Antifouling

[Rum_Pirate]

I recall being able to obtain 'white' antifouling but thought that it would stain more quickly then darker colours.

I was told that International Micron 66 is the ultimate in antifouling performance even in the harshest fouling conditions with International Coppercoat being the lower cost option still able to give a very good all round performance.

What I would like is an antifouling to deal with fouling in the Caribbean

Now my F-27 Tri can sail at over12 knots.

Should it have a 'hard' antifouling or eroding antifoulings, also known as soft or ablative antifoulings, which also work by releasing biocide.

So which is currently the most effective and long lasting?

I was thinking of this:
Antifouling, Islands 44 Plus Red Hard Gal - Budget Marine

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Personally I would, and have, go for a hard racing type. You can scrub off on a beach after all, I used to do it regularly with our F27. If you get fouling on ablative types you’ll be through to the primer after a couple of wipe downs. You’ll need to keep her super clean to enjoy all that performance. And you’re selling the boat short. The 17 knots I saw was with a main so trashed that sheets of mylar were blowing off it. We have gone faster with newer sails, just don’t have photos of the log.

 

[Stemar]

Going back a few years, I was told that the lighter the antifoul, the less effective it is, as the useful bit is relatively dark.

Still, if the boat's going to live on the trailer when not in use, it won't matter much.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Going back a few years, I was told that the lighter the antifoul, the less effective it is, as the useful bit is relatively dark.

Still, if the boat's going to live on the trailer when not in use, it won't matter much.

I have heard the same, but it might be just perception. You can see every strand of veg on the hull on white antifoul. Vitally necessary on my other boat, an XOD.

 

[Neeves]

If she is going to live on a trailer - then forget antifouling, just dry sail. Most seriously campaigned yachts are dry sailed, less weight, no need for AF. If you are going to sail hard - and I'd expect speeds of 20 knots - you need a hard AF if you fear you might get lazy and not dry out.

The choice is yours

When we campaigned our X-99 we rubbed off all the white International Micron, rubbed down, filled an nicks and rubbed again and then dry sailed no AF, lifted every Sunday dropped back in Friday night. We still use a lot of Dartington glass


White AF is not white - its a sort of pale blue/green. If you are going to sail hard then red AF is more easily seen from a helicopter when you are inverted . We use red AF.

Jonathan

 

[johnalison]

If she is going to live on a trailer - then forget antifouling, just dry sail. Most seriously campaigned yachts are dry sailed, less weight, no need for AF. If you are going to sail hard - and I'd expect speeds of 20 knots - you need a hard AF if you fear you might get lazy and not dry out.

The choice is yours

When we campaigned our X-99 we rubbed off all the white International Micron, rubbed down, filled an nicks and rubbed again and then dry sailed no AF, lifted every Sunday dropped back in Friday night. We still use a lot of Dartington glass


White AF is not white - its a sort of pale blue/green. If you are going to sail hard then red AF is more easily seen from a helicopter when you are inverted . We use red AF.

Jonathan

One of our club in the Blackwater used to scrub his modest 25’ boat before every race. This may be why he won so many, but we always thought it unsporting.

 

[Neeves]

One of our club in the Blackwater used to scrub his modest 25’ boat before every race. This may be why he won so many, but we always thought it unsporting.

It is very simple. If you race seriously - you do so to win. If you want a beer with mates - have a beer - but don't mix up beer with rules - its expensive. It was serious in HK.

Many have paid hands, some have the sailmaker on board, others buy new sails (and have a sail maker on board). Some upgrade their yacht. When we bought 'JoXephine of HK' we were, sort of middle of the fleet, 4 years later we were one of the smallest. It cost me the same to dry sail as keep our X-99 in a marina.

Its a long time ago - we were CHS champions for 2 years running. My wife complained - I'd spend most of Thursday putting a crew together for the races over the weekend (and delegating responsibility for lunch - the beers miraculously appeared)

Jonathan

 

[gordmac]

I think typically decent eroding antifoul is rated for up to 25kn, Seajet say theirs will cope with 40kn.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I think typically decent eroding antifoul is rated for up to 25kn, Seajet say theirs will cope with 40kn.

A cynic might suggest that’s because they quite like it wearing off and making you buy some more.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

One of our club in the Blackwater used to scrub his modest 25’ boat before every race. This may be why he won so many, but we always thought it unsporting.

I scrub my boats before any race. I’d also scrub any boat I was crewing on, whether the skipper asked me to or not. Like Neeves said, either race or don’t race, whatever you like, but why bother of ypur bottom is foul. You’ll be last in almost any fleet.

 

[johnalison]

I scrub my boats before any race. I’d also scrub any boat I was crewing on, whether the skipper asked me to or not. Like Neeves said, either race or don’t race, whatever you like, but why bother of ypur bottom is foul. You’ll be last in almost any fleet.

There is racing and racing. Portsmouth handicap racing on the Blackwater was well attended by an assortment of cruising boats, including on one occasion Frank Mulville's Iskra, but racing for almost all of us was just a way of passing the time on weekends before the summer cruise. Boats varied from Pandoras to the odd 3/4-tonner but almost none of us were in a position to scrub our boats. I lived two hours away from the boat, which was a bit extreme but not exclusively so, so there was no possibility of coming down during the week or paying the yard vast sums for a haul-out. The majority of boats were fin-keelers on swinging moorings, with the nearest convenient scrubbing posts two hours away by wate.

It is perverse to suggest that we as a group were not doing proper racing; we were all doing the best we could at the time, and had a lot of fun and learned a lot. My fault was consistency. We were always 1/3 way down the fleet and never got the chance to massage our handicap.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

All I can say is that the front guys were cleaning their boats. Round here, it’s a full on arms race. near perfection in your underwater surfaces is part of the game. I do our race boat on her mooring, in a wetsuit, mask and fins.

 

[Stemar]

I scrub my boats before any race. I’d also scrub any boat I was crewing on, whether the skipper asked me to or not. Like Neeves said, either race or don’t race, whatever you like, but why bother of ypur bottom is foul. You’ll be last in almost any fleet.

You can come sailing with me anytime my boat's getting dirty