Wheat from chaff
46 SEAHORSE
From major racing events like The Ocean Race in 2022-23, where 11th Hour Racing pioneered an initiative to measure the impact of building an Imoca, to the Amer- ica’s Cup where AC75 moulds must adhere to sustainability parameters using recycled fibres, more and more emphasis is now being placed on sailing’s environ - mental impact. However, there are big differences among ‘sustainable projects’. In many of the best examples plant-based
These days everyone who is anyone is promoting their new boat as being recyclable (only a brave few add the prefix ‘fully’). Certainly some good stuff is going on and the direction of travel is the right one. There is still greenwashing, a few basalt fibres here, a sprinkling of flax there… but a person who from the start has never been anything but deadly serious about his environmental efforts is Italian yacht designer Matteo Polli. Best known for those pretty Italia racer-cruisers that perform so well at ORC events, Polli has also created a handful of pure race yachts with the goal of being green from the keel up, his latest being the new Ecoracer 30
and/or recycled fibres are combined with thermosetting resins. This solution undoubt- edly takes a step towards reducing environ- mental impact, but it does not address the real issue: end-of-life recycling of boats. Currently the vast majority of yachts
and powerboats navigating the seas are built with thermosetting resins such as polyester, vinylester or epoxy. This is the fundamental reason why, with no practical solutions for recycling these materials at the end of their working life, thousands of abandoned composite craft now litter ports and waterways everywhere in the world that navigable waters are found. But in recent years an alternative to
these thermosetting resins has begun to make itself felt – the thermoplastic matrix resin. Compared to their default predeces- sor, thermoplastic matrix resins make it possible for end-of-life recycling to become a reality, allowing for the reuse of both the resin and fibres used during construction. Probably the first sailing project to trial these resins in earnest was successfully
completed by Arkema SA, a French specialist materials giant based near Paris. The highlight of the various experimental vessels in which Arkema was involved was the ambitious and highly innovative foiling Mini 6.50 Arkema 3, previously written about in some detail in Seahorse. Subsequently the Italian start-up North-
ern Light Composites realised a series of prototypes, including the Ecoracer 25 (more later) using natural fibres and thermoplastic resin. NLComp’s most recent launch, the Ecoracer 30, was presented to the public during The Ocean Race finale in Genoa. But as you’d expect, working away
quietly the big boys in the industry have also become very active in this field, with an eye on future market trends as well as EU and other statutory construction requirements. Over the past year French companies
Bénéteau and Jeanneau have begun work- ing more extensively with recyclable resins, and their recent Sun Fast 30 One Design project was, from the outset, intended to pioneer these new more eco- friendly materials and technologies. In the past many one-off racers and racer-
cruisers have been built with more or less use of recyclable materials. But these boats have almost always been small, where resale value and a possible bonding failure were less important. But last year a 44ft ORC design was launched by Mati Sepp’s Clean Energy project – a purpose-built racer con- structed with thermoplastic resins and fibre- glass. Meanwhile, NLComp’s Ecoracer 25,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
