Prep? Undercoats, primers? What about keels?
Underwater Racing Finishes
- Thread starter savageseadog
- Start date
howard easton
N/A
coppercoat is good being capable of finishing to a good standard and an AF to boot. only problem is if you have an exposed lead keel to cover when you need to make sure that there is an underlying well adhered coat of grp. But then you would want to fair a lead keel before coating anyway.
bignick
Active member
I can tell you what not to do, from the benefit of hard won experience...
Don't use hard racing antifouling and pressure wash it then put the boat back in. The biocide gets washed out of the matrix leaving a microscopic pitted surface with no biocide left in it, so marine growth comes back even faster.
Similarly, if you pressure wash an ablative antifouling most of it ends up in the dock!
If I wanted to use the boat as you're suggesting then I too would use coppercoat.
Don't use hard racing antifouling and pressure wash it then put the boat back in. The biocide gets washed out of the matrix leaving a microscopic pitted surface with no biocide left in it, so marine growth comes back even faster.
Similarly, if you pressure wash an ablative antifouling most of it ends up in the dock!
If I wanted to use the boat as you're suggesting then I too would use coppercoat.
DownWest
Well-known member
Reading Peter Scots' autobiography, he used a 'secret coating' before National 12 races. They brushed on a mix of egg whites and something else before a race. He reconned it washed off in the first minute, but it had a useful phsyco effect on the opposition.....
markhomer
Member
anyone any experience of vc17 m extra ???
savageseadog
Well-known member
I've used it in the past on a previous boat but not recently. I found it to be very smooth if the hull was well prepared. The liquid didn't have much density so blemishes showed through. The other issue is subsequent coats. I'm not sure how good the bond between the new and old coats can be. I've been recommended a Nautix A4 wich also contains Teflon
Beelzebub
Well-known member
Get rid of all the antifouling and then smear the hull with anti-thrush cream.
It works well for a couple of months
It works well for a couple of months
markhomer
Member
Helpfull
TLouth7
Active member
Every time I see this I think it refers to some amazing finish line technology. I wonder how far fetched that would be....
Foolish Muse
Member
I thought it referred to submarine races. I used to take my girlfriend to watch.
rudolph_hart
Active member
So what about underwater racing starts?
Pete7
Well-known member
Very average in terms of antifouling properties, but the real problem was the following year when no other antifoul paint stuck to it. 4 days later I finally go that last of the VC17 off and was able to use another make.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Our Squib fleet has a mixture of paints plus coppercoat. My squib has Coppertec which performs marginally better than Coppercoat. In any event we have to have the boats out every3-4 weeks to jetwash otherwise the build up of film is too great.
My cruiser, which has Coppercoat grew weed weed over 4 inches long in only 9 weeks in spite of having sailed 500 miles in that time so it has not just sat in a marina
My cruiser, which has Coppercoat grew weed weed over 4 inches long in only 9 weeks in spite of having sailed 500 miles in that time so it has not just sat in a marina
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michael_w
Well-known member
I tried VC17m once. Difficult to apply as the second coat tended to pull the first coat off. Sure it left a lovely baby's bum finish, but as an antifoul it was quite the most useless I've ever used, more like a fertilizer Even had anenomes thriving after a couple months. Boat was based in Bursledon.
Only good bit was it was very easy to remove from the hull so I could use something better.
Only good bit was it was very easy to remove from the hull so I could use something better.
anoccasionalyachtsman
Well-known member
Like michael_w I used VC17m and had the same result. It was especially good at propagating those gel-like circular things that are better than any known glues.
This year I'd read PBO magazine's two annual tests, in which Seajet's 033 Shogun was shown to be the best for The Hamble, so three coats was applied, exactly as per the instructions.
Imagine my delight at finding this after seven weeks. The boat is on a river mooring between HRSC and Warsash, so fast flowing tide.
I lifted it again this week (two weeks on) and it had about 1mm of green 'moss' more or less all over, more in some patches. It's going to have to come out again next week for Cowes Week. Not happy, and Seajet haven't replied to my enquiry as to whether they think this is 'within bounds'.
A friend reckons he's doing much better with Micron, and I'd be delighted to hear what you think is a reasonable frequency for a scrubbing time interval.
I should add that it's over twenty years since I've owned a boat in the UK, and had been used to much much better in the TBT days.
This year I'd read PBO magazine's two annual tests, in which Seajet's 033 Shogun was shown to be the best for The Hamble, so three coats was applied, exactly as per the instructions.
Imagine my delight at finding this after seven weeks. The boat is on a river mooring between HRSC and Warsash, so fast flowing tide.
I lifted it again this week (two weeks on) and it had about 1mm of green 'moss' more or less all over, more in some patches. It's going to have to come out again next week for Cowes Week. Not happy, and Seajet haven't replied to my enquiry as to whether they think this is 'within bounds'.
A friend reckons he's doing much better with Micron, and I'd be delighted to hear what you think is a reasonable frequency for a scrubbing time interval.
I should add that it's over twenty years since I've owned a boat in the UK, and had been used to much much better in the TBT days.
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Daydream believer
Well-known member
In case anyone wants coppercoat. This is my hull 12 weeks after launch & 500 miles of sailing. the boat became almost unsailable about 3 weeks ago due to weed
d
I have been round with a stiff brush as far down as I can reach several times during that time.
dI have been round with a stiff brush as far down as I can reach several times during that time.
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mrming
Well-known member
I use Coppercoat on my small racy boat. It's rubbish for anti fouling in our brackish water. We scrub every 4 weeks so it's not a problem in our case. The advantage of Coppercoat is the finish is tough as nails, so you can paint the boat once properly and just clean it from there on in, avoiding the build up of antifoul into miniature mountains over time (or the hassle of getting it off and starting again). In summary a nice tough finish, but for me not many actual antifouling properties. Depends on your water and weather I think.
