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Antifouling or Coppercoat: what protects the hull, and what does insurance pay?
Short answer
Antifouling keeps growth off the underwater hull and is usually renewed every season; a copper epoxy coating such as Coppercoat lasts many years. Fouling, osmosis and wear are usually excluded from hull insurance, so the coating is maintenance.
Every boat that stays afloat gets fouled: weed, barnacles and mussels settle on the underwater hull, slow the boat, push up fuel consumption and can block the log, seacocks and the engine cooling water intake. There are two ways to deal with it. Eroding or hard antifouling paints release an active substance and are usually renewed every spring before launch. Copper epoxy coatings such as Coppercoat are applied once and, looked after properly, last many years, but they need a regular scrub to keep working.
Which suits you depends on where the boat lives. Fresh water grows different things from salt water, and warm water grows them faster. Antifouling paints are biocidal products and need approval before they can be sold: in Great Britain under the HSE regime, in Ireland and the Netherlands under the EU rules. Some inland waters and marinas set their own limits, so ask the marina or the local authority what is allowed. A copper epoxy coating pays off mainly when the boat stays in the water for long periods and a yearly repaint is costly. Switching needs a clean surface, usually back to the gelcoat, and a surveyor can tell you what state the hull is in first.
For insurance it matters less which coating protects the hull than how well it is cared for. Fouling, corrosion and osmosis are expressly excluded in many hull wordings, and so is damage caused by poor maintenance. A blocked cooling water intake that overheats the engine is then treated as a maintenance question, not as an insured loss. Read the exclusions in your policy wording before you rely on anything. Owners who look after the underwater hull and record it with dates and photos are in a far better position after a claim, because they can show the damage happened suddenly. If the coating is damaged in an insured event such as a grounding, many wordings treat its repair as part of that claim; with us a grounding is covered from Basis Plus.
Worth remembering
Antifouling
usually renewed every season
Copper epoxy
applied once, scrubbed regularly
Fouling is maintenance, not an insured loss.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
How long does a Coppercoat coating last?
With proper care many years, far longer than a conventional antifouling that is usually renewed every season. A regular scrub keeps the copper surface active and does the work a repaint would otherwise do.
Is fouling on the hull covered by boat insurance?
As a rule, no. Fouling, corrosion, osmosis and damage from poor maintenance are excluded in many hull wordings. Check the exclusions in your own policy wording to be sure.
Is osmosis usually excluded?
In many wordings, yes, sometimes with an exception for young hulls; our Premium tier covers osmosis on boats up to 48 months old. Read the clause on osmosis and wear carefully and keep the survey report from the time you bought the boat.
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