Alternatives to Anti Foul paints

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Elan450

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I have been considering moving away from Anti foul paints and am looking for alternatives.

The only really sensible alternatives i have found (that i like the sound of) are Foul Release Coatings, has anyone had any experience with these?

Apologies if there is already a thread on this that i have missed or this is in the wrong place.. I have just joined.

Regards
 
Fouling release coatings are almost never found on leisure boats. The mains reasons are cost and difficulty of application and the fact that leisure boats are rarely used frequently enough for this system to work well.
Fouling release doesn't stop fouling - the hull will be covered in weed and hard fouling (mussels, barnacles etc), if left for any length of time. However when the vessel moves through the water - above a certain speed the fouling cannot resist the flow across it and is usually released, resulting in a clean hull. It is released as the outer surface is a silicone elastomer (- a little like the product you spray on a windscreen to keep it clear without wipers or perhaps a non stick pan) and is too slippery for marine life to make a strong bond. Commercial shipping can sail (ie be moving) for 320 days a year and fouling release is an excellent option. Commercial vessels using antifoul still are allowed to use a highly concentrated formula that lasts 2 years before they have to go into dry dock (at huge cost) for another coating. Fouling release will last at least 5 years so dry dock charged are more than halved. In addition, the hydrophobic nature of silicone reduces the drag of the hull moving through the water. This results in lower emissions, lower fuel consumption and / or higher speed. For example, a vessel that I know was coated with an FR product was a 280 metre bulk ore carrier. it used roughly 60 tons of bunker fuel a day under power and when coated with FR used 3 tons a day less! At that time, regular bunker fuel (not even more expensive Low Sulphur as required in the EU) was $650 per ton, so every day at sea saved the owners $1,980.
At this time, the market is almost completely dominated by International Paints with their Intersleek product. They have made significant strides over the years in terms of ease of application and lowering the release speed. The product is applied with specialist spray equipment and ideally vessels need to be shrouded / cocooned to prevent silicone escaping. While it is not harmful to health, it is a paint sprayers nightmare!
A new manufacturer entered the market 10 years ago and I was involved with their FR product for the UK and Ireland. To be absolutely convinced in my own mind, I had my own 45' boat treated. This involved stripping all previous antifoul off the hull, back to bare gelcoat. A tent was built round the boat and then over the next 3 days a special epoxy coat, a tie coat and finally the surface coat were applied. This whole process was performed at the boat manufacturers yard. The manufacturer then took my boat for a speed test. Even though it was 10 years old and the engines had 1,200 hours on the clock, they achieved 1.5 knots higher speed than when it was new! I sailed my boat from Dover to Guernsey and back, repeating a summer cruise the year before and it averaged a higher speed and used 7% less fuel! Three and a half years on and the coating still works, and I have a lift and hold for a power wash and new anodes each year. The approximate cost of the FR product was £4,500 plus labour.
Sadly my manufacturer supplier - a well known, global, multi billion $ turnover company decided to discontinue its marine product adventure leaving me high and dry!!
 
I use a Ultrasonic system, which works well for me, not antfouled for 5 years now. People tell me it doesn't work but hey ho.
 
Hi. See my thread on Aquacote (now called Aquamarine Hullcote) which I will be updating very soon as I've just got the boat out of the water.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...foul-release-year-1-review&highlight=Aquacote

Easy to apply, works well and potentiality lasts for many years.

Hempel also do one (Silic One I think it's called) which MBY found even more effective at shedding fouling than Aqua marine bit toy have to reapply it every year and it can't be out of the water for long.

Anyway will update my thread soon.
 
Again Coppercoat. I have had it on for 3 years now - works excellent. 42 knots top speed in our Windy 37 HT 2 x KAD 300 when she is launched in the spring and same top speed when I bring her back to the shed in October. I use her 2-3 times per month during the summer. Coppercoat is 99.9% pure copper flakes mixed with epoxy and it should last min. 10 years. A bit difficult to apply correctly but....Some boats had it applied more than 15 years ago and is still doing great. I am sure that looking at the environment Coppercoat is also a better alternative than regular antifoul which requires coating every season.... Coppercoat may be expensive to you the year it is applied but in the years to come you will be saving money, time and you will be able to maintain great performance throughout the season. Another gain is that you will never have issues with osmosis. Great product.

I should say I have NOTHING to do with the company Coppercoat. Just my honest experience with 3 years of 'Coppercoat' boating.
 
Coppercoat, Cuprotect and the other long lasting antifouls are very good. I had a previous boat treated with Cuprotect and it was excellent. The only reason the boat had to be lifted out was to fit need anodes, and that could be done with a lift and hold rather than more expensive lift and 'block away', necessary for applying antifoul. These products ( when applied exactly to the manufacturers specification) will probably last as long as 10 years. However they are antifouls, and Elan450 is looking to move away from an environmentally unfriendly product.
The US Pacific fleet in San Diego was given notice by the State of California to do 'something' about its fleet in the early 1990's because of the very high concentration of copper ions leaching from its ships into the harbour. The Navy's scientific service started work on alternatives at that time, and developed the silicone product that was eventually licenced to my supplier.
 
Whitelighter said:
Using the latest Aquacote Prop.
Application is very specific and it's a two part process.
Click to expand...
I've only just seen this thread. Can you tell me more about that, J?
Did your yard suggest it? In my experience, it's always rather hard to convince a yard to try something they never used before.
Otoh, since I just had the props cleaned to bare metal, I might as well give it a try...
 
About Coppercoat and the environment.... not sure though if same apply to other copper/epoxy treatment. Here is what coppercoat says about their product:

Classified as non-leaching, this highly effective coating is considerably kinder to the environment than conventional self-eroding anti-fouls. The complete treatment has been tested and approved by the Health and Safety Executive, in compliance with UK and EU law. Holding HSE Certificate Number 7532 Coppercoat is fully approved for use by both professional tradesmen and the general public. Coppercoat is tin-free and fully complies with current (2001) International Maritime Organisation (IMO) resolution MEPC.102(48). Within the UK Coppercoat is used by the Environment Agency.
 
About Time is right in stating It is the self eroding antifoul products that leach. The copper epoxy products use copper metal (which doesn't leach) to keep marine life at bay, as contact with copper is detrimental to them! It is much better than eroding products, but it is still an antifoul.
 
ebbanflo said:
Fouling release coatings are almost never found on leisure boats. The mains reasons are cost and difficulty of application and the fact that leisure boats are rarely used frequently enough for this system to work well.
Fouling release doesn't stop fouling - the hull will be covered in weed and hard fouling (mussels, barnacles etc), if left for any length of time. However when the vessel moves through the water - above a certain speed the fouling cannot resist the flow across it and is usually released, resulting in a clean hull. It is released as the outer surface is a silicone elastomer (- a little like the product you spray on a windscreen to keep it clear without wipers or perhaps a non stick pan) and is too slippery for marine life to make a strong bond. Commercial shipping can sail (ie be moving) for 320 days a year and fouling release is an excellent option. Commercial vessels using antifoul still are allowed to use a highly concentrated formula that lasts 2 years before they have to go into dry dock (at huge cost) for another coating. Fouling release will last at least 5 years so dry dock charged are more than halved. In addition, the hydrophobic nature of silicone reduces the drag of the hull moving through the water. This results in lower emissions, lower fuel consumption and / or higher speed. For example, a vessel that I know was coated with an FR product was a 280 metre bulk ore carrier. it used roughly 60 tons of bunker fuel a day under power and when coated with FR used 3 tons a day less! At that time, regular bunker fuel (not even more expensive Low Sulphur as required in the EU) was $650 per ton, so every day at sea saved the owners $1,980.
At this time, the market is almost completely dominated by International Paints with their Intersleek product. They have made significant strides over the years in terms of ease of application and lowering the release speed. The product is applied with specialist spray equipment and ideally vessels need to be shrouded / cocooned to prevent silicone escaping. While it is not harmful to health, it is a paint sprayers nightmare!
A new manufacturer entered the market 10 years ago and I was involved with their FR product for the UK and Ireland. To be absolutely convinced in my own mind, I had my own 45' boat treated. This involved stripping all previous antifoul off the hull, back to bare gelcoat. A tent was built round the boat and then over the next 3 days a special epoxy coat, a tie coat and finally the surface coat were applied. This whole process was performed at the boat manufacturers yard. The manufacturer then took my boat for a speed test. Even though it was 10 years old and the engines had 1,200 hours on the clock, they achieved 1.5 knots higher speed than when it was new! I sailed my boat from Dover to Guernsey and back, repeating a summer cruise the year before and it averaged a higher speed and used 7% less fuel! Three and a half years on and the coating still works, and I have a lift and hold for a power wash and new anodes each year. The approximate cost of the FR product was £4,500 plus labour.
Sadly my manufacturer supplier - a well known, global, multi billion $ turnover company decided to discontinue its marine product adventure leaving me high and dry!!
Click to expand...

Was this the product that looked like a rubber sheath when applied?
If so I've Seen it on a few boats , sadly it broke up after a few years.
 
Whitelighter said:
I am currently trialling a foul release system on my props.
Early signs are it works but the big test is summer growth
Click to expand...

I'm awaiting delivery of Aquamarine for the props and rudder, did you apply yours yourself or did Aquamarine do it? Getting it to stay on will be the biggest challenge I guess. I dive under the boat fairly regularly but cleaning the props and rudder is not a five minute job, usually takes an hour and is knackering, so hoping this may make the job a lot quicker if it manages to stay on. I think it's worth a punt...
 
You would not have seen the product I was involved with as mine was the only leisure boat coated. Other brands have tried silicone coatings with variable results. A major difficulty is the application requires a degree of temperature stability which is not always possible outside a workshop, airless spray equipment in some cases, and accurate timings between the different coats. All the major manufacturers have had a variety of problems to overcome, especially with delamination. 2 years ago International Paints had a product that seemed to have ticked all the boxes, and was the 'easiest' to apply. I am not aware of their system being applied to leisure boats but I don't doubt they have been trialling it. I suspect this type of fouling release will be aimed at the commercial market for a while yet.
The Hempel product was advertised in the Leisure boat press nearly 3 years ago but I haven't seen it since. Aquacote is/has been written about and there is also a hull 'wrap' that has some potential. There will be more developments in this area over the next few years as we try and find the 'holy grail' of a long lasting, eco friendly coating that gives us more speed and/or better fuel consumption.
 
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