Flag performance extra anti foul paint

I read on a forum that white antifoul paint was less effective than a dark one. Not sure if that is an old wive's tale, but possibly worth researching first. Dark surfaces might more readily put oranisms off, compared to lighter ones.
 
According to International and Jotun, both of whom I asked - colour has no influence on performance. However I did not probe and ask specifically about white. I find it difficult to believe that the active copper compound that most companies use is white or even pale - so I might be suspicious or questioning the performance of a white paint. The best measure, apart from local knowledge, is to check the specific gravity or the weight of 1 litre of paint - the heavier the paint the likelihood it has more copper in it and its the copper that offers the antifouling attributes.

White, if it contains the same amount of copper as the other colours, would be a useful product in that it will immediately show that the hull needs cleaned, wiped down. A dark colour will hide slime - until its too late and the harder fouling products will have taken root and be more difficult to clean.

Fouling is a function of local conditions where you keep your vessel. It is exceedingly difficult get robust answers but the opinions of locals with similar vessels in roughly the same area offers one factor to be used when buying AF paint. However self applied AF is very much subject to the parsimony of the person (owner) applying the paint. The more paint you apply the better will be the result - so opinions are not necessarily too reliable. There is a strong suggestion that more expensive AF works better than cheap AF (and is a factor with which I have much sympathy, added to weight per litre and local opinion).

For a vessel capable of 30 knots you need a hard paint - an ablative paint will wear very quickly.

Jonathan
 
Daydream believer said:
I read on a forum that white antifoul paint was less effective than a dark one. Not sure if that is an old wive's tale, but possibly worth researching first. Dark surfaces might more readily put oranisms off, compared to lighter ones.
Click to expand...
That link was just for reference - I actually want black
 
You won't need more than 2.5l so buy the most expensive one..which is £100.
No idea which Af is best for your area, but eroding is what I use and I do 45 knts.
The biggest issue isn't top speed but how much time you are doing zero. Which is probably 99.9 pct of the year?
Little point in buying cheap AF given the annual cost of a boat,imho.
Ask the local boat maintenance guys..they don't want to put rubbish on and have irate customers. And they aren't paying anyway,so have no axe to grind.
Gavin
 
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