FINSULATE NON TOXIC antifouling does it work? (Test & Review)

[@matthicks7674]

So sorry you had to deal with Rik also. We too as you know had a similar experience on our catamaran SV Sea Odyssey. In the end, it cost us about €20,000 to install and completely removethe finsulate. Rick had promised us that if we were unhappy with his product, he would simply refund us the cost of the installation. Unfortunately, when we finally decided enough was enough, he was nowhere to be found and subsequently ghosted us.

[@SVTranquillity]

Yea we have seen your story. Terrible. We feel sorry for you too. It is one thing when a product does not work as advertised. But is is another when the manufacturer does not take responisibility and treats you like sh*t

[@berndkrucker6561]

I had also Finsulate on my boat. A brandnew Bavaria Vision 46. The boat was not able to reach the rpm that the engine according to Bavaria specification should achieve. Compared to my old boat Dehler 41, the sailing experience with the new boat abd Finsulate was disappointing. It was not as fast as I was used to. After 2 years of discussion the guy who sold us finsulate agreed to remove it and replaced it with silicon based antifouling. What a different boat. rpm was 250 more and the boat sailed 2 knots faster and is also much more agil. Be careful. Finsulate is not good for a sailing boat. It also has a big problem of microplastic. The small hairs on the foil are spreaded around when scratching with s.th. to clean the hull. There are now other non toxic materials on the market, which are really working. Finsulate on a sailboat is not s.th. that I would recommend. Hope this helps other guys. Thank you for your great Video.

[@Captain-Paul]

Refreshingly honest review - such a pleasant change to all these bias sponsored product reviews from channels who get the stuff free

[@SVTranquillity]

Thank you!

[@AusMarineRobotics]

Nice work guys - may have cost you a few thousand but you've saved many 100's of thousands for others. The karma alone is priceless SV Tranquility👍

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks BB! Appreciate your comment😀 This is exactly why we made the video.

[@brandonkindt1205]

Never seen an eco-friendly paint that worked. Its a great way to exploit people's good intentions.

[@SVTranquillity]

Sadly yes

[@i1uvpreppyxo887]

Here is a great example of why it is so important that reviews are made by people that did not receive their product for free. I really thank you guys for your honesty and integrity. Sorry it was such an expensive ordeal for you but the review is invaluable to others. Fair sailing ahead I hope.

[@SVTranquillity]

Thank you! Really appreciate your comment.

[@itsverygreen532]

A very fair and honest review of how the product performed on your boat.

[@SVTranquillity]

Thank you Robin!

[@tomleenheer235]

Wouw very good video guys. Always wondered if Finsulate would work, not a cheap product. Now I know, so thanks.

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks Tom!

[@mymobile5014]

It's very difficult listening to a great sales pitch, only to find out that the new product is snake oil. I also find it sad that they would not give you a full refund. Obviously their product is not fit for purpose. A very expensive lesson learned, but you have helped so many people avoid the same mistake I suspect you will be treated to beers wherever you go.

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks for your nice comment! We hope we can meet someone in the future who we have saved from choosing finsulate so we can get that beer😅

[@juicychills7546]

great that you documented the whole process, beautifully honest review..

[@johnhoogy]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We had heard bad things about thinsulate from friends who tried the product and we had wondered about it. we in the end went with Coppercoat witch we installed ourselves, and we will launch our yacht back in the water in the coming week. We found your video most helpful and would happily recommend it to others to help them with the decisions process. John from Sv.the.Dream.

[@SVTranquillity]

Coppercoat seems to be a very good choice. All cruisers around us who have it are very happy with coppercoat. For us it was a bit to expensive after the finsulate debacle. Thanks for the comment and thanks for recommending our video. Fair winds John! (PS. We Like your boat name)

[@MH-yv1io]

How is the Copper Coat ? Any video? Costs etc? MKM:)

[@johnhoogy]

@@MH-yv1io we have been back in the water for just over a month and sailed from Lisbon to Porto santo (Madeira islands). We found that we gained 1/2 to 1 knot in sailing speed which was a great surprise, remember it’s a hard finish. After a month the Coppercoat looks great still clean with a light slime that you can wipe of by hand. We are working on a blog post and video soon. As for cost our all in cost to do our fat bottom 50’ was 2,500euros for products and activation, excluding time in yard. It was a big job for us and we sanded for 3 weeks and depending on the amount to get the surface back to the gelcoat base you would need to factor in more time. We extended our waterline and used international Gelshield on the extended zones and the keel and rudder. We are not the most active or strong people but with effort and persistence its definitely doable. We will see how it goes in the coming months but from what I see we are very very happy. Cheers John @Sv.the.Dream you can find us and photos of works on Facebook,KZbin and instagram by typing Sailing the dream.

