White Paint Match-up

White bottom paints look good, but can they do the job?

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White Paint Match-up

One of the long-standing complaints about bottom paint—besides its cost and laborious, monotonous application on an annual basis—is the way it looks. Some sailors feel that it often spoils the nice clean white shade of the topsides. So, when a new white bottom paint from Pettit hit the market last year, we took notice.

This new paint, called Vivid, is a hard paint, recommended for the perfomance-minded boat owner. Pettit calls it a “multi-season, dual biocide antifouling” product, and touts its brilliant colors. (It also comes in blue, green, yellow, red, and black.)

We thought we’d match it up against the environmentally friendly E Paint, which is also a hard paint and has been in production for several years. So, we painted the two hulls on our 22-foot powerboat with each paint. E Paint’s EP2000 went on the bow section of the starboard hull and the stern section of the port hull, while the Vivid was painted on the stern section of the starboard hull and the bow section of the port hull.

After a month in the water, we hauled the boat to install a transducer. Neither paint allowed even a speck of growth. But the E Paint had discolored, changing to a light brown.

“The active ingredient in EP2000 will react with iron in the water, which results in film discoloration,” said E Paint’s president Alex Walsh. “I’ve never seen such a severe case of staining.”

Despite those words, we actually have seen similar staining of EP2000-coated panels in several of our bottom paint tests. But, to give E-Paint the benefit of the doubt, we put the boat back into service and will continue to monitor the status of the paints as time goes on.

Contacts
• Pettit Paints, 800/221-4466, www.pettitpaint.com
• E Paint Co., 800-258-5998, www.epaint.net

Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Supported entirely by subscribers, Practical Sailor accepts no advertising. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him by email at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.