DIY Antifoul Process…

[Chiara’s slave]

The XOD is wooden and traditional in construction, 20ft. The rule is for the preservation of wooden yachts, and to ensure weight equality in an allegedly one design class. All the Etchells round here are dry sailed AFAIK. We lift and jetwash our Xs, given the opportunity, but they go straight back in. Thankfully we can all be a bit more laid back with our cruisers, though we shouldnt lose sight of the effect a lot of fouling has on windward performance, as well as just speed.

 

[Neeves]

I'm not sure the dry sailing made the difference, we were racing an X-99 in a mixed fleet. When we bought her she was about middle of the fleet in size, after 4 years she was one of the smaller ones.

I arranged that dry sailing and as many lift outs as we wanted or housed on a slip/pontoon cost the same. It was a no brainer. We would telephone and she was lifted back into the water - quicker than we could get to the marina. During typhoons she would go into the water. We used the original cradle that was used to ship her out to HK.

When we swapped, we originally were in the water, we stripped all the AF off, made good any blemishes and then dry sailed for 2 years.

But dry sailing underpinned the religion of weight - which we continue now - but we won't go there as it introduces the 'A' word -

Jonathan

 

[peter gibbs]

thank you for the feedback. I believe it’s Iron keel (fin keel with bulb) but cannot find any reference to be sure. Is there an obvious way to confirm?

A gentle tap with a metal Hammer will confirm it is a metal keel. Scrape loose material and patch with Hempel a/f primer. Apply a/f.
Other parts of the underwater hull gently abrade with a wet scourer before applying primer as for keel.

A targeted rather than blanket approach to paiting in is recommended;
Talking around will determine whether you are keeping the boat in a generally light or heavy growth area. If heavy you need at least medium grade a/f - Hempel Tiger extra - £70 per 2.5 lit tin. So called cruiser grade is for light fouling areas, be warned.
You can go the whole hog and laboriously apply two thick coats of expensive A/f all over or take a pragmatic view of the likely outcome over a season. If you move the boat regularly that will dislodge a lot of growth and one coat all over will give good results - with two coats at the water line and rudder being advisable.

If it's no more than say every 3rd weekend you will accumulate growth pretty well however many coats you apply and will find yourself brushing (not scrubbing) the waterline from mid season to contain waterline growth. The deeper parts of the hull get less light and generally less growth.

Heavy growth will cost the average yacht at least a knot.

Self -abating paint is the general approach. Apply new every season after power washing. Hard finish paints are for power boats generally but growth is very pervasive if the vessel is not moved much. Copper cladding is expensive requires professional application is not easy to repair but has good a/f properties. Despite what you see in many yards, annual blasting off of previous a/f is highly questionable on financial, ecological and performance grounds. If you want more speed offload all the excess water fuel and gear, lighten ship by upto 1 tonne and fly.

Racing vessels are of course cosseted on different lines and belief systems!