The team I used to race with (40 foot offshore racer) would hire a diver to come once a week and clean the bottom of our boat. I knew of many teams that would do this. We also paid to have our bottom repainted each year after haul out. Bottom scum is a big problem for boats that stay in the water all year.
This is where Sailkote seems to excel - as a replacement or even an improvement over antifouling paint. If we could have avoided scum build-up without hiring that diver each week, and repainting each season, that would be a big benefit. It sounds like that is what a lot of the teams are doing.
To the extent that if you eliminate scum you will go faster, sailkote can be thought of as a go-fast item. However, for RC boats, bottom scum is not generally a problem. So I doubt this stuff has much to offer…
An application note: Ron Rosenberg of Team McLube says Sailkote is applied to hulls after wetsanding NOT instead of.
Until doing the research I had no idea that Sailkote would keep pond scum off of hulls. There are several lakes around this area that have a fine green slime that gets on hulls around waterlines particularly.
Seems to me that you coudn’t lose using this stuff on models or fullsize boats…
Doug,
well i ordered one and will test next year…my sailing time is over…SNOW!!! nxt time i ll go sailing in March…so i got plenty of time to study and try things
Received an e-mail today from Ron Rosenberg of Team McLube he added these sailors tothe list of full size sailors who use Sailkote on their hulls:Vince Brun, Ken Read,Terry Hutchinson,John Kostecki,Mark Reynolds, Ed Baird …
He also said they have a “University in Holland” doing research on Sailkote.