Jim, Here's what Practical Sailor had to say in this month's edition about the two top-selling brands of bottom paint, Interlux and Petit, after testing bottom paints extensively. I've personally used Pettit Trinidad SR from Florida to Maine, across the Caribbean, and throughout the Mediterranean (warm waters and cold) with excellent results. Trinidad SR is 70% copper, and Interlux's highest copper content paint, according to the Practical Sailor article, is Ultra at 67%. http://www.practical-sailor.com/ --Milt Baker, Nordhavn 47 Bluewater Interlux Interlux’s strongest performance came from its ablative paints, an area where the company has consistently done well. All but one of the ablative paints, the budget-priced Bottomkote Pro, repelled hard growth at 14 months. Five ablatives, Fiberglass Bottomkote ACT, Micron 66, Micron CSC, Micron Extra VOC, and Trilux 33 (the top-performing paint for aluminum-hulled boats), all scored Good. The copper-free Pacifica Plus, boosted with both Econea and zinc pyrithione is doing well, and the copper-loaded Ultra stands out among Interlux’s hard paints. The other new paint in this test, the ablative Micron Extra VOC, was very clean, and seems to have lost none of the effectiveness in the switch to a more environmentally friendly formula. Two Interlux paints were still fending off barnacles at 30 months, Micron 66, a consistent performer in our long-term tests, and Bottomkote XXX, a soft, sloughing, budget-priced workboat paint that is sold in Canada. Micron 66 is not recommended for freshwater lakes or rivers. The VC-17 series thin-film paints, aimed primarily at freshwater sailors and racers, succumbed to barnacles, as did the smooth, easy-to-wet-sand, hard racing paint Regatta Baltoplate. Pettit/West Marine Pettit, a Kop-Coat brand, competes alongside Interlux for the largest share of the recreational antifouling marketplace. The company also manufactures West Marine brand paint. As in our eight-month report, Pettit’s hard paints gave a very strong showing at the 14-month mark. Except for the budget-priced West Marine Bottomshield, which rated Fair, all of Pettit’s hard paints showed minimal slime, scoring Good or better. Pettit’s budget-priced hard paint, Unepoxy, showed only light biofilm. Pettit’s cleanest hard paint, Super Premium, has been discontinued but is still available in some stores. Pettit’s three copper-laden Trinidad products were also doing well, as they have in previous years. In the ablative category, West Marine PCA Gold was the most impressive at 14 months with more than half the panel showing no slime at all. West Marine Ablative (formerly known as West Marine Pure Oceans and also sold as Pettit Hydrocoat), Horizons, Ultima SR 40, and Ultima SSA also held off barnacles. Horizons and Hydrocoat were the only two Pettit ablatives still barnacle-free on the 30-month panels. West Marine CPP, featuring what Pettit calls copper composite technology, is designed to promote extended protection with less copper. Three copper-free formulas, Alumacoat SR, Hydrocoat Eco, and Vivid Free, all showed significant slime and hard growth.