I have used IMRON, Spies Hecker, Awlgrip, and various water based clear coats on masts, rudders and dagger boards. All work well over paint however, all have the same problem over epoxy/carbon or epoxy/glass. They are all basically UV transparent. The UV breaks down the epoxy at the epoxy/clear coat bond and the clear coat peels off. How long this takes depends on where you live. Spies Hecker lasts 7 plus years in Sweden and 2-3 in Houston.


There are a couple of solutions, they are not perfect. You can cover it. There are UV absorbers available for clear coat. (Upside, they will add years to the life of the clear coat. Downside, they change the clear coat to something ranging from cloudy to translucent grey. ) You can regularly wax the surface with a UV absorbing wax. This looks great over clear coat wood and seems to protect the epoxy. The only wax that I have tried that really works is bees wax based Breewax. I am sure there are others but I will let someone else experiment.

Personally I have learned to like white. The white IMRON is about 60% nickel. I don’t even bother to cover the white IMRON painted surfaces.