Nearly 4 years in the water!….
History of the installation: Arabella was fitted with the original first series Ultra 10 single transducer system in September 2009 when the yacht had already spent 12 months in the water using a conventional antifouling paint applied the year before. After just 8 weeks of switching on the system, Arabella was lifted in early November 2009 to find the existing growth had been reduced to slime and easily washed off. Arabella was re-launched with her one year old antifouling paint and remained in the water until 12th August 2013. The full report on the November 2009 lift including hull pictures can be read here…
http://www.ultrasonic-antifouling.com/testimonials/arabella-carter-30/
The lift after 3 years and 9 months:
The slime (dead matter) simply wiped away by the fingers…..loosely attached!
Fouling was clearly attaching to metal area set in the hull that is isolated from the resonance within the hull form.
The grey metal area is clearly visible after washing, the other side shows the difference.
Power wash is completed within 15 minutes and the yacht is re-launched keeping the old paint on.
Bob Evans, owner of Arabella said:
« this is a fantastic result, nearly four years in the water, I was amazed! I intended to keep her in the water for as long as possible and really see what the system could do with an old coating of antifoul paint. It should be realised that I do not sail her very often, perhaps only 3 or 4 times a year, so the hull does not receive a beneficiary wash to help reduce the build up. Then there are the few occasions when the shore power connection has been lost and the system has not been working for several weeks. You see the difference straight away with new algae growth but the system seems to sort this out after a few weeks. It’s impressive to say at the least, to see the ultrasonic system keep a hull this clear for nearly four years in the water while using an old paint, which would have lost its antifouling effects a long time ago. Let’s see how things fair in the next few years now the hull has been cleaned off. »
Had the yacht seen more use, it can be expected to see a possible reduction in the slime build up due to the hull moving through the water. You only have to look at the apparent isolated areas around the keel or even the pontoons to see what growth is available to attach to the hull.
Find out which Ultra System you require for your boat in the Product Selector pages of this website here http://www.ultrasonic-antifouling.com/products/