Bottom Paint

[Ken]

What's my best choice for use in fresh water? I currently have ablative. I don't know what brand. I find the ablative a real pain when I try to clean or wax anywhere near it so I'm thinking of something with a hard finish. I know there is discussion of this in the archives but I think most of the recommendations are for salt water.What is required to prepare the suface? Does the old paint need to be removed or just sanded?

 

[ted]

I love the VC17 for many reasons but I think that you are going to have difficulty changing to another kind of bottom coat. The only prudent thing to do here is to contact the manufacturer for his/her advice.I would not ask anyone but the manufacturer this question you have posed because when you ask people (even chanderleys) you will get many different answers. Trust only the maker of the product or one of his reps.

 

[Daryl2400]

VC17, It doesn't Get any Better!

The bad news is you have to remove the ablative paint. It would be a good time to put on a barrier coat (I prefer Interlux 2000 to VC Tar but have used both) The VC is easy to maintain and apply. After it's done you won't spend an hour/year on the bottom. You'll never have to sand ever again. Your boat will actually be faster due to the teflon additive in the paint.

 

[Droop]

I would never use VC-17 Unless

Your a professional racer. You want a multi-season ablative paint. Everyone I talk to hates VC-17.

 

[Paul (Affinity C320)]

Remove ablative

Before putting on a hard paint.