HOT TOPIC

HOT TOPIC We discuss important topics with marine industry experts who share their opinions and top tips to help you get the most from your boating. Shootin’ the Breeze with…

BELOW-THE-WATERLINE REPAIRS

A beginners’ guide, from AkzoNobel, to common hull problems including what to look out for and how frequently to check the hull.

Here is Windrush, coated with Awlgrip HDT. Image: Onne van der Wal

Just like your car or home, there is a level of maintenance that is required to keep your boat functioning well. Part of this maintenance includes ensuring the bottom of your boat is in good condition, especially if it is kept in the water.

Many boaters use antifouling paint on the bottom of their boat to keep barnacles, worms, slime and algae from attaching to the hull and increasing drag, which affects the boat’s manoeuvrability and could cause you to burn more fuel while underway.

Applying antifouling to the hull is one of the most common and important paint applications on a boat. These coatings work by delivering a controlled, steady release of biocide (such as copper) from the paint surface into the microscopic layer of water next to the hull. It is this layer of biocide that stops the fouling from settling. Modern antifouling paints are specifically formulated to release just the right amount of biocide to keep the surface clean throughout the season, without the need to scrub your boat.

CHECK FIRST One of the first things you must check prior to painting the bottom of your boat is the condition of the existing coating - if there is one. You want to see if there is any paint flaking or peeling, and to what extent. Typically, if it is more than 40 per cent of the bottom hull, you may want to have a professional assessment and then discuss options for removing it.

Flaking is caused by using antifouling paints that are not compatible with each other. Another reason could be that there is too much paint applied over many seasons, and the base layers are unable to carry the excessive weight of the many coats of paint. This would mean you need to remove the paint to either the substrate or epoxy barrier system and start anew.

GETTING IT RIGHT The key to a successful application is ensuring you use an antifouling that works for your needs, as well as determining if you want a single season or multi-seasonal. Multi-seasonal allows the boat to come in and out of the water without the coating losing its effectiveness, meaning you are then unlikely to need to repaint the next season.

AkzoNobel Yacht Coatings, for example, have products for all types of boats, suiting all waters and conditions, as well as a full range of products that deliver single to multi-seasonal protection, like the International Micron range for power and sailboats.

You need to make sure that you check the compatibility of any new paint with the old paint, and if you are not sure, you can use International Primocon primer as a sealer and then apply your International antifouling.

METAL MATTERS One other key area to keep in mind is the underwater metals, such as the outboard engine, trim tabs and running gear. These typically use metals like aluminium, stainless steel or bronze.

These are areas with more wear due to the amount of abrasion occurring with the water passing through them, and so need maintenance each year. You need to properly prep bare metal with an aggressive sanding and then use a primer like International Propeller Primer, InterProtect epoxy primer or an underwater metal primer like Primocon, followed by the appropriate antifouling.

You want to avoid applying a copper-based antifouling over aluminium substrates, as the difference in the metals can lead to corrosion through the process of electrolysis. The primer is important as it provides a base for the antifouling to adhere to and adds a level of corrosion protection from the water.

A-Salt Weapon is coated with Awlgrip HDT. Image: Onne van der Wal For more information on AkzoNobel products and for step-by-step custom guides to get your boat ready for the spring season, visit yachtcoatings.com.

KEITH RYMAN

Five decades and still going strong - how International’s Keith Ryman has devoted his life to yacht coatings.

Since the 1970s, Keith Ryman has acquired an unrivalled understanding of yacht coatings - having devoted the majority of his career to leading development in laboratories in New Zealand - before becoming an integral part of the International brand’s Asia Pacific sales function.

“Sometimes, I do not even know what it is that I know, until someone asks me a question. I have learned a lot over the years,” Keith admits.

Yet, at first all Keith had his eyes on was a stop-gap. He recalls: “When I finished university in 1972 I sailed across the Pacific and spent some time in Hawaii. After I got back to New Zealand I saw a job advertised in a small chemicals plant and thought if I can work there until Christmas I will see about getting a proper job in the New Year.”

Aged just 22, Keith had joined the New Zealand brand Epiglass, which became part of International yacht coatings in 1989.

“I came on board as a junior chemist and was thrown into this pretty dingy lab with three or four others. We were pretty much left to learn everything ourselves. At that stage the products were fairly basic - there were a few epoxies and a couple of top coats.”

From there Keith devoted himself to product development: “Mostly it has all been laboratory and practical work on the bench throughout my career. I have never been much into paperwork. I like being in the backroom formulating products.”

One of the products he is most proud of is the HT9000 multipurpose epoxy resin system for professional and DIY use. It became an immediate hit in New Zealand before it was launched into the UK and US markets too. However, it is not just the development of products that kept Keith part of the International brand - it was the development of young talent also.

He explains: “At any one point we would have four or five chemists working on products in the lab. Over the years we had a lot of young people come through, and it was always really rewarding to see them grow and move on to bigger and better things.”

Keith’s unrivalled expertise is being put to great use on International yacht coating’s social media platforms. He has become the go-to guy for answering customer queries that come in via Instagram and Facebook.

“It is good to impart knowledge,” he says. “Helping people out is the most important part of the job.I enjoy calls from reps saying we have a problem - it requires you to think outside the box. That is the fun part for me.”

Having been at the epicentre of the Asia Pacific yacht coatings industry for half a century, what does Keith think the future holds?

“When I started, just about every second person had a boat. But that percentage has been steadily declining for a number of years. The growth, in our region, in particular is being driven by the superyacht market.

“Today we use much of the same technology as when I started. We have just got better at producing it and making an increased quality. But ultimately, it is about the people more than it is about the products.

“When you continue to have such passionate people in this business, like we do at International, then the future is in good hands.”

But what about Keith himself? Does he plan to notch up a sixth decade in the business? “My intention was to retire in 2020, but it did not happen because of Covid. Then it was going to happen in 2021 - but they asked me to stay on to the end of the year, so we will see what happens.”

As it stands Keith now plans on retiring in 2022, but he has made no fixed plans for this as of yet… Storing your boat indoors will help protect it from the elements