Antifoul comparison.

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Teddy

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Has anybody any thoughts on whether International Cruiser Uno EU is any better than the cheaper Boatguard EU?

My boat, based in Chertsey, was lifted and pressure washed yesterday. Apart from a few places along the waterline which had the usual scaly chalky bits, the hull came clean very quickly. This is after 2.5yrs in the water using Boatguard. I was just wondering if Cruiser Uno would be any better, or last longer. Or perhaps there are other makes better or cheaper.

I am ready to buy next years antifoul before the new, more expensive International formulations replace these brands.

What do you think?
 
Just an observation but it does appear that there is not much to be gained from using a super expensive hard anti foul in freshwater.
Most of the freshwater boats have seen have very little growth of any description, even after considerable periods afloat, requiring little more than a decent jet wash to return the hull surface to something usable.
With max 8 knots doubt even a forest underneath is going to justify spending a fortune on A/F for very little return by way of fuel savings.
Down here on the Mudway,the warm water this year has resulted in very unusual amounts of growth on boat bottoms.
"Ballerina", even though only relaunched with clean bottom in June and used with gusto ever since, produced areal crop of thick slime,weed and a fair crop of barnycules to boot,despite being coated with a super expensive hard A/F the previous year.This was over the top of previous coating of Coppercoat.
The props also supported a layer of fine coral type growth.
There are some good deals on Ebay for the older type of soft A/F at around £50.00 for 5 Litres.
Although we have a planing boat, 99% of the time is spent on a tidal mooring or at under 10 knots, so simply no need for anything other than a soft anti-foul.
 
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If you are getting two and a half years out of your antifoul then it isn't all that bad. How long do you want it to last?

It is a consumable item so has to be reapplied at some point!
 
Anti foul is the only product that we buy which doesn't work, that nobody complains to the manufacturer about.
 
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AuntyRinum said:
Anti foul is the only product that we buy which doesn't work, that nobody complains to the manufacturer about.
Click to expand...

That is a valid point.

A friend of ours has a Dutch steel cruiser which he doesn't antifoul he paints the bottom with a black paint. He has exactly the same amount of slime growth as those of us in the marina who waste hundreds of pounds on antifoul paint :)
 
CX54WEK said:
If you are getting two and a half years out of your antifoul then it isn't all that bad. How long do you want it to last?

It is a consumable item so has to be reapplied at some point!
Click to expand...

I am not complaining about longevity. My question was - "Does anybody think that Cruiser Uno will last longer, or be better for the extra cost?"
Someone out there might have changed and reached a conclusion.
 
Teddy said:
I am not complaining about longevity. My question was - "Does anybody think that Cruiser Uno will last longer, or be better for the extra cost?"
Someone out there might have changed and reached a conclusion.
Click to expand...

I've used International antifouls in the past and concluded they weren't worth the extra on the river, you will get weed and slime regardless and nothing seems to stop it. So the cheapest thing is black bitumen which a lot of narrow boats use, I'm currently using Hempel AF which seems to work reasonably well and delays the weed for at least a year although longer than this it starts to stick. As Cruiser Uno is an eroding antifouling it will have limited life too although it maybe be better in salt water for barnacles etc...
 
CX54WEK said:
That is a valid point.

A friend of ours has a Dutch steel cruiser which he doesn't antifoul he paints the bottom with a black paint. He has exactly the same amount of slime growth as those of us in the marina who waste hundreds of pounds on antifoul paint :)
Click to expand...
I knew someone who used Dulux gloss instead of anti foul. He claimed that it worked just as well and gave him good speed, as if the hull had been polished, until the slime built up.
 
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