Antifouling - What do people use?

[Clipper 343]

Voom is out of the water, new antifouling is on the job list. I had micron extra on there, didn't last well at all. Seemed to work fine, but needed a wipe before each race, and even using a soft cloth, that took a lot off, such that it got wiped away pretty quickly. I did roll it on, and quite possible badly, but overall, not too impressed. I have heard good things about Micron 66, but the price makes my eyes water. Also understand a sprayed finish makes a big difference to keeping the boat clean.

 

So, for a mulihull, that would be cleaned regularly (say every 2 weeks?), sits in warm water (shoal bay), what do pople reccomend? What do you use on your multi?

 

I am leaning heavily towards a harder antifouling, so the cleaning doesn't remove it all.

 

Any advice?

[TimW 1]

I have tried VC Offshore, Altex #5 and #10, Micron Extra, Ultra and Micron 66.

 

Micron 66 has less growth than any of the others (works the best as an antifouling).

 

spraying it makes a massive difference too over rolling it on, it is much easier to clean and keep clean.

 

The Micron 66 has lasted two years and has needed a lot less cleaning and is easier to wipe growth off.

 

I think tyhe extra price you pay for Micron 66 is worth every cent.

[Murky 1]

I have been trying to find a way to offer a comment without using a word that equates to "lead" in a multihull thread.

 

Due to a miscommunication, we have Micron Extra on most of the 88 but 66 on the k**l and rudder and there is a definite difference in performance - enough to justify the price difference.

 

I think if you are going to be spending the money on the more expensive antifouls, there is probably a good case for going all the way and spraying, otherwise there is an element of defeating the purpose.

 

Your other questions are best answered by other people. I know Marshy recently posted that he had gone for a hard antifoul on the Mercenary so it stood up to the regular cleaning as well.

[Marshy 30]

The only thing with Micron is that it is soft, so as Ken says it rubs off when you clean it. If you are resigned to have to clean the boat every two weeks anyhow the hard antifoul is good because it doesnt rub off, Ive got International Ultra on my boat and it works well. But thats in a marina so slightly different. I Think Samin has done quite a bit of experimenting in Little shoal bay and worked out that it grows there no matter what is on the bottom!

[Marshy 30]

And spraying it makes a huge difference, The stuff sticks to the bumpy bottom surface, but it finds it hard to grow on a smooth surface. Jason sprayed my boat so its as smooth as a whiteboard, so nor the fluffy stuff cant stick to is and pretty much cleans itself as i motor out of the marina!

[Clipper 343]

is 66 as soft as extra? If it works better, I may not need to clean it so often?

Does it 'self clean' better?

 

It seems that whatever is applied will get growth in shoal bay, but i can't bring myself to start a race with a dirty bottom...

[Murky 1]

Slight tangent but the owners of a neighbouring boat inherited a curved squeegee with twin rubber blades. I borrowed it off them this weekend and it is by far the most efficient thing I have ever used to clean the hull in the water - removes everything with a single wide swipe. Just like shaving. Seemed to be far easier on the paint than using even a soft cloth - I could see the difference in the few places that the squeegee couldn't reach.

 

So far no luck in sourcing them in this neck of the woods so anyone who sees them anywhere, let me know. It is an all-plastic unit with the curvature in the way that matches a hull form (rather than some that are curved in the other plane to clear water off a flat concrete floor).

[ex TL systems 63]

if you are wiping it every 2 weeks and you want a fast finish why not go with coppercoat epoxy . we put it on a 40 ft cat last year and it is going well. Its up the Tamaki estuary which is a bad fouling area, and still needs slime wiped off but you are not wiping off the coating and they claim 10 years. We rolled on about 5 thin coats and the finish is very smooth and fast would definately be good for racing. I think it was around 1800 for the matierials which over time is good value.

[Guest]

We use micron 66 on 888.

It has nearly lasted 18 months. I think the key is to spray it so there is enough paint on there and so it is smooth. It then needs to be wiped with a sponge regularly so the growth doesn't build up we left if too long when the boat was new and not being sailed much and then we had to use a scotch-brite and that wore all the paint away.

 

I think if your are racing you will have to clean it before every race any way what ever you use.

 

We will be using micron 66 again when it is re-anitfouled in a few weeks.

[Clipper 343]

Seems a pretty strong positive vibe for micron 66...

 

Is anyone else using anything ele and happy with it?

 

66 is quite pricey, but if it extends tmie between haulouts, will be worth it i guess

[Atom Ant 0]

I've tried a few - not the new 66 though, so no comment on that. In the end the best antifoul paint I've ever used is also the cheapest - Seahorse. It's a semi ablative and has worked well. I regularly get 2 years out of it although it is wearing thin by then. My current antifoul is said Seahorse and has been on since October 2009. It's getting thin in a couple of places but it's remarkably good. 2 coats all over with an extra one about a foot wide around the waterline. Good as gold.

