Golden Globe getting Exciting

[Owly055]

https://goldengloberace.com/day-198-mark-slats-closes-to-within-50-miles-of-vdh-in-nail-biting-race-to-the-finish/

The Golden Globe race is a rather slow paced sporting event..... not a thrill a minute.      From Jean Luc Van Heede having a huge lead, things have closed up, and Mark Slats is hot on his tail.   1700 miles to go, day 198.  Mark  Slats has closed the gap that was over 1000 miles down to 49 miles.   Van Heede has mast damage that he repaired and has to be somewhat conservative.   Slats is out of water, and being forced to desalinate with a hand desalinater... which should amount to about 3 hours of hard pumping a day.    Most  of the boats are having a terrible time with barnacle growth.   Van Heede seems to be immune to this..... I'd like to know what  his bottom paint is.... the manufacturer should make a fortune from this if people are paying attention.   I believe it is some sort of copper coat. 

                                                      H.W.

[Bubba the Pirate]

"Lionel Regnier, who assisted both Uku Randmaa and GGR leader Jean-Luc Van Den Heede during their final preparations, says: The antifouling was applied to Uku's boat just after Jean-Luc's. Uku's had only two coats applied, but Jean-Luc who used the same process and applicator, had a third coat plus a 'hot' top coat mixed with copper powder which erodes as the boat passes through the water. The only barnacles are attached to the gel coat."

https://www.sail-world.com/news/211662/Golden-Globe-Race-day-120-update

[SeaHusky]

Scientists at the Gothenburg University have spent 20 years developing a finding into a usable product.
Hopefully it is as good as advertised.
https://selektope.com/

[Owly055]

It is unfortunate that the Sail-world article on the bottom coats does not give any concrete specifics.... what was the bottom coat?  and what specifically is the hot topcoat with copper powder?  more of the same, or something special?    We are left with nothing useful.

The second article... Selektope really is an advertisement of a new and relatively unknown / unproven product that may or may not live up to it's billing.

Here is an article on modern antifouling systems that includes both of these strategies, and others....... Of course what is readily available to us may be the limiting factor for most of us.

                                                     H.W.

[Norman]

There are restrictions on copper in antifouling products for environmental reasons.  I suspect that the "Hot topcoat" is illegal in most of the ports in the developed world, and absolutely is in my home marina.  No copper is permitted on any hull in a slip in my region.  Since JLVDH went to the water, and soon departed to the open ocean, he slipped through the regulations.

Copper once was the product of choice around here, before it was linked to damage to the health of the fisheries.

As we have advanced in the ability to measure the effects on the ecological population, all the effective outright poisons and toxic chemical have been removed from the products.  Simple hard coats with regular waxing is about the best a coastal sailor can do.

Norman

[CharlieJ]

sad to hear- no restrictions here- so far

[SeaHusky]

The big problem seems to be that the legislation, and often the minds of the legislators, does not differ between poisonous chemicals with copper content such as oxides, sulfates etc. and solid copper metal. Coppercoat is literally the same material that water piping is made of but the regulations only specify % copper content and solid copper metal has too many % copper in it...

The same goes for lead. There is a difference between a lead weight for fishing tackle and leaded fuel. 

[Owly055]

I ran into the same issue trying to find mercury switch thermostats to use with a millivolt heater.  Points are not reliable in any situation where oxygen and moisture is present, and I didn't want solid state requiring a battery.   Ask for a mercury switch thermostat and people recoil in horror....."mercury is toxic".  Yes,  a lot of things are toxic.   

Perhaps there needs to be some experimentation with things like electrical charges, ultrasonic vibration at different frequencies, etc....... there may be as yet undiscovered solutions.  It would be great to be able for example to simply attach some transducers to the inside of your hull and drive them from a solar powered driver circuit.......  Wishful thinking

[Owly055]

I ran into the same issue trying to find mercury switch thermostats to use with a millivolt heater.  Points are not reliable in any situation where oxygen and moisture is present, and I didn't want solid state requiring a battery.   Ask for a mercury switch thermostat and people recoil in horror....."mercury is toxic".  Yes,  a lot of things are toxic.   

Perhaps there needs to be some experimentation with things like electrical charges, ultrasonic vibration at different frequencies, etc....... there may be as yet undiscovered solutions.  It would be great to be able for example to simply attach some transducers to the inside of your hull and drive them from a solar powered driver circuit.......  Wishful thinking

Showing my ignorance......... I spoke too soon.   There is such a system, and it works:   https://www.cruisingworld.com/ultrasonic-anti-fouling.  Note that a two transducer system runs $1300........ cheap when considering the alternative.    http://ultrasonicmarine.com/buy.html

[Norman]

There are two interesting factors in the race to the finish.

One, how much barnacles and such JLVDH has on his bottom, which although it apparently is modest, has not been cleaned, maybe.  The unknown here is that while he was serving his time out for 18 hours, he may have been diving barnacles, gaining an advantage over Slats, who dove his on sailing time at an estimated cost of 50 miles. Never underestimate the advantage of being the most experienced sailor out there, or being a crafty old man, who knows the small advantages which are borderline legal, and undetectable.

Two, Mark has had good winds for a few days, and the wind forecast has Mark Slats receiving much better wind for the next few days.  This morning, the difference of distance to finish is 19 NM, and the wind continues to be favorable for Slats.  Yesterday evening it was 119 NM.

The race to the finish is shaping up to be one with many variables, and can easily go either way.

Norman

[Owly055]

Looks like VDH has it in the bag.... only 36 hours to his expected finish... Tuesday morning.   Mark Slats is expected Thursday........... But it isn't over until it's over.  There is still a storm to contend with, which is significant with a damaged mast.

                                                                                                                                        H.W.