[@Hartmut-58GradNord]

Thank you very much for this informative and very honest video! I can just imagine your disappointment in a solution you thought was good for the environment and your economy... as you know we only sail in the Baltic Sea where copper-based anti-fouling is not permitted any longer (at least in Sweden) although some sailors still use it. We also discuss every season which paint to apply and experiment with different products. I would have made the same decision as you. As we have been away for a couple of weeks now with very limited access to internet I have missed several of your last episodes... got to catch up!

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks Hartmut, we thought you might be on holiday cause we missed your comments😄 Good to have you back😇

[@Hartmut-58GradNord]

@@SVTranquillity Nice to be back although it's also nice to be on vacation and sail ourselves instead of watching others sailing around the world on YT 😅!!

[@NickVass1000]

Very interesting and thank you for making this very informative and honest review. We use ultrasonic antifouling because like you we don't like putting biocide poison into the sea. This is a very good KZbin video as you get to the point and don't go on about yourselves

[@SVTranquillity]

How is the ultrasonic working for you? And how much power does it draw? Thanks for the compliment!!

[@svamicanova7381]

Goed gedocumenteerd en heldere uitleg! Jammer dat Finsulate geen succes was, door o.a. jullie ervaring houden wij het (voor nu) ook bij de traditionele anti-fouling. Hopelijk komt er ooit een goed milieu vriendelijk alternatief. Fijne verdere reis!

[@SVTranquillity]

Dank je wel. Ja helaas een flinke domper. Het leek veelbelovend, maar helaas.

[@robhalliwell3155]

Thank you. I have now eliminated this option. Good sailing for the future.

[@SVTranquillity]

You're welcome and thank you!

[@saskiavanoordt-andringa6583]

A different story: We sailed a 48 foot steel boat with finsulate and it was wonderfull! after six years only one time scraping off the tube worm tubes and repairing little damaged areas and seams. We did not notice any slowing down in our sailing, but then again , a 48 foot boat with long keel two mast is not for racing anyway. We sailed around the Dutch coast, to England an Denmark and on fresh water on the IJsselmeer in Holland. We were very happy with this environment friendly solution of Finsulate. The costs were as calculated beforehand: cost for Finsulate for 5 years (plus one time repairs) or antifouling every 2 years (including hauling the boat out etc.) were the same.

[@SVTranquillity]

We can definately say finsulate works better on fresh water. Even though we have not been using finsulate very long on fresh water. But just to have a sharp different look at it. I also have experience with over 6 years using boats on fresh water with only a smooth epoxy coating. The exact same coating you would use to stick finsulate on. And you will get a similar result as the finsulate. (But with higher speeds) I would suggest if you change the wrap in a few years to try it just with a smooth epoxy coating and see what happens. A lot cheaper and even better for the environment. Because you do not have the small damages of the finsulate. Look into Durasolid the most environmental friendly epoxy paint out there.

[@saskiavanoordt-andringa6583]

@@SVTranquillity But we did not only sail on fresh water. I think it is to do with the type of barnacles etc. that liv in warmer seas than the North Sea and Waters around Denmark.

[@SVTranquillity]

But did you switch to fresh in between those sailing area's. Cause after our atlantic crossing we switched to fresh water and lost all our growth. In this case we would have been good without any antifouling system as well. I know 2 more sailors who sail your area and stay on salt for years without any antifouling paint and just scrub ones a year. You are definately right aboit the amount of growth in the colder less salty water of the Baltic and North Sea, which is way less compared to the tropics.

[@sailingmanatee]

Very interesting and informative video! 👏🏼

[@SVTranquillity]

Thank you!

[@mikenagy938]

After boating for ten years in the tropics i have to say this is a gimmick. Maybe better to just get the best paint you can find and expect to scrape the hull in the water to remove barnacles. It isn't that hard, I did it by just holding my breath and diving down. It was easier after i purchased a hookah rig, a compressor, forty foot hose and regulator. This allowed me to stay underwater till the job was done. I did scrape the prop every week and at least every month scrape.

