All photos courtesy of Billy Black
Alexseal has greatly enjoyed being a sponsor of the Newport Charter Yacht Show for many years. During this 4-day event, there are various contests for captains and crew including best chef, best signature cocktail, best table setting and more. However, there is always one evening during the show that sponsors get to host fun challenges for the attendees. Contests for the 2019 Newport Charter Yacht Show included large fender inflating and a drone obstacle course.
“This year, we placed our focus more on captains and crew (future captains),” Alastair Smith, Northeast US Alexseal Sales Representative explains. “I wanted to make the point that Alexseal was tough but repairable.”
Alexseal’s own Brian Champlin sprayed out 501 Topcoat on several panels at our America’s Technical Training Center in Charleston, South Carolina. These panels had normal dust and wear applied to them in order to mimic the possible wear on a yacht’s hull and topsides.
The challenge was to use two grades of 3M® products to obtain the best finish in 3 minutes or less. We supplied the panels, compounds and high-speed buffers to our participants along with some helpful tips. This fun challenge also provided Smith the opportunity to explain the superior properties of Alexseal’s coatings system and the impressive repairability and gloss.
Congratulations to our winners: Captain Keith of the 80′ Hatteras motoryacht, PNEUMA, crew member Gina from the 86′ Sunseeker, ENTERPRISE, and crew member Corbin from the 121′ Benetti, Namaste. Each winner received a bag loaded with Alexseal swag and benefitted from the experience of buffing out an Alexseal yacht finish.
Smith and the Alexseal team are already looking forward to new paint-related challenges for the 2020 Newport Charter Yacht Show.