Ultrasonic Antifouling

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DougH

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I have taken the plunge and ordered a complete system from Ultrasonic Antifouling Ltd.

The boat is a Sunseeker Manhattan 60, new in April this year, and moored in Mallorca.

The installation will be carried out by the supplying Company in association with Sunseeker Estrella, the Sunseeker agent for Spain.

Scope of installation consists of:

1 x Ultra 20 with 2 transducers positioned on the transom so protecting the 2 large hydraulic rams on the bathing platform.

1 x Ultra 20 with 2 transducers positioned on the bottom of the hull above the props and rudders.

1 x Ultra 10 with 1 transducer positioned on bottom of the hull close to the bow thruster.



David Sothcott of Ultasonic has been to Sunseeker at Poole and viewed a Manhattan in build to establish the best places to not only position the transducers but also the 13 amp sockets for the alternative power source.

Actual installation will take place during January 2010.

The boat will be taken out of the water late March 2010 and fully cleaned so returning the boat to its new condition.

Obviously it will not be possible to come to any early conclusions but as the water in Mallorca is cristal clear unlike the UK (sorry could not help myself) I will be inspecting the hull on a monthly basis.

I will keep the forum updated over the next year, but if you are in Mallorca and wish to see the installation please PM me and you will be most welcome on board.

NB. I have no connection with the Company and am paying full price for the units and installation and also their travelling and hotel costs in Mallorca.
 
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I have a customer with a Manhattan 50 in Club de Mar Mallorca and the growth as you probably know is very bad in the med it seems to be much worse on Palma. Anyway our customer was very interested in the ultrasonic antifouling system but was going to wait for someone else to do it first then see how it goes. I would be very interested to see how well it works. Where in Mallorca is yours based? Are they going to grind back the inner skin and the wooden core in the hull and reglass the areas where the transducers are to be fitted?

P.S. Don't feel bad about pointing out just how clear and warm the water is here unlike the UK.
 
I hope I'm not the stiring anything up but IMHO they are a complete waste of time.
I know of two recent cases where they have made absolutely no difference - one even fitted in the Sunseeker factory.

We are on mainland Spain, about 100 miles from Mallorca - yes the growth in Spain is a problem but IMO Ultrasonics aren't the solution.
IMO its best to clean the props etc. regularly.
 
We have been polishing props, rudders and p-brackets ect with an electric polishing machine and metal polish to a nearly mirror finish and this seems to work alot better than anything else we've tried.
 
Doug

Did you get any kind of performance guarantee? With fitting that must be costing you £5k ish, so can you send them back or get a refund if it doesn't work? I was going to fit them, but the supplier went a bit vague when I started talking about how guaranteed the results were.

The testimonials are also a bit weak IMO, one of them for instance talks about remaining clear for just two weeks, another of reducing (rather than eliminating) the fouling.

The Ultra 20 was originally sold as a complete sytem for up to 20m boats, but it's interesting that you are having two of these sytems and one of the smaller ones just to protect the hi-lo struts, stern gear and bow thruster, seemingly without even trying to do the hull as well? That suggests you need a lot of them focussed in one area to do the business in the med, perhaps that's why the owners Hurricane knows have been dissapointed.

I'd love for it to work, because stern gear fouling in the med is a nightmare, but the jury is most definitely still out for me. It'll be interesting to hear your feedback, and also the MBY report, who fitted the system to a test boat earlier in the year. In fact i'm surprised they haven't had a report on it yet, as we're at the end of the fouling season. I'm not sure that no news is good news..
 
I to found that a supplier of one of these systems didn't want to answer the question of how well dose it work! but basically said that it helps to prevent growth. Thats why we were waiting for a few reliable tests to be done. I was told that one of the large boating magazines will be publishing test results on a previously installed system.

I think that the system will have a different effect on different types of growth, so what works in one area may not work in other areas.

I am still waiting to see the results first hand and it always takes one brave person to try something new first.
 
Guys, I can understand your doubts as to whether the system works or not, but my problem is the small crustations that seem to like to live on the underwater metalwork.

The props and rudders are completely covered which of course affects performance etc.

If you ever get a chance to see a Manhattan 60 out of the water have a look at the metalwork and the rams on the bathing platform. It is a massive piece of constuction and the crustations seem to love its location location location. Being a cautious type I obtained a price for the hydraulic rams should they need replacing. Horrendous price!

When the bathing platform is lowered there are steps exposed that the crustations are colonizing and are a danger to peoples feet.

This is why I have decided to place the units on the transom. This was my idea and Ultrasonic say it should not be necessary as the units protecting the props would also protect the trim tabs. But of course the rams are closer to the waters surface and may not receive the same protection and I was not prepared to take the chance.

The transducers on the transom will be mounted either on the metal mounting plates inside the hull that are part of the Bathing platform installation or onto the fibre glass where the sandwich is glass/wood/glass. No grinding of innerskin nor any stuctural alterations will take place.

HurricaneI can understand you being sceptical but my problem is crustations not weed but I assure you that I will being keeping a close watch on both and will be honest on my future reports.

Nick, no warranty asked for as from my knowledge they are only a small Company with what appears to be two honest guys trying to get a new product into the market on a restricted budget. I have been there myself and know how hard and frustrating it can be and so I am willing to risk 5-6K to solve the problem, after all if a Company goes into receivership any warranty goes with it. I am being realistic and fully accept any risks I am taking.