[@SVTranquillity]

We have a semi hard antifouling paint now. Must say it holds up pretty well. I do not think anyone can get away without scraping ones in a while. But I am very happy with propspeed on our saildrive and prop. Just a handwipe once every month😀 and it stays clean.

[@rolfvanharen]

Dank je voor de goede uitleg... Wij zijn aan het zoeken, en jullie feedback helpt enorm!

[@SVTranquillity]

Daar doen we het voor! Dank je wel voor je reactie🙂

[@unhippy1]

Was wondering about this stuff, after watching this i will go back to my plan of cladding the hull with cupro-nickel sheet when the time comes.

[@SVTranquillity]

Well they have a very good pitch on why it is a good alternative. But unfortunateley it is just not true and in our case it is the most ineffective product ever.

[@johnmclachlan1023]

Very informative. Quite possibly will cost Finsulate more than the 1100 they stuck you for. Pity about the 2000 for removal too. Nothing's ever easy.

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks John! Taking the stuff of was a complete nightmare😔

[@johnmclachlan1023]

It looked it. You try and do the best for the planet and hopefully the wallet and it backfires. It kills the wallet and doesn't do environmentally what you hoped. I'm just an armchair sailor now with a little TS 16 but I appreciate your documenting this. I'm 70 next month but haven't given up hope of going back to bigger boats. Where there's life there's hope lol.

[@manfredgrobel2068]

It is horrible if you have such a growth after 2 months. I use International WA 350 and need no scratching or brushing after 6 months. As I am using this for many years I have the experience. It lasts 3 years before it has to be renewed.

[@SVTranquillity]

It is and it was getting worse after each cleaning. I had to be in the water every other week to clean.

[@manfredgrobel2068]

@@SVTranquillity I had such problems with Copper Coat. So I went back to WA350.

[@bobgaysummerland]

I'm glad I watched this video. You saved me some real headaches. Thanks

[@SVTranquillity]

Glad we helped you out!

[@SailingMarieholmIF]

Duidelijke video. Bedankt voor het delen.

[@SVTranquillity]

Dank je wel!

[@superformOG]

simply adding overlapping seams would be a big improvement - could vulcanise the seams to make it last a lot longer.

[@SVTranquillity]

You might think yes. But we had overlapping seams on some parts. But than the cleaning with their provided scraper destroys the overlapping parts and you again drop pieces in the ocean😔

[@superformOG]

i mean they should be designed with overlapping seams, a small section of just normal plastic that can be vulcanised into another piece, like tiles

[@iwoodie]

Dank voor deze informatieve video.

[@Mar-vu9nx]

Thank you very much for the very useful information

[@SVTranquillity]

Happy to share!🙂

[@fstbttms]

Take this professional hull cleaner's advice- When it comes to new, unproven anti fouling solutions, never be the guinea pig

[@FromBalitobabyandbeyond]

Great review 👍🏻😊

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks!

[@navegandomivandestadt34]

Well done guys 🌹

[@SVTranquillity]

Thank you!

[@ynotbegreat]

Thank you for this review. Much appreciated.

[@SVTranquillity]

Glad you liked it!

[@SailingStormvogel2]

Thanks for the explanation. Just one question did you go for the saltwater version or sweet water version when you applied the film? Regards, Nanno.

[@SVTranquillity]

After an explanation of our plans. Finsulate adviced their seagrade wrap. Which is mainly for salt water but also good on fresh water.

[@elbertwaller2]

Very nice informative video guys! Just pure logic should suggest that a layer of paint has less drag then a foil layer with hairs on it but I might be mistaken ofcourse! (Would he cool to check a mean speed of the first year and compare that to a mean speed the coming year?!)

[@SVTranquillity]

It does, and it was what we thought but estimated loss of speed would be 0,2 knots and we were okay with that. But we think it is closer to 0,5 knots loss of speed. But we have the average data of our former long crossings. So we will see what next year will bring. Thanks for your comment Elbert.

[@elbertwaller2]

@@SVTranquillity cool, can’t wait to see that data comparison! Keep it up!

[@blackquintet]

Thanks for this very useful video. It's sad you wasted so much time and money, but the good side is you might have avoided the same disaster for several users.

[@SVTranquillity]

Exactly why we put it on the web! Thanks for your comment🙂 A little extra, se just finished our pacific crossing and we were 1 knot faster without finsulate compared to the atlantic crossing

[@sailinggarfield2884]

goed verhaal. Ik heb dit ook overwogen, maar ga voor onze oversteek Coppercoat aanbrengen. Volgens mij zijn daar meer positieve ervaringen mee.

