companies have responded with copper-free ablative
bottom coatings that are effective and “green,” so you
can sleep with a clear conscience that your boat’s
bottom paint isn’t adversely affecting the very waves
that are helping lull you to dreamland. Of course, an
entire issue of this magazine could be devoted to paint,
probably even to bottom coatings alone. We are going
to focus on new products and those that are most
popular for a given application. So whether you’re just
looking for new bottom paint, a new color to dress up
the hullsides, or something to restore the luster to your
boat’s faded white pilothouse, read on as we outline
what’s new and exciting in marine paint.
BOTTOMS UP
When most people think of boat paint, the majority
still imagine coating the bottom to keep barnacles and
slime off the hull and the most popular still remains the
ablative style that releases a biocide over time.
The newest paints from Interlux of Union, New
Jersey, and Pettit Paint of Rockaway, New Jersey, use an
ingredient known as Econea. It’s a biocide developed
by Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and is now registered
Pettit
Besides Interlux, Pettit is the only other paint company
formulating a bottom paint with Econea.
with the Environmental Protection Agency as a safe
alternative to copper. With the price of copper, which
is still one of the most effective ways to protect against
barnacles, seemingly constantly on the rise (about $4/
pound early this year), Econea is a realistic alternative.
Interlux’s Pacifica Plus is one of the most popular
Econea-based bottom paints. A dual-biocide product, it
has 3. 9 percent Econea, plus Interlux’s Biolux anti-slime
Interlux’s Pacifica Plus uses EPA-approved Econea to
fight bottom growth.
Pettit
With its unique Composite Copper technology, Hydrocoat SR
is an effective bottom coat.
ingredient to combat barnacles and slime growth.
“[Marinas and boatyards] are getting the performance
and happy customers with clean bottoms of their boats
while reducing the amount of copper,” said Elenor
Ekman, marketing manager for Interlux. She added that
a second benefit of going copper-free is that the boats
don’t discolor at the waterline the way they would with
a copper-based paint. You can find Pacifica Plus in a