Yes I know I could have the hull scrubbed by a diver 50 times for the same price but I am frequently accused of having the OCD syndrome and if there is anything I can do to stop these aliens living on my boats bottom I will do it.

To fit 5 transducers is entirely my idea and Ultasonic say only 2 transducers (ie 1 x Ultra 20)
should do the job.

The report in MBY will appear in the next issue but I did get some information from a person who has a boat near to the MBY test boat and who has seen the test boat out of the water and was impressed.
 
DougH said:
The transducers on the transom will be mounted either on the metal mounting plates inside the hull that are part of the Bathing platform installation or onto the fibre glass where the sandwich is glass/wood/glass. No grinding of innerskin nor any stuctural alterations will take place.
Click to expand...
Actually aquatom question "Are they going to grind back the inner skin and the wooden core in the hull and reglass the areas where the transducers are to be fitted?" was a very good one.
I also wouldn't be very happy to grind any hull, let alone a wooden cored one.
But their installation manual says:
Siting of the transducer is absolutely critical because incorrect siting can make the system less effective.
Make sure that you do not site the transducer on any false floor or internal skin.
If your boat is a balsa cored or foam sandwich construction, it is vital that it sits on the actual external skin of the hull.
 
Like NickH, I spoke to these people also myself and I was very underwhelmed by their response to my questions. The guy was adamant that the system had been used successfully in the Med but then couldnt actually name any types of boats in the Med that had the system fitted or where they were located. I'm not sure he even understood the difference between the type of fouling you get in the Med and the type you get in the UK.
I really hope though that the system works for you because many of us Med forumites have tried various treatments to stop sterngear fouling and all have failed so if this works, we'll be very interested. Please keep us posted
 
aquatom said:
I have a customer with a Manhattan 50 in Club de Mar Mallorca and the growth as you probably know is very bad in the med it seems to be much worse on Palma. Anyway our customer was very interested in the ultrasonic antifouling system but was going to wait for someone else to do it first then see how it goes. I would be very interested to see how well it works. Where in Mallorca is yours based? Are they going to grind back the inner skin and the wooden core in the hull and reglass the areas where the transducers are to be fitted?

P.S. Don't feel bad about pointing out just how clear and warm the water is here unlike the UK.
Click to expand...

Yup, having spent 5 yrs in Club de Mar myself, I can confirm that sterngear fouling is worse there than anywhere else we've been. I think maybe it's the lack of movement of the water in the marina plus pollution from the town that causes it
 
MapisM said:
Make sure that you do not site the transducer on any false floor or internal skin.
If your boat is a balsa cored or foam sandwich construction, it is vital that it sits on the actual external skin of the hull.[/i]
Click to expand...

Yes thats correct, but Ultrasonic say that if the hull is glass/wood/glass that the transducer will still work.
 
DougH said:
Ultrasonic say that if the hull is glass/wood/glass that the transducer will still work.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... On which basis? Because balsa is different from wood in this respect?
That's indeed weird, considering that they also say very clearly "Suitable for all types of hull materials except wood".
Which makes perfectly sense btw, considering how it works.
I'd make them another question or three, before investing any time and money.
 
MapisM said:
Hmmm... On which basis? Because balsa is different from wood in this respect?
That's indeed weird, considering that they also say very clearly "Suitable for all types of hull materials except wood".
Which makes perfectly sense btw, considering how it works.
I'd make them another question or three, before investing any time and money.
Click to expand...

My preference is for the stern transducers to be mounted on the metal plates that are part of the bathing platform supports.
 
When I asked about mounting the transducers on the metal reinforcing plates inside where the p-brackets are mounted I was told that this may not work due to the thin layer of sikaflex or mastic between the hull and the p-bracket. I was told to grind out the balsa core and reglass.

Alot of sunseekers later hulls are a constructed with a wooden core under the waterline. I have fitted underwater lights to many sunseekers and found most have about 2cm core in the sides and 3cm core in the transom. this needed to be removed and reglassed as any water ingress to the core would cause big future problems.
 
johndove said:
First heard of this 30 years ago,

If it had worked then,

we would all have it now!
Click to expand...


My thoughts too. There was a big push for a similar system in the late 80s, just seemed to die away, saw no positive reports.

I have a mate who has fitted this system to his Nordhavn in the States fitted particularly to stop fouling on his keel coolers. Whilst he hasn't had the boat out since fitting he does have a diver check the hull each month who so far reports no improvement at all.
 
Mapism as usual you are right about the grp/wood/grp aspect and it was me that did not understand what Ultrasonic were saying.

Sunseeker Int technical dept have confirmed that the bottom of the hull above the props, rudders etc is solid fibre glass with no core.

The transom where the bathing platform is attached, is, working from inside the hull outwards, grp/aluminium/wood/grp. Large bolts clamp the whole thing as a sandwich and it is on the internal support plate that the transducers will be mounted.

It is fully expected that the transom units will not work at 100% as the transducers will be transmitting though the large bolts, but as the units though the bottom of the hull will also be having an effect I am hoping to acheive a 75% effectiveness for the bathing platform rams.

Remember, the units on the transom are my idea and not Ultrasonics.
 
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