[@SVTranquillity]

Coppercoat is in onze ogen het meest mileuvriendelijke alternatief. Het laat wel koper los, maar in zeer geringe mate en alleen koper-oxide wat al natuurlijk in de oceaan voorkomt. Voor ons was het nu te duur om dit erop te doen.

[@jonunya3128]

nicely done

[@SVTranquillity]

Thanks Jo

[@jorntkoopmans]

Heldere uitleg! Helaas halverwege vreesde jullie hier al voor. Jammer genoeg is dat uitgekomen. Ondanks dat, laat het achter je liggen en geniet van jullie vervolg en laat het de sfeer niet verpesten!

[@SVTranquillity]

Helaas wel. Dank je wel Jornt

[@BlackheartCharlie]

Thank you for making this video! Too bad that this product doesn't really work. I'm also looking for an alternative to ablative bottom paint. Fair winds and following seas to you!

[@SVTranquillity]

Happy to help out. It is a bummer. We really had high hopes. I hope there will be better alternatives soon.

[@windwaterandSandra572]

Thank you so much for this very informative video (ik doe het maar in het Engels deze keer) I have the same thoughts as you do about that very toxic anti fouling. And as you know I only sail on the sweet waters of the Frisian lakes. And as I see how many boats are boating there is scares me to think how much of that toxic of all these boats covered in antifouling is getting in the water. Last winter I had the boat on the wall and I choose a wax to apply on the boat. I put it over the existing antifouling just to see how long it will hold and how long it will put the bugs away. So far I am not seeing much grow on the boat yet. If this wax is satisfying I will take all the antifouling and paint that is on the hull off. Paint the hull and put the wax over it. But still this is for use on sweet water. I have no idea what it will do in salt water, and especially in the warmer waters where you are now. Groetjes

[@SVTranquillity]

Curious how the wax will do? On fresh water I would recommend the epoxycoating we had underneath the finsulate. It is a very hard and smooth epoxypaint. 97% solid content so it is more environmental friendly than most other paints. (Durasolid 2 K from Brantho-Korrux) I know a couple of boats who only have this coating on fresh water and they just power wash the hull once a year and it is perfect. Some of them are doing this for 8 years now.

[@windwaterandSandra572]

@@SVTranquillity Thanks so much, I was allready thinking what coating I should use as I am planning to do the whole hull with it and not the underwater part seperate.

[@schorpioenopreis]

Wat een pech zeg! Heel vervelend. Wel goed filmpje! Wij hadden diezelfde pokken ook op de boot, maar bij ons ook eraf gevallen in Suriname 😀

[@SVTranquillity]

Dank je! Hadden jullie ze ook zo massaal op het onderwaterschip? Of alleen op de waterlijn? Het sterkt ons alleen maar in de discussie die wij hadden met Finsulate over de kans de eendenmossel nog eens tegen te komen. Naar ons idee komt die gewoon veelvuldig voor op de atlantische oceaan.

[@schorpioenopreis]

@@SVTranquillity wij hadden ze niet zo heftig als jullie, voornamelijk op de waterlijn en het roer.

[@colin7415]

Looks fabulous!! Which Axiom displays did you use?

[@SVTranquillity]

Axiom pro 9+

[@003milne]

Wow , what a story !

[@SVTranquillity]

It's not al sunshine and rainbows😔

[@003milne]

@@SVTranquillity That’s for sure but hé, that’s life , and a good experience , also for others ! Great sharing the story !

[@Rubenmereljaws]

Hoi, het valt mij op dat jullie de finsolate met een soort plamuurmes afsteken. Klopt dat?

[@Watalsjedeloterijnietwint]

Wat een pech, he! Maar goed dat jullie je ervaringen delen. Daar kunnen anderen zeker wat mee!

[@SVTranquillity]

Ja echt jammer! We hopen dat er op korte termijn toch echt meer en betere alternatieven op de markt komen

[@sailinggarfield2884]

Het is mij nog steeds een raadsel overigens waarom Coppercoat in NL niet is toegestaan.

[@SVTranquillity]

Dit heeft alleen maar te maken dat het vrij duur is om in Nederland toestemming te krijgen en met de vele wisselende regelgeving heeft coppercoat er zelf voor gekozen om geen goedkeurings aanvraag in Nederland te doen.

