Sale of Antifouling for Boat/Yacht

Looking for effective antifouling agents? Here you have a catalog with prices at which you can select and buy an antifouling agent, ideally suited to the high-speed type of your boat, sea and fresh water, to the hull material (including aluminum), with a self-polishing function, a service life of up to 36 months, as well as two-component compounds and primers.

If you have trouble choosing, topRik experts will give you professional advice free of charge. We test our products in practice, in this case in preparation for the wintering and main season of our charter fleet, stationed in several marinas in the Mediterranean. We have selected for you only premium formulations from the world's leading manufacturers of yacht care products, including Veneziani Yachting, Boero Yacht Coatings, Propspeed.

Antifouling is the treatment of the bottom and sides of a vessel with special compounds that prevent overgrowing by sea and river living organisms: mollusks, algae, etc. The accumulated layer of these organisms (especially if they hang in bushes from the bottom) can affect the performance of the yacht, reducing the hull's resistance to water flow. The speed of a displacement vessel, weighed down by such a “vegetable garden,” is reduced by 20-40% by the end of the season, and a high-speed boat may stop planing altogether. Additional efforts to overcome resistance also lead to increased fuel consumption.

On a fiberglass yacht, fouling of the hull by marine flora and fauna can provoke osmotic processes - even on the metal hull. In the end, this dirty-brown layer protruding above the surface of the water gives the yacht an unpresentable appearance.

The coating of marine microorganisms on the bottom and parts of the sides of the yacht is so strong that at the end of the season on the shore it is necessary to use a high-pressure washer, a rough brush and a scraper to clean the surface of the growths. Is it possible to prevent such an unpleasant phenomenon, which requires a lot of effort to eliminate at the end of each season?

In this section you will find carefully selected effective antifouling agents, which will allow you to stop worrying about the condition of the bottom of your yacht for several seasons.

In order to significantly slow down the process of fouling of the underwater part, special compounds are used - antifouling agents. They can have a single-component or multi-component base, which is applied to the bottom and sides below the waterline and thereby protects the hull from the adhesion of marine flora and fauna.

Any effective antifouling paint is a combination of four main ingredients.

• Biocide is a mixture of active substances that prevent biological fouling. Efficiency of antifouling agents without biocides, for example, silicone-based is significantly lower.
• Polymer is a binding component that creates a film that holds paint components on the surface of the ship's hull. The type of antifouling agents depends on the polymer.
• Solvent - determines paint properties such as fluidity and drying speed.
• Pigment - determines the color of the coating. Quite a wide palette of antifouling agents led to another name for these compounds - antifouling paint.

Types of Antifouling Agents

As already noted, all antifouling agents are classified according to the type of polymer binder used. As a result, there are three main types of compositions that prevent fouling of the bottom of a ship are self-polishing (or self-destructive), solid and thin-film.

Self-polishing Antifouling Agents

That agents are capable slowly dissolve in water. Gradually washing off the top layers of such antifouling paint, water constantly renews the antifouling coating. As a result, the layer of antifouling agents, addressed to representatives of marine flora and fauna wishing to settle on it, always contains a high concentration of biocides, which are poison for these living creatures.

But even if some particularly tenacious organisms manage to gain a foothold on the paint layer, the second coating mechanism will come into play - its washability. Weakened by the effects of biocides, marine life will eventually be carried away by the oncoming flow of water, along with the microscopic flakes of paint to which they managed to attach.

Thanks to these two parallel protection mechanisms (biocide content + rinsability), self-polishing antifouling agents have better protective properties compared to other types of antifouling paint .

They also have other important advantages.

• Due to the fact that the outer layer of self-polishing antifouling paint is constantly updated; this type of paint can be applied in an increased number of layers, thus providing protection for several seasons in a row (relevant for boats that have not been lifted out of the water for a long time).
• By the end of the season, the thickness of the self-polishing layer antifouling paint is significantly reduced, which reduces labor costs when repainting - there is no need to periodically remove old paint from the boat hull, it is enough to lightly sand the previous layer of paint, degrease and remove dust from the surface using special products that are widely available in our marketplace, and apply fresh paint in the end.

With all the advantages of self-polishing antifouling paints, they also have some cons. One of their mechanisms of action (washability) imposes restrictions on their use. Soft self-polishing paints cannot be used on high-speed planing boats (and other vessels moving at speeds exceeding 30-40 km/h) - the speed of the water flow washing the bottom of such boats is so high that self-polishing antifouling paint will simply be washed off the body ahead of time. Also, the soft layer of such paint will be easily damaged when lifting the boat onto a trailer. To protect against fouling of high-speed and trailer boats, a different type of antifouling agent - hard antifouling paints.

Hard Antifouling Agents

As the name suggests, hard antifouling paints are not washed off with water, they also stay hard and remain on the boat hull until the end of navigation. How do biocides from underlying layers of solid paint get to its surface? The fact is that the polymer binder of such paints has some permeability. This permeability is sufficient to allow biocides from the underlying layers of paint to gradually migrate into the outer layer and effectively control algae and barnacle life. But at the same time, it is completely useless to apply solid paints in an excessive number of layers (more than 2-3) - the ability of biocides migration is still limited; they will simply be locked in the lower layers and will not take part in the fight against fouling.

