I had Coppercoat on my Moody 44 “Enterprise” and I can vouch for its effectiveness. After over 5000nm including 3 Biscay crossings and the Atlantic, when I lfinally lifted the boat in Trinidad I had to ask the boat yard to use a normal hose instead of a jet wash … there was just the faintest slim …absolutely amazing.
The announcement today is that when the 2017-2018 Clipper boats were finally lifted out after 40,000nm of racing and 16 months of continual immersion, the Coppercoat on their hulls revealed almost no loss of coating thickness. Barring the faintest trace of slime at the waterline in some parts, the hulls were virtually spotless.
To see a video of a hull on liftout before cleaning click here.
“This enormously successful outcome understandably delighted us, the crews and the race organisers in equal measure,” says Coppercoat Director Ewan Clark, “and we are reviewing our partnership with Clipper for the 2019-2020 event. Look no further for a clear vindication of Coppercoat’s efficiency and longevity.”
So well did the Coppercoat antifoul perform in the 2017-2018 race that, for the first time in the Clipper’s 22-year history, the boats did not need to be lifted out at the race’s halfway mark in Sydney. As every boat owner is all too painfully aware, lifting out vessels to clean off old antifoul and apply a new coat can be a slow and costly business, so Coppercoat’s matchless resilience meant substantial savings in time and money for Clipper Race organisers and crews alike.
Such positive feedback contrasts markedly with recent testimony received from sailors involved in other global circumnavigations, who reported that rival coatings used on their boat hulls only lasted for less than six months. Even by this point, barnacle growth on hulls was so advanced that it was estimated to be responsible for a 0.5 to 1 knot reduction in boat speed for every hour sailed.
“How the yachts perform is critical, not only to racing success but also to the planning and logistics of a race on this scale,” observes Clipper Race Director, Mark Light. “Coppercoat has surpassed our expectations, and as our preparations commence for the 2019-20 edition we have every confidence that the antifoul will allow superb performance of our race yachts for many circumnavigations to come.”
