whats the best bottom paint for racing

[lofty22810]

I am stripping all of the 27 yrs of bottompaint off and will be applying several coats of new...except this time i want to put a faster bottom on her and was curious to what yall suggest?? lancer 36

[sailingdog]

It depends... do you keep the boat in the water or not?

[lofty22810]

yes saltwater,NC

[sailingfool]

Racers like hard paints like VC17 or Baltoplate.

Note that the bottom paint wont be any faster than the quality of the bottom prep underneath the paint. if you you don't spend 5-10 full days fairing the bottom with microballoon filler and a long board, don't bother with a hard bottom paint, just roll on some ablative stuff and go sailing...more slowly.

[sailingdog]

SF brings up a good point... how fair is the bottom of your boat. If you do fair with a microballoon filler, coat it with a skim coat of unthickened epoxy, otherwise, the microballoons that are sanded can absorb water.

Since you're bringing it down to the bare hull, you might want to barrier coat it at this time while you're at it.

A good hard modified epoxy paint is probably your best bet, since you can sand it very smooth for racing...

However, IMHO, it won't matter too much, since you're on a full-displacement monohulll. If you really wanted speed, you'd be on a multihull....

bad dog.... bad, bad dog...

[NOLAsailing]

Bottom paints tend to behave differenty in different areas. Ask the racers in your area what they use and how they like. Your best bet will probably be to go with thier consensus.

I use Baltoplate and like it. However, note that none of these paints are going to be as effective as the cruising alternatives at keeping growth off; you will have to regularly clean your bottom.

[Mikelivingstone]

you will have to regularly clean your bottom.

At Jason, I am considering switching from ablative bottom paint to try to better performance. But would like to ask how often does it have to be cleaned underwater?

Mike

[US27inKS]

Originally Posted by Mikelivingstone

At Jason, I am considering switching from ablative bottom paint to try to better performance. But would like to ask how often does it have to be cleaned underwater?

Mike

The obvious answer would be, before every race.

[NOLAsailing]

Yes, certainly before any major race I'll either get in and scrub or get a diver. In the meantime, I use a Dri-Diver (DRI-DIVER - Boat Hull Cleaner, Remove hull growth from the dock) to keep the hull free of too much growth accumulation. I'll scrub with the Dri Diver once or twice a month and dive (or pay a diver if it's cold) 7 or 8 times a year.

[Giulietta]

NOLA..thanks for the link..

we use an old fishing net with a line tied on both ends..tyhe ropes go up the and up the hull on each side to a person on each side standing on the deck

then one pulls the other one lets go a little ,and both move back and forth like a saw, and walk back