Sea-Slide® is a urethane-based marine overcoat designed especially for marine use to improve speed, fuel efficiency, ride and handling. It is recommended for both for pleasure boats and commercial vessels. It is an easy to apply coating that uses a unique, bonded inter-polymer complex that binds water to the hull. The water layer then reduces friction between the boat hull and the surrounding water. It can be used over most anti-fouling paints.
Sea-Slide® absorbs water but is not dissolved by water. The coating is a water based urethane inter-polymer dispersion, which cures on drying to a durable, hydrophilic (wettable) coating. It produces a surface with a low interfacial energy, which reduces the turbulence generated by a ship's hull as it passes through water. Reduced water turbulence means less hydrodynamic drag (the boat slides through the water with less resistance) and therefore more speed using less fuel as, or in the case of sail powered vessels, faster speed in lighter winds.
Tank tests conducted by the Ocean Engineering Department of the University of Rhode Island using electronic measurement apparatus demonstrated that Sea-Slide® applied over anti-fouling paint was of "a clearly measurable value: in reducing hydrodynamic drag; between 8% and 14% in separate tests with a displacement hull and a planning hull. this confirms tow force tests that showed that with Sea-Slide® significantly less force was required to tow a weighted boat through water. Tests for durability at an independent marine lab demonstrate that Sea-Slide® will withstand the effect of 50,000 miles of clear water ocean travel. This was done with coated panels attached to large drums rotating at a constant 15 knots surface speed.
- Friction
and fuel usage can be reduced up to 15-20%. That equals lower fuel cost and
longer range.
- Lower
RPMs are needed to maintain speed. In
addition to fuel economy, that also means less wear and tear on your
boat’s engines.
- Ride
in chop is dramatically improved.
- Acceleration
is dramatically better and top end speeds are higher.
- Competitive
racers use Sea-Slide® as one of their secrets for winning times