[@sailinggarfield2884]

@@SVTranquillity dat had ik ook al vermoed. Wel jammer want het is naar mijn mening een goed werkend en milieuvriendelijk product. Daarnaast niet duur als het tenminste 5 jaar werkt. Ik betaal € 1300 aan materiaal voor mijn 36 voet Compromis.

[@aquious953]

There are lots of more environmentally friendly options for bottom paint

[@Corps18699]

Can 100% confirm this. I have finsulate for only one season under my boat and it just came out of the water (Baltic sea). It is a disaster - tons of see grass and muscles!!! The fact that the person who installed it on my and many other boats have disappears tells me that I can forget about my warrenty. Must be the worst anti-fouling product ever!

[@SVTranquillity]

What a disaster😱 we feel your pain. Is it possible to reach out directly to Finsulate.com for your warranty? They are based in the Netherlands.

[@Corps18699]

@@SVTranquillity I tried and they did offer to send more foil. Nice but given that I lost ~20% of the foil to the sea during the season (yes, super great for the environment that we wanted to protect), the rest is mostly peeling and the product per se does not hold true to its promise, I want to get it down. I plan to go on a long trip next year and do not want to clean a 50ft boat every 2 weeks... The Finsulate dealer who installed it has disappeared as it seems and Finsulate seems not to feel responsible for their partner. So I guess, this was an expensive mistake :-(

[@MH-yv1io]

Guys that is AMAZING. We just found our 33ft and are heading off in a year and I was looking at the non toxic anti fouling as I had seen the product first hand on a boat where I work and it looked good. Will avoid THANK-YOU for your video. Have you any thoughts on Coppercoat ? Cheers MKM

[@SVTranquillity]

Glad to be helpfull on your choice. I think coppercoat works good and is the least environmental toxic at the moment. Might be the cheapest as well in the long run. Please take a look at our friends channel they just made an Antifauling comparison video of a lot of products. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqmomZdpepqMjbs It is in german but I think ypu can do automatic english subtitles and you will get the point.

[@ssmith4045]

No way your boat will perform with a carpet coat, show me a fish with fur and I will buy Finsulate.

[@SVTranquillity]

We fell (stupid) for the quit sensible explanation of the manufacturer. The hairs turbulenced the water creating less drag. But no in the end it works like a carpet. It slowed our voat down with at least 0,5 a knot and depending on windspeeds even up to a knot slower. And this is withiut any growth on it. It gets worse cause growth attaches fast when in the warm tropic waters.

[@sailinggarfield2884]

Net begonnen met het verwijderen van de oude antifouling voor het aanbrengen van de Coppercoat. Een van de weinige momenten waarop je graag een kleinere boot wil hebben.

[@SVTranquillity]

Ooh ja wat een rotklus!! Hoe groot is je boot?

[@sailinggarfield2884]

@@SVTranquillity Bij dit werk is je boot altijd te groot..... Wij zijn 36 voet. Totaal drie dagen gekrabd en geschuurd en van daag een lange dag 30 kg Coppercoat gerold.

[@dadejazzba402]

Ultrasound?

[@SVTranquillity]

Never tried. But we will wait a moment trying new things

[@jean-marcgruninger9019]

you where their beta testers.

[@SVTranquillity]

Well normally a beta tester will get a bit better support when the product is failing😥

[@lindavan7497]

⛵⛵⛵

[@p.l.b.3061]

Wow, FINSULATE sucks!

[@franckbrunie4759]

"We are losing 2grams of plastics into the ocean"... than go rather live in a cave, because there are 1000 things more polluting than that when liveaboard.

[@SVTranquillity]

Well microplastics are probably the most toxic stuff in the ocean. So if you can reduce it to a minimum why not? It is a bit weird to say well I am allready living so I can pollute as much as I want. We do not like it and try to minimise. But unfortunately not all goog intensions work out well

[@franckbrunie4759]

@@SVTranquillity it is "fashion" to talk about micro plastics due to the enormous quantities of plastics that are rejected. Have you had a clothes drying machine? Then you get an idea how much plastic clothing reject in air we breathe. We absorb much more plastics in daily home activities than we will ever eating fish (who have some plastics in their inedible digestive organs). Now make once an analysis of your diesel exhaust cooling water, you'll be horrified. All proportions should be kept.

[@jean-marcgruninger9019]

welcome to the world of beta testing.

[@Rubenmereljaws]

Kan ik met jullie in contact komen? Mvg

[@SVTranquillity]

Jazeker [e-mail]