Administrator
I’ve had an email from Giles Bowerman who owns a Bolero 25. He’s noticed a few Sonatas using Coppercoat or similar antifoulings that have copper powder embedded in resin. His question is: “is it effective as an antifouling and does it contribute to boat speed”. I guess this could be of general interest – does anyone have any experience of this type of antifouling?
Jack Hardie
fmeredith
Yes , we have used VC Offshore for the past 2 years on Asterix and find it very hard wearing with a good smooth end result. It needs to be applied in two coats with a short lambs wool roller, preferably smoothed out with a good quality brush (2 person job).
Some lessons we have learnt the hard way:
1. Mix the copper powder very slowly into the liquid and apply straight away, stir frequently
2. Always split the liquid and powder into two equal lots ( only mix enough for the first coat )
3. Pick a cool (not cold) day as it tends to go off quite quickly
4: On a Sonata there should be enough for two full coats and an extra coat at the waterline and leading edges.
5: Wear long glives it is very thin!
The top 4 Sonatas in the fleet use this, along with some other design boats that do well also.