 

One of the biggest tricks to good antifouling life was told to me by an old fella who said to stay outof the water for at least a week after painting it on. Once I started doing that the life of the antifouling increased noticeably.

[TimW 1]

When I first antifouled wolfy we used 4 litres.

 

Now we put on more like 6 or 7 litres. That is 3 coats instead of 2 lighter ones.

 

The 66 is soft and you have to be careful wiping it clean.

Generally just use a Carwash Brush.

 

But after around 1 x season it was starting to get more growth on it.

So we gave it a Lick with Ultra Fine Scotch Brite hand pads.

 

That effectively exposed some new biocides.

 

Then it worked again as good as it did when its new.

 

By putting the extra paint on it , it can have two lots of Scotch Briting done and still not go through anywhere.

 

The silf Cleaning when under motor or saioling, I'm not really sure about that with any of them.

 

It still seems the only way to clean it properly is to get in the water.

[Guest]

I'm using ultra on borderline. Sprayed the first time and it was awesome two years with bugger all use and it hardly got cleaned. I rolled the next lot on and the fouling has been a lot worse. The difference may be entirely environmental (moving the boat from gulf harbor to Westhaven) but I will definitely be spraying the next time.

[Guest mental outlook]

We have just put Trilux on Attitude. Booboo and myself had it on the SR as well and it had a long life span and didn't foul up any more than any other antifoul. It stays white around the waterline (comes in other colours) so you don't get that copper waterline stain look.

 

The SR was sprayed on and super smooth, we have done the same with Attitude. Nothing was ever used on the SR apart from a soft sponge, nor was anymore grunt ever needed to have it as clean as a whistle. The amazing thing with it was we left it for probably 2 or 3 months at one stage and when I went to clean it I thought "here we go" but actually while it looked really dirty (was white) it almost came off in sheets as soon as I touched it with a sponge and was a piece of cake. Other bonus is that your not swimming in antifoul every time you clean it as almost nothing comes off in the water.

 

I had Ultra on my 88 (didn't like it, was hard to clean but that may have been due to the age of it) then put on VC, which was good but expensive and no better than Trilux really. May have been a tiny bit smoother finish but was applied by a perfectionist with a pressure pot.

[Guest]

Seems a pretty strong positive vibe for micron 66...

I have the '66 Extra' which I think is the harder version of it. It was applied over a patched up substrate but has stood up very well and I do get a Sharpie pressure wash a fair bit. I'd use it again happily. It was sprayed on which I think is the only way to do it to get a good longer life finish.

[samin 0]

So, for a mulihull, that would be cleaned regularly (say every 2 weeks?), sits in warm water (shoal bay), what do pople reccomend? What do you use on your multi?

 

 

On Capricorn I tried Altex number 5 and International Micron Extra, both worked well but not well enough to not have to clean and came off in no time when wiping down

 

Then tried International Ultra, didnt work quite so well as the softer ones but lasted a lot longer, however scraping it off was the worst job ever as its rock hard!

 

Finally gave in and tried Micron 66, worked best of all but does wash off quickly if your not careful when wiping down, and you will still need to clean it every fortnight for a clean bottom in little shoal bay, but best of all you wont need to scrape it off at the end of the season as it ablates off.

 

I think the next option I might try is a hard one under a soft, different colors so you can see when its worn down.... or even better....... dry sail it..... I wish....

[Clipper 343]

thanks for all the advice guys.

 

Still undecided, but 66 is looking the favourite.

 

but not for the poor wallet.

[Guest]

Back in the day when we did twu we put a primer on which was silver in colour. I think it was called primacon. This was to stop the stuff in the antfoul leaching into the hull and to make it go the other way to stop the growth. The owner at the time said that antifoul lasted the longest of any he had tried before. I can only atribute it to that.

[TimW 1]

There is some very good advice there, strangely its come from Russell.

 

Oh well wonders will never cease.

 

If there is a decent build up of old antifoul.

Option 1 is to sand it off, then Interprotect the bottom before Antifoul. (You can also use Primocon, I prefer the Two pot Epoxy)

 

Option two is to give it a light sand, and then Interprotect over it,

 

The Biocides, and active ingredients are not very smart, and they don't know which way to go.

If the existing paint is an exciting path for them to take, they will do it.

 

Put the Primer on though, and they can only go outwards to the Sea, where they do the business on the nasty growth.

[Clipper 343]

We have been attempting to remove all the old antifouling. Well not ALL, but the majority. Long way to go yet.

 

Can anyone tell me the difference between interprotect and primacon?. Will need something to give a base, than get antifoul over top, whatever type is chosen.