is it just me or is antifouling not what we might hope for?

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The problem with antifouling is that it is not uniformly effective at what it is supposed to do. The particular mix of biocides may work quite well in one place, but not somewhere else,

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That's one of the advantages of a very soft erodable - it doesn't AFAIK rely on biocides, so doesn't seem so dependent on local conditions. I've used mine in lots of places - South coast, East coast, Netherlands, germany, Baltic and it's performed more or less equally well everywhere.

From my observation, it has to be a very soft erodable - again AFAIK Optima is the only really soft one. One year I switched from Optima to Blakes Ocean Performer, which the chandler assured me was similar stuff and would do the job as well, only it was a bit cheaper. It wasn't remotely as good - it was noticeably harder than Optima, and didn't work properly - my boat had fouling where I'd never had it before, and it was hard work to get it off at the end of the season.
 
interesting replies - must confess haven't used in recent years top of the range (eg optima) but have been using various soft erodings as scored highly in various mags reports - coming round to thinking that mnfrs increasingly common claims of multi season performance for multi coats are only sales talk as despite using multi coats each season by 2/3rd through growth gaining - and that is with sailing most weekends and being on porstmouth swinging mooring -anyone tried the approach of light coat at start of season (when water colder and fouling less of a problem) then dry and recoat mid summer so nice fresh strong stuff when water at it's warmest ?

I do volunteer to try a product which the manufacture will guarentee lasts for the season and if it doesn't they will refund ! ie put their money where their claims are rather than mine - interesting comments about what works in different places - if anyone else is on a porstmouth harbuor swinging mooring (off hardway for us) and have the perfect product pls tell me - in fairness growth on mine is not extreme but certainly enough for me to prefer to not have it!
 
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coming round to thinking that mnfrs increasingly common claims of multi season performance for multi coats are only sales talk as despite using multi coats each season by 2/3rd through growth gaining - and that is with sailing most weekends and being on porstmouth swinging mooring -anyone tried the approach of light coat at start of season (when water colder and fouling less of a problem) then dry and recoat mid summer so nice fresh strong stuff when water at it's warmest ?

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I find that you don't need to put much on, so I just give a single coat. In fact, it's better to spread it thinly (except at water line and leading/trailing edges/rudder/near the prop, where you should slap on several layers) ' cos then you don't need to sand much off in the winter - there's not much build-up as it erodes away during the season. That means I only give it a cursory sand in spring - this year I didn't bother even bother with that.

I did my whole boat with one tin (just over £80), and I had some left over that I didn't know what to do with. Tho' the first year you put it on you'd probably need a couple of tins (32 footer).

About Portsmouth harbour, haven't tried a swinging mooring, but I kept my boat in Haslar for 2 years without lifting out at all in winter and without any scrubs - by the end of the second year there was a very small amount of slime (the only time I've experienced any with Optima) but considering I hadn't touched the hull for about 20 months I consider that was outstanding performance. On that occasion I had put two coats on and after two years it was beginning to wear thin, which is why I think there was some slime in places...

To me £80 is a low price to pay for something that actually works, that keeps your boat going fast and that doesn't need a mid-season scrub. Towards the end of the season its especially satisfying as you're overtaking everyone else much bigger than you...


Just got to save up for a feathering prop and laminate sails next /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Pretty much every antifouling that comes in the form of a tin of paint, erodable or hard, work by the action of biocides to kill or prevent fouling from settling.
Biocides are almost always cuprous oxide boosted by organic biocides (pesticides). Main exception is products designed for aluminium where copper is in a different form that reduces risk of electrolytic action.
Soft antifoulings are generally more effective than hard as the paint matrix is designed to erode and allow fresh biocide to be at the surface most of the time.
Over the years since TBT was banned the cocktail of biocides that can be used has been regularly affected by legislation so that they are much less harmful now - both to the environment and fouling! That trend will continue and despite all the R&D from paint companies their products are likely to become more expensive and less effective.
Different products have varying performance in different areas. None are totally consistent and the problem is the places they work will change from one year to the next. The only thing you can say is that, generally, the more you pay the better chance you have.
In recent years metallic copper has become a viable alternative again and it has the advantage of lasting many years without reapplication too. Expensive upfront but cheaper in the long run. Its not perfect but its as good as anything else.
Thanks Robyn for mentioning my product!
 
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Pretty much every antifouling that comes in the form of a tin of paint, erodable or hard, work by the action of biocides to kill or prevent fouling from settling.

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Couldn't tell you whether it has biocides in it or not, but Optima seems to work principally by simply dissolving when sea life tries to latch on to it, so just washes off... That's why a soft antifouling has to be really soft to work well.
 
Optima does have cuprous oxide and organic biocides. Solubility is well controlled in Optima so it only erodes in an orderly way but without biocides it would quickly foul up and stop eroding altogether
 
So if I understand right, it's a kind of dual-action biological soluble detergent that helps get your whites whiter than white? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Seems to be technically OK, but practically indecisive. On fresh water I've found the opposite, and the erodible was a fresh water antifoul.
 
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