Bottom Paint

Hey all,

Finished re-coring and fairing all of my repairs. Floor re-installed, bright work done and re-wiring in progress. Now I'm chewing over which bottom paint to use. I put Petit ablative on last year and it had some major flaking and adhesion issues. The former owner of #56 claims to have used just west marine anti-fouling paint. Im almost finished scraping and sanding the hull, any opinions on what I should apply?

Cheers!

Josh

If you will be doing serious racing go with Baltoplate or VC Offshore (both hard bottom Vinyl based paint). It wet sands and burnishes to a perfect mirror finish. You will have to dive frequently to keep it clean. Here on Narragansett bay, it means every two weeks until mid June, then weekly.

If you are cruising, I'd check on what works best in your area. Some paints seem to work better in different water temperatures and sea growth. Ask folks around the marina and get info on their experiences. Since you'll have a good barrier coat on the boat, you should be able to use most anything. Helpful hint - put on one base coat of the bottom paint a different color than the outer coats. That way you can see when you need to repaint, or need to stop wet sanding.

Faced with doing the bottom of the J/80 this week, it appears that baltoplate is now a color option for VC Offshore. Obviously a marketing ploy, but since I know for sure it's on the boat now ... pretty bronzy color ... will try it for this year.

see VC Offshore

I would not use it except that I can pull the boat at the club and power wash it on the lift. And it is what's on there now.

We will be doing some racing in the wednesday night series here in Casco Bay but I don't think it so competitive as to deserve the VC Offshore, I was thinking a middle ground, maybe some type of ablative that can be burnished a bit. I'll ask around for recommendations.

Cheers

I use interlux Micron extra. Has worked well for me in the marblehead ma area.

Petit Vivid has been shown to work reasonably well in Casco Bay by some of the GMORA fleet. It's quasi-burnish-able, but being an ablative... not really. Others use Micron CSC, which is even more ablative.

Ablatives are terrible for the environment and if you plan on cleaning the bottom at all, you'll be in a cloud of toxic water when you dive.

If you can handle the long-term sanding (or media blasting) downside of a hard paint (such as Trinidad), I think you'll be happier with the in the water performance and ease of cleaning.

You'll hate VC Offshore or Baltoplate. I had/have that on my other boat and it requires constant attention, at least here in Penobscot Bay.

I had long been using Micron CSC in for my boat in Key West. Several years ago I tried bottom paint made by Sherwin Williams. Yes, Sherwin Williams. They have been making paint for the Navy for some time, and I decided why not. They have a "hard ablative" paint that has excellent anti fouling in Key West area. It is firmer than the petit Vivid paint, It does not come off in a cloud when you wipe it down, I usually use a terry cloth towel. I get about 2 years + or -. Per painting. The main wear point is at the waterline so extra coats are applied there. I am sold on the Sherwin Williams paint.

Lumpy

Pettit calls their Vivid White a "hard ablative". My driver Donna likes it because it shows the slime for removal. It also looks sharp with a white hull, Red waterline and white bottom.

Hey Jeff-

Come race with us at Raritan YC! We now have 5 J/30's in competition-it would be great to have a 6th...

Radiant has just started racing Spin. We will try to make it this year...