A dozen of the leading antifouling paints are put to the test and rated by MBY in The Solent and the Mediterranean
Flag Cruising £34.08
FLAG Cruising is a budget-priced, copper-based paint designed for displacement boats that rarely exceed 8 knots. It is self-eroding so will slowly wear away during the season
DURABILITY: 3/5
Being a soft paint, it may not be suitable for planing boats that are used regularly. However, unlike the other self-eroding paints, no paint came off when we cleaned it, suggesting that it’s harder than average.
COLOUR FASTNESS: 2/5
This started off as an off-white pink, but by the end of the season the area above the waterline had graduated into a strong turquoise colour.
WEED/BARNACLES: 3/5
This worked well in our Mediterranean location but not so well in the UK. The East Coast wasn’t too bad but the Solent had the preliminary signs of weed growth.
SLIME CONTROL: 3/5
The slime at the East Coast location was patchy towards the waterline, but built up thicker further down. At the Solent location the heaviest slime was at the waterline, with only patches of slime further down. There was little slime at the Mediterranean section.
WASH TEST: 2/5
The finger test removed some of the slime but the bottom layer was well attached and proved quite difficult to shift. Washing the panels with a hose removed some but not all of the growth around the edges, suggesting that the passage of a boat through the water wouldn’t be enough to shift it all.
VERDICT 52%
FLAG Cruising didn’t perform as well as some but it is very affordable
and may have worked better with a little more movement than the couple of knots of tide in our locations. The degree of colour change may also be an issue if you need a white antifouling.
