The Second International Superyacht Coatings Conference organised by the Informa Yacht Group was held in Estoril on 14 and 15 December. A good cross section of the industry was represented.
The conference addressed the continuing challenge of environmental regulations, which impact the application of coatings. A mobile spray booth provided by Fugico allowed participants to observe new application techniques and VOC reduction equipment. The conference appreciated that new standards are being developed which will allow more objective assessment of coating applications. The new draft ISO standard 11347 for the measurement of superyacht coatings will be available for the industry to begin using in the early spring of 2011. A protocol to guide surveyors in how to conduct such measurements and report them will be developed in early 2011 and work will continue on the development of a baseline finish standard by ICOMIA.