Teflon, or Thin Film Antifouling Agents

This is a separate variety of hard antifouling paints. In polymer binder of that agents added a large amount of Teflon - fluorocarbon, which is characterized by a low coefficient of friction. Thanks to Teflon, such paints have the ability to reduce friction between the ship's hull and the water, which on high-speed ships means a slight increase in speed. In addition, the slippery surface of Teflon paints makes it more difficult for aquatic microorganisms and plants to gain a foothold.

Perhaps the only disadvantage of solid antifouling paints, including thin-film antifouling agents, is the need to periodically remove them from the boat hull. Otherwise, due to layers of paint as a result of annual repainting, the bottom will eventually resemble an old fence. You can remove the paint mechanically using sandpaper (do not forget that the resulting dust is poisonous!) or using a spatula, after softening the paint with a special remover, which can also be purchased on the topRik marketplace.

How to Choose Antifouling Agents

If you have carefully read the characteristics of all types of antifouling agents, then you understand how important it is to choose a composition that will suit the type of your vessel and the salinity of the water body. Let's summarize briefly.

Depending on the Type of Vessel - Displacement or Planing

When choosing antifouling paint, you should first take into account the speed of the vessel and the nature of its operation. If the speed is below 30-40 km/h, and the boat is not often lifted onto the trailer, it makes sense to use soft self-polishing antifouling agent, selected in accordance with the expected intensity of fouling in the area of operation of the vessel.

If the speed is higher and/or frequent ascent to the shore is expected (or based in the tidal zone and frequent drying), then it is better to prefer hard antifouling paint. And if the boat is racing type, then go for thin-film Teflon.

This selection algorithm is valid for boats with hulls made of any materials (fiberglass, steel, wood) except for aluminum.

Attention! Conventional antifouling paints are not suitable for aluminum boats! The fact is that copper metal powder (copper powder) or copper oxide, which is part of almost all antifouling paints (there are paints without copper, but they are inferior in efficiency) form a galvanic couple with aluminum, in which the aluminum of the boat hull becomes an anode in relation to the copper, that is, it begins to deteriorate.

Copper paints cause accelerated corrosion of aluminum boats! Therefore, if you have an aluminum boat, then everything stated above does not matter to you! You simply choose topRik in the marketplace antifouling agent for aluminum ships, for example, CROSSOVER from Boero Yacht Coatings.

Copper is added to such paints in the form of a special compound (copper thiocyanate), the galvanic activity of which towards aluminum is very small, but, nevertheless, it exists, which is why all aluminum cases must be reliably primed before applying antifouling paints. We emphasize: it is not enough to choose the right antifouling paint for aluminum, you also need to properly isolate the housing from water, thus preventing the transfer of electrons and the possibility of the formation of even a weak galvanic couple!

Depending on the Type of Water Body

The type of reservoir and water salinity only affect the rate of fouling of the bottom by aquatic flora and fauna. Classification and principle of selection of antifouling agent, depending on the type of vessel and hull material, are the same for both fresh water bodies and sea water of varying degrees of salinity. The rate of fouling, in addition to the salinity of the water, depends on the region of the water area, the average annual water temperature, the prevalence of individual species of flora and fauna and their ability to reproduce and grow.

How to Prepare and Treat a Yacht Using Antifouling Agents

Yacht processing with the help of antifouling agents is carried out after preliminary preparation. The processing algorithm for previously painted and unpainted yachts differs precisely in the features of the preparatory work.

Preparation of Previously Unpainted Vessels

All existing damage to the bottom needs to be repaired first, including major repairs in the event of an osmotic process in the fiberglass hull, along with adding an anti-osmotic barrier.

Then, after drying, all grease and silicone are removed using special detergents, and the surface to be painted is sanded and limited with masking tape.

After this, the recommended number of layers of antifouling paint is applied, observing the drying intervals between layers.

Unpainted housings made of steel, aluminum, wood before applying antifouling agent must be properly primed with appropriate types of primers, which can also be purchased from the topRik marketplace.

Preparation of Previously Painted Yachts and Boats

If the boat is already painted with primer and it is in good condition, sand it using sandpaper or an abrasive sponge to give the surface a matte finish, then wash with the cleaners/degreasers mentioned above, apply one coat of primer and the recommended number of coats of antifouling paint, observing the drying intervals between coats.

If the vessel was previously painted with antifouling paint of a known brand, remove the peeling paint, sand the old coating, clean, degrease and apply new compatible antifouling paint.

The problem is that compatibility information is only available for paints from one manufacturer. One rule applies here: if the previously applied paint is unknown or incompatible with the new one, you must first apply one layer of release primer, and only then apply a new antifouling paint.

FAQ

How often should anti-fowling coating be renewed?

Depending on the service life specified in the instructions or as the bottom grows to a completely unacceptable state for the owner.

Can you apply a new anti-fouling layer over the old one?

It is possible - with appropriate preparation and subject to compatibility with a particular antifouling agent.

Does anti-fowling affect boat speed?

Overgrowing of the bottom with aquatic flora and fauna can reduce the speed of the boat over the season by 20-40%.

Are anti-fowling coatings environmentally friendly?

Antifouling agents presented in the topRik marketplace meet all requirements for maintaining the ecology of the aquatic environment.

Can anti-fowling damage my boat's hull?

Only if the body is re-coated with an incompatible antifouling agent on top of existing one. Otherwise, antifouling will do nothing but good for your boat.