450: Lagoon Catamarans: Coppercoat with a primer: Yes or No?

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Hey Dale, when we eventually meet in person you can see how CopperCoat works on a sistership to your "Sukha". I put CopperCoat on my C470 in June, and so far results have been good. Not sure I'd recommend the yard that I hired to apply it though...

-David

Good to know mate, I certainly like the idea in theory. I get 3 years out of anti foul but that's only because I have a hookah and dive regularly on the hull.

[timb7734]

used Coppercoat for a decade on a 47' trawler in Florida and Bahamas. Boat was out of the water May to November. removed all previous ablative paint before applying Coppercoat, and because it is epoxy based no moisture barrier coating was necessary. burnished the bottom paint before launching each year, and had a scrub monthly while in the water. never experienced any other boats who could get by without occasional scrubs, even with ablative paints, recoated once but not because it was worn off, had a total of 7 coats at the end, and I am using it on my new boat as well
IMO a product worth the trouble and expense

[Mick of 42]

The silicone boat paint sounds like it is real value for money. Has anyone here used it?

https://www.hempelyacht.com/en-gb/pr...silic-one-page

[blazing928]

Coppercoat applied now for one year, Melbourne Vic Australia. Most boats here get one year from anti foul, some make it to 2.
Application is easy ish, but vital to follow the simple instructions that many have already commented on.
My hull was completely media blasted to remove 7 years of unhnown Layers of anti foul. So an excellent surface. It was wiped down several times with IPA. note that there are various strengths of ipa out there, so worth while getting the strongest, not the local hardware store watered down variety.
Second point not mentioned is temperature when applying. I think it should go not below 10c at night, but check that.
Of course it rained the weekend after mine was applied, we got nearly 18-2& hrs of drying. There were a few water dribble runs, that were ok, so a bit lucky. Spring weather in Melbourne is a lottery.
Mine was sprayed on, is pretty smooth. It was burnished twice with the brown soft scotchbrite pads. Only epoxy comes off an$ it’s super important that the final finish is Matt. This means no glossy bits. If you roller that’s harder to achieve, but the soft pads do confirm more to the surface, where sand paper goes over the valleys.

The photo above doesn’t look properly burnished to me.

My opinion is that it’s not the best anti foul, but it lasts a long time, you don’t ablate toxic antifoul every where and after 4-5 years you’re ahead in cost.

If you’re cruising and find it difficult to haul out, then it’s a grea5 product. I still lift every year for stern drive service and anodes.

Inone year I had it cleaned / dived on once, a little slime on the sunny side at water line just wiped off when running. A harder, growth, like a very thin mould, needed a good scrub, came off easy with the pressure wash.

The marina up the bay from us has now banned hull cleaning in the marina an$ I see this becoming the norm.

Boat was serviced in Sept, still does same top speed 3 months later. Props ( with propspeed) had some growth that blew off with speed, so for us, it seems to be working. Not used much in my location, I think the marinas want to keep their yearly antifoul business ticking over....

[Stoertebeker]

Many thanks to all and also to the moderators of the forum,
It was very important for me to read the different experiences that you have made and to get the many good advices.

I will now try Coppercoat and additionally apply a solvent-free primer, such as High Protect from Hempel.

I hope I can report good experiences in 10 years.

Stoertebecker

(Pirate of the Baltic Sea, * 1360 and † 1401, decapitated in Hamburg)

[capnkev]

I have coppercoat on my lagoon 450 and on a power cat. I love the product. It was especially great on the world cat, because it can be stored on a lift and not affected by drying out like traditional bottom paints.
On the lagoon, we thoroughly prepped the hull, then did 3 barrier coats, sanding between each coat. This is more to get the hull perfectly smooth. It is very difficult to sand once the coppercoat is on, so getting the hull prepped perfectly smooth is key. If there are any dimples or low spots, they won’t get sanded, and they won’t activate properly. This is the most important difference between people who are happy vs unhappy. The other comments here about application are also true.
I also bought a remora underwater brush that makes the cleaning easy. I have a dive compressor on board, suction cup, and it’s actually kind of a fun project to clean the hull 3 times a year. No barnacles, just slime that comes off easily. or you can haul, and a quick power wash and you’re back to a perfectly clean hull. It performs better is salty than brackish water.
I highly recommend coppercoat. There’s definitely a few haters out there, but they rarely have experience with the product. Reading about the bad installs, it is usually due to poor prep and application.
I did not coppercoat the saildrives. Used Trilux instead. Coppercoat does say it’s ok to paint the drives. It is non conductive, and used on underwater turbines and wind mill platforms. I haven’t noticed any abnormal zink wear.
Go for it. If you don’t like it , you will have a good barrier coat and can just put traditional paint right over it. I can guarantee you’ll like it if applied properly. No dimples! Do t let them skimp on the sanding.

[barryglewis]

Can itbe used on an aluminium boat?

[Davidhoy]

Originally Posted by barryglewis

Can it be used on an aluminium boat?

According to the Coopercoat manufacturer, the answer is yes. But, you need a pure epoxy primer/barrier coat on the bare aluminum first.