The Ecoracer 30 – did Matteo Polli ever draw a boat that was not outstandingly pretty? Meanwhile, in his efforts to reduce the negative environmental impact of composite boatbuilding Polli has found a perfect partner in the start-up Northern Lights Composites (NLComp) who quite recently spun off Eco Yachts as a targeted sustainable yacht brand. This is a big year for the Ecoracer 30 – with good results in ORC events the boat could prove a winner in more ways than one. It’s important too, as switching from diesel to electric power makes a trivial contribution compared with improving the original build footprint
The principal composite developed by
NLComp for the Ecoracer 30 is named rComposite and it utilises Arkema’s Elium thermoplastic resin along with a mix of other low-impact environmental materials. Recycling processes for these materials
built entirely with natural fibres and thermo- plastic resin, clinched the ORC Sportboat Championship in Italy in 2022, proving that at this scale at least a more recyclable yacht can also be a fast yacht. Following its debut last year the larger
Ecoracer 30 has now become the world’s first sustainable production design – built by NLComp under its Eco-Yachts brand. The Ecoracer 30 is intended to make a
splash in international regattas as an affordable, entry-level one-design racer also targeted at the fiercely competitive IRC and ORC Class C. So 2024 is a big year for this benchmark little yacht, as well as for all of us who are passionate about reducing the non-degradable sailing rubbish that litters our waterways. But to be a popular success the Ecoracer
30 must be fast as well as sustainable; so this is a serious racing project. Designed by Matteo Polli, the boat represents an evolu- tion of his previous Corsa 915 and, by way of performance reference, it is hoped it will prove a tough competitor to the very popular Cape 31 in ORC/IRC races. ‘From an engineering perspective the
Ecoracer 30 posed a fascinating challenge,’ says Polli. ‘The project had two primary requirements: firstly to repurpose existing moulds and so minimise the environmental impact of new tooling, and second to design a versatile boat capable of deliver- ing excellent performance across all typical wind and sea conditions. Moreover, these objectives had to be achieved using sus- tainable materials. ‘A very wide range of mechanical
material properties, including weight, density and structural rigidity, were taken into consideration from the very beginning of the design process. ‘This was always going to be an opti-
mised recyclable yacht, designed around the most suitable materials. It was not going to be another yacht making a polite nod towards a few green credentials.’
Paolo Dassi, in charge of the structural
engineering of the Ecoracer 30 project, adds: ‘The engineering of the Ecoracer 30 OD is focused on achieving the best possible trade-off between sustainability and performance. The design aim was to create a vessel with exhilarating perfor- mance, fun to sail in one-design racing, but also with good credentials under ORC rating. ‘A first parametric study to understand
the implications of using different materi- als in different components and areas of the vessel was carried out. This allowed the design and build teams to understand how each material and manufacturing process choice can influence the strength and stiffness of the vessel, its structural dis- placement, its production carbon footprint and its recyclability. ‘The approach used – and uniquely
developed – for this vessel has as inputs a variety of design parameters and then undertakes a numerical evaluation of each material and laminate combination. This rigorous approach enabled the design team to drive the design towards the optimum solution on a data-driven basis. ‘The final outcome of this sensitivity
analysis is a bespoke combination of mate- rials, fabric architectures and weight distri- bution, which differs between hull, deck, bulkheads and internal structure. Lami- nates are mainly composed of carbon fibre and ampliTex flax fibre fabrics, impreg- nated with Elium-infusion resins. ‘Tailoring not only fabric weight and
fibre directions, but also constituent mate- rials made achieving the required perfor- mance possible and enabled us to drasti- cally optimise the sustainability of the finished vessel. The result of this design exercise proves that if sustainability is included among the core design parame- ters in the very beginning of a project, then major improvements can be made with no harm to the performance of the boat.’
have already been validated in France. Recycling can occur through mechanical means, allowing the polymer to be reused for 3D printing or injection moulding. Alternatively, chemical recycling enables the return to resin with the same mechani- cal characