Trinidad 75 Antifouling Review

[B4A]

Originally Posted by motion30

So in your opinion which paint performed the best

We used Sea Hawk 3 months in Cape Town, one ocean crossing and 7 months in Brazil. Some barnacles, no slime.

It was the best of the 3.

International Micron was a semi soft antifouling. No barnacles but lot of slime.

Trinidad is just a disaster. Sailed from Grenada to Puerto Rico. Just a bit of small barnacles that could be easily removed using a glove.

Stopped in San Juan for 4 weeks, no chance to go down and check, and what you see in the picture is the result.

To me, that growth is abnormal. Never seen anything like this in 3 years of living aboard and 12k+ nautical miles sailed from Cape Town to Bahamas.

[sailorboy1]

My Seahawk paint had hard growth within 1 month.

[flyingfin]

I have always had excellent results with Trinidad in salty Florida waters, got 3 years between applications - but my boat did leave the dock every other week and went to the sandbar once a month in the summer for a quick brushing.

Did you check manufacture date of the paint before you bought it?

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

My Seahawk paint had hard growth within 1 month.

Which SH product did you use? Tropikote?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by B4A

International Micron was a semi soft antifouling. No barnacles but lot of slime.

Was it Micron CSC or Extra? Only Extra has the anti-slime stuff in it. Both are fairly hard ablatives though, so not necessarily a great choice for a sailboat, as they may not wear enough. Even on my faster powerboat, Micron CSC wears pretty slowly.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by B4A

Sailing up the islands chain.

Well, I have to wonder if your paint’s failure is due to an application issue like maybe not being shaken well enough beforehand.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Which SH product did you use? Tropikote?

BioCop and CopperKote

[captcarman]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Totally agree and the poor performance is also what we have been seeing in this product. It is also somewhat misleading that the Trinidad "75" doesn't actually contain 75% cuprous oxide as the front of the can suggests.
In fact, it's very difficult to get a factual amount of Cu2O in that paint current on Pettit page. On the Trini 75 the product data sheet it states, "Cuprous Oxide...up to 60.9%" .
The different color paints have different amounts listed in their specific safety data sheets for Cu2O: blue (1071 & 1074), 50-60%; red, 50-60%; black/special black, 60-70%; and light blue, 50-60%. Bottom line you need to read all the labeling info (includes online data sheets) to know what you are getting.
Even though we've been using Pettit Trinidad for a very long time, we have discussed switching to the Sea Hawk for our next bottom job. Hopefully, that did better.

I am having the bottom on my boat done next week using Sea Hawk Cukcote - Red. It was highly recommended by some friends that sail in tropical waters. I'm on the Gulf Coast of Texas about to go East.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by captcarman

I am having the bottom on my boat done next week using Sea Hawk Cukcote - Red. It was highly recommended by some friends that sail in tropical waters. I'm on the Gulf Coast of Texas about to go East.

Cukote is only 47.5% copper. While copper content is not always the determining factor for a paint's efficacy, you are starting out at 15-20% less than any flavor of Trinidad. So good luck with that.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

BioCop and CopperKote

So was that the Bioco TF booster w/the Cukote?


Anyone use the SH Tropikote?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by B4A

In the last 3 years I've used 3 different kind of antifouling:

- Sea Hawk Island 44
- International
- Pettit Trinidad 75

I had great expectations for the Trinidad 75, the most expensive on the market.

It performed the worst. It is absolutely disappointing.

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, judge for yourselves.

This is my keel after I left the boat for 4 weeks anchored in San Juan:

Attachment 235638

That's my experience in those waters also with the more traditional Trinidad paint. It seems to kill the barnacles, but long after they are attached and grown to as large as 3/8" diameter.
I'm not convinced though that any of them will be better other than the illegal stuff.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Bill O

So was that the Bioco TF booster w/the Cukote?
?

It is. Seems to have improved to only poor from bad now that the outer layer of Biocop has worn down. I think it was of me Seahawk changed their guarantee to be 95% a fake promise.

[B4A]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Well, I have to wonder if your paint’s failure is due to an application issue like maybe not being shaken well enough beforehand.

It was shaken with a power tool. I was there watching.

[Capdave360]

We put on three coats of Micron 99 in Grenada in June '20. Recommended for sailboats over 80', but since we regularly sail into double digits figured it would work out. The first 6 months it was amazing, went downhill fast after that, a lot lot lot of barnacle growth. We had divers do a heavy scrape and scrub in Antigua in mid-January, helped a lot.

Knocked off a bunch of small barnacles a few days ago, and then did a daysail with 3+ hours over 9 knots, took off most soft fouling. We'll have divers do another big job in May before we sail north.

We also put PropGlide on the props in Grenada, of which only about 60% remains - poor adhesion. Guessing it was an application failure really. Even so, it doesn't wipe clean all that easily.

Highly experienced folks in Grenada have been reporting good Caribbean results with Seahawk BioCop - might try that next time.

[MicHughV]

I've been using Pettit Trinidad exclusively for a very long time....3 different boats, always the same paint...never had a problem with it...my fav bottom paint in fact. Always manage to get a good two years between haulouts..sometimes longer

I know San Juan well, the marina there at the east end, doesn't see much flushing action as I recall. Not sure if your boat is there or elsewhere, but that location might be the issue.