Beneteau bottom paint color 361

[mshimota]

I'm trying to find the greenish/blue paint color to match my 361 sailboat bottom. The two beneteau dealers I emailed are not responding.
any help is appreciated. Also, recommendations on paint type and application. Mark

 

[mdibella]

I've always understood that it is sub-optimal to mix bottom paint compositions. If you can't repaint with the same compound, take the old bottom down to the gelcoat and repaint.

Hard (non-ablative) bottoms, sprayed on, will give you the best performance, but cost more.

I've owned two Beneteaus and have always used Petit Trinadad.

 

[Davidasailor26]

A previous owner could’ve used any number of paints, likely not at all related to whatever the dealer put on at the start. As mdibella said compatibility across paint types is not guaranteed. In general you can go over harder paints with the same formulation or softer / more ablative ones, but there are exceptions. If you don’t know what you’re starting with rub it with your hand and see if it transfers much. Hard paints generally won’t and ablatives generally will.

 

[joker460]

I'm going to get some flack over this but why do we bother with anti fouling paints in fresh water. The boats are in the water for 5 months, maybe 6 months of the year in the Great Lakes. I haven't seen any zebra mussels in years up here. I understand the need in Salt water. I can understand those that race and need a smooth bottom.
I haven't done a bottom paint for the last 8 years and it takes 15 min at haul out to spray wash the hull and I'm good to go for next year. Just saying.
Am I missing something?

 

[BigEasy]

I haven't done a bottom paint for the last 8 years and it takes 15 min at haul out to spray wash the hull and I'm good to go for next year. Just saying.
Am I missing something?

Can't disagree with that. Why go through the expense and trouble of painting if you don't need it.

 

[BigEasy]

Also, recommendations on paint type and application. Mark

I wouldn't be so concerned about the specific color. Most bottom paints are blue, black, red (rust color); there are a few manufacturers that offer more color selection. The main thing is to select a paint that is appropriate for your area to eliminate zebras & slime, realizing that hard paints will need to be refreshed after the winter storage period. One technique is to have an initial shade of bottom paint and then top coat with a different color; when you are sanding the top coat in the future, you can use the underlying color as an indicator to stop sanding. I use a high copper content ablative paint; however, we have very high water temps during summer months, lots of hard & soft growth w/o high copper content , and the boat only gets hauled every three to four years. Interesting that Joker doesn't use bottom paint and does fine; you may want to try his recommendation if appropriate for your locale.

 

[Calif. Ted]

After a few years the Trinidad blue I use tends to fade to greenish blue, or blueish green.

 

[DougM]

I'm going to get some flack over this but why do we bother with anti fouling paints in fresh water. The boats are in the water for 5 months, maybe 6 months of the year in the Great Lakes. I haven't seen any zebra mussels in years up here. I understand the need in Salt water. I can understand those that race and need a smooth bottom.
I haven't done a bottom paint for the last 8 years and it takes 15 min at haul out to spray wash the hull and I'm good to go for next year. Just saying.
Am I missing something?

Those of us who opt to paint the bottoms here on Lake Michigan do so primarily to keep the algae form accumulating and because of the tannins in the river water that we moor in that tend to stain everything not bottom painted. Its just a matter of personal choice.
Many of us have used VC17 over the years because it cleans up so easily when we haul out in the fall and because of the ease of application in the Spring. My 323 used about 2 1/2 quarts of paint to do the entire bottom and you could launch within a half hour. The VC doesn’t build up like ablative paints, and can conceivably last a couple of seasons.
Remember also that a lot of bottom paints lose their effectiveness when the boat sits on the hard for awhile.

 

[CapitalistSailor]

mshimota,

Here on the western end of Lake Erie we need bottom paint to avoid huge growths of algae and Zebra mussels. The water gets warm in the summer, especially in the rivers where the docks are, and the water is well fertilized by municipal discharges and agricultural runoff. Please see the attached picture of what grew on my unpainted sonar transducer one year. VC-17m works well for racing and cruising, and is easy to reapply each year, but it still needs a light scrubbing before a light air race. Keeping the algae under control also reduces the amount of mussels and other hard growth. Keeping the bottom clean can mean as much as a half knot, which is a lot when the boat is only moving 2-3 knots.

PS. Interlux has stopped manufacturing VC-17m this year and maybe next, and promises to return in a year or two. I suspect the Ingarol additive (green growth biocide) is causing regulatory heartburn again, although Interlux recently made the paint without the additive for a while.