VC Offshore

[mikehoyt]

Have been contemplating switching to this from KL990 Composite Ablative.

After a discussion with Interlux tech support I was advised that for our Northern waters I needed to sand off all existing coatings down to gelcoat, wash with 202 solvent wash and then apply 4 - 5 coats with wet sanding between to keep it smooth.

Was also pointed out that 2-3 new coats would be required each season to maintain the antifouling properties. With the KL990 a single coat each season was all that was required.

Any comments on this process? Are 4-5 coats really required and does it have to be reapplied every season?

Waters are in low 70''s in the summer with minimal pollution and our season is 4 months long.

Thanks

Mike
Nova Scotia, Canada

[jparker11]

Mike,

With 8 or 9 ablative bottoms and only one hard, Teflon bottom under our belt, consider the source!!

IMHO, the switch to VC Offshore would be a major commitment in time (If you are a DIY''er) and money. First, ALL the ablative needs to come off. Depending on the age of the boat and number of coats this can take some time. The residual amounts of the ablative varies with location on the hull.

Secondly, although you would not know it by the price, Interlux gives you far less solids and a lot more solvents in each gallon. You must apply more coats to allow the solvents to flash off and not get entrapped in the paint (excuse me, coating, justified by price, again). The actual application of additional coats is not that bad, save for raising and lowering of supports on the hard.

Then after spending all this time and money, you burnish half of it off!!!! A little exageration, but not much. VC Offshore is very hard and is easiest to wet sand. We started at 400 grit, 600 and finally to P1000. We used a pneumatic orbital.

If you stick with it, next year will take about half the labor for the refresh coats, again, a guess. In similar water temps, we get 2 to 3 years. But we don''t have barnacles, only algae.

For us, the results were noticeable. We now have superior boat speed against the other O30''s in the fleet and have climbed a couple of notches in the PHRF fleet. If we lose, which is seldom, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

[mikehoyt]

Thanks John

One of the reasons we have been using the KL990 ablative is that it can be removed entirely each year simply with a pressure washer. Even a garden hose and scrub brush will do the trick but is messier. Build up and removal of the ablative is not the problem. The removal problem is the underlying coat of 5+ year old VC 17 that came with the boat and is peeling.

When you state 2 - 3 years do you mean that you do the bottom once and leave it for 2 -3 seasons?

How many coats did you initially apply?

In our area we have no problems with barnacles and only algae as well ... but with the KL990 the bottoms are pretty clean on haulout each season.

Am also considering as an alternative removing all the underlying old VC paint and fairing with a smooth product (maybe even VC Underwater or VC Performance Epoxy) and continuing to use the KL990 Komposite each year as it is easily applied and never has seasonal buildup since it is so easily removed.

Looking for comments here ....

Thanks

Mike

[jparker11]

Mike,

On the O30, the previous owner had VC17 also. Underlying it was fairing compound and a barrier coat. We didn''t want to mess with either as it was a great looking hull.

As such we elected to remove the remants of the VC17 by sanding. It was very much softer than the VC Offshore. Although, the resulting dust storm was not easily controlled.

We applied six coats of VC Offshore. Even at that, we had a couple of spots that resulted in base exposure after wet sanding. Each coat is very thin!!

We do leave the boat in year round for 2 to 3 years. It is scrubbed once a month in the summer. We don''t anticipate this will change in the conversion from VC17 to Offshore.

No comments on your fairing strategy/products. Just finished an Interlux Barrier coat (2000E) on the Ranger and have done the spars on the Cal with Interlux expoxy and polyurethane. Very satisfied with their products and technical support.

If the couple of tenths of boat speed resulting from the conversion from ablative to hard is not that crucial, I''d stay with the KL990. Hard race bottoms are a lot of work!! We had it in the hangar for six weeks of evenings and weekends effort this past winter.

Although, the time and money ($800 for materials) was considerable and paled next to the $3,000 headsail) I think is was the single biggest equipment improvement in the last couple of years.

Good luck on your choices,

[mikehoyt]

Thanks John

Your insights are most useful. If I knew I could get a couple of tenths of a knot I would not only be using the hard finish I would also provide the ablative FREE to my competitors. Might even painttheir hulls for them.

Wow! Is it really that much faster? Guess you have answered my question. The 6 coats scares me cost wise but sounds necessary.

My new plan will be to prep the hull after haulout and apply 2 coats of VC offshore. Then in Spring I would apply the final 2-3 coats.

Thanks again

Mike

[francist]

Mike:
I deduce we race in the same area,(AYC,Kirby 30). I've had VC offshore a few seasons now. Sadly, ecology reasons have reduced the effectiveness
of all antifoulings, with copper about the only biocide left. Thus a regular program of scrubs is the best defence against algae. The VC will well withstand pressure washing (best), as will fibreglass bottomcoat (good). All of the otherwise good ablative paints are poor in this regard, as each pressure blast flushes $$$ into the Arm (our local body of H2O ). VC provides a much smoother bottom out of the can than most, with a price to match. Sadly, they've discontinued red on the Canadian market this year (a label
problem I've heard) with only black or blue left.
Regards, Francis

[Gary M]

Not sure if my fresh water experience on Lake Huron will help but last year I took all 22 years worth of bottom paint off the new to me 9.1 and put 5 coats of 2000E on. I ran out of time and arm strenght so did not sand the 2000 so we were definately slow.
This year we sanded it nice and smooth and put VC 17 on. Just one coat a year is lots in fresh water and no sanding is required. It goes on as smooth as the base coat.
I think it is well worth while, we will rub the bottom down about once a month to get rid of a slight slime that we see but other than that I love the stuff. It is so thin that it does not build up, we all use it here.

Gary

[mikehoyt]

footnote

I ran with VC Offshore last two years. The big commitment was the time it takes to take down to gelcoat as the old barrier coat under VC17 was very hard.

Only applied two coats VC Offshore in 2005 and one last year. When clean my top speed under motor increased 3/10 knot. When top motoring speed dropped by 2/10 knot and I hauled to scrub was very slimy. This is a fast paint but needs scrubbing regularly during summer.

This year I switched to Micron because I only wanted a couple quarts and VC Offshore only comes in gallons. Wil see how well this ablative works as it too is rumored to be fast.

Francis. I actually work within walking distance of AYC at the rotary but sail on North shore outof BHYC near Tatamagouche. Seems some paints that work in my area (KL990) do not work well in the NW Arm. PS I am on a Niagara 26.

Small world ...

[Sabre66]

Big gains this year, in the light stuff, from swithching to VC offshore from CSC(ablative). VC has 0 antifouling properties, I dont care what they claim, so be prepared to dive on the hull frequently. We applied 3 coats over the barrier coat and sanded to 1000. we went through the paint in a couple of places, but like I said, be prepaired to scrub frequently.