What????? I need to do a freshen up in six months!

 

Yep.

VC 17m Extra with Biolux

Product Retired
Sorry, this product is retired. Contact our friendly helpdesk to find the best replacement product for your boat.

 

Ouch. I've been using that stuff for decades.

 

VC-17 Extra with Biolux was discontinued a long time ago because Biolux (Irgarol) was made illegal to use starting Jan 1 2023. Two years ago Interlux removed the irgarol and sold the paint as VC-17M. This is still a current and widely available product except in California and Indiana.

Similarly, irgarol was removed from all other bottom paints and they have been reformulated without it.

There is no compatibility issues at all between the old and new formulations.

VC 17m Thin Film and Fast Finish Antifouling Boat Paint | Interlux

VC 17m is a friction reducing, low drag, high performance antifouling paint. Its fluoro-microadditive results in a thin, super smooth racing finish.

www.interlux.com

Mark

 

Oh, yeah. Whew. Way to give me a heart attack

 

I ran across this video, which dropped yesterday:

Sailboat Bottom Paint That Could CO$T You - Ep 251 - Lady K Sailing

I went browsing around Interlux website and found this, with its discontinued message:

VC 17m Extra with Biolux

I didn't notice the difference between VC 17m and VC 17m Extra, and I don't think Lady K did, either.

But additional browsing led me to this:

VC 17m Thin Film

Which is listed as still available.

Sorry for the panic mongering.

 

That Lady K guy is an idiot. It takes 30 seconds to go to Interlux's website and find out the real information. Instead he misheard or misunderstood something and ran off and made a video containing false information. He should pull that video and apologize because it is irresponsible.

Then I watched his video on catamarans. He has no experience with them, but felt he could make an "everything you need to know" video and tell everyone about them. I liked his denigration of galley-down boats because if you need to go to the cockpit, you have to climb up the stairs (all 2 or 3 of them). Conveniently ignoring that you need to do the same for any monohull. Then there was the part about not getting a good night's sleep where "although catamarans can be stable, they still move about". Again, conveniently ignoring that any conditions where one's sleep is bothered on a catamaran, one would be puking their guts on a monohull. His comments on bridgedeck height show a complete lack of understanding of or experience with catamaran design and dynamics.

Mark

 

That Lady K guy is an idiot. It takes 30 seconds to go to Interlux's website and find out the real information. Instead he misheard or misunderstood something and ran off and made a video containing false information. He should pull that video and apologize because it is irresponsible.
Mark

He's Correct, it has been discontinued...

Without warning, VC17 is coming off the market - Boating Industry Canada

Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest recently learned that the very popular bottom paint, VC 17m from AkzoNobel would be discontinued.

boatingindustry.ca

and straight from the Interlux website:

Products | Interlux

Products | Interlux

www.interlux.com

might want to read a bit before calling someone an idiot!!

VC17M (without the "extra" is meant for freshwater use and cold saltwater) and based on the industry website it may be discontinued too. I know my suppliers have already posed that VC17M will be unavailable for 2024 spring

 

Yes as I wrote earlier VC17 extra was withdrawn 2yrs ago and replaced by 17M. This is old news and interlux was very transparent and proactive about notifying and describing the reason. VC17M is a current product with no announced plans to discontinue it in the US. I don't know about Canada and the video does not have him in Canada.

VC17 was never considered a good salt water antifouling outside of racing, and if irgerol (biolux) is what you were counting on then you are SOL because it is illegal in all bottom paints now.

Mark

 

VC17 was never considered a good salt water antifouling outside of racing

Works wonders in northern lakes, though...