For 2 years, the French company K-Ren has been offering a protection to avoid fouling on boat hulls. The principle is simple: you wrap your boat and by removing the light, you avoid all photosynthesis. The bacteria encapsulated in the fabric die. Avoiding any life against the hull. Under the tarp, the hull remains clean.
Quiet handling
According to the designers, it takes 2 people about 30 minutes to install the protection under a 35 feet sailboat. It is a question of starting from the bow by letting the tarpaulin sink which is leaded. Once the sheet is at the bottom, we pull it backwards by passing under the keel, which is more delicate for a sailboat, and under the engine and the rudder. Each cover is created according to the shape of the hull and the appendages. Reinforcements to limit wear and tear are applied under the keel or at the rudders.
Storage in a bag
When you leave the dock, you remove the protection on which the dirt does not hold, due to the flexibility and the material of the cover. The whole thing is stored in a large bag, which can be left on land or taken on board with you. Count about 20 kg for a 35 feet boat, the same weight as a sail.
Some constraints
Thus packed, the hull of the boat always remains clean. Among the constraints, we note that the boat cannot run its engine, and that life on board becomes difficult. It is impossible to empty the sink or the toilets, a practice that is theoretically forbidden in ports anyway. Moreover, this tarpaulin will be more difficult to install in areas where there is a current.
But it is an alternative to the successive careenings that a boat wintered in the water imposes on us. A good ecological solution too. It is up to each of us to see how we use our boat, depending on the number of times we go out to sea.
Designed on demand
As standard, the protection goes up 40 cm on the edges, but on estimate we can ask that the protection goes up to the liston to protect a painting or a covering for example. K-Ren even offers to screen-print this space.
Since the launch, 40 boats around the world have been equipped. Monohulls, catamarans, trimarans, sailboats and motorboats protect their hulls with this product. Some famous sailors in ocean racing use this product. As an example, for the protection of a Pogo 36 with its lifting keel, it is necessary to count approximately 4 000 euros for this product manufactured in France and guaranteed 2 years, the equivalent of 4 to 5 years of careening, counting the antifouling and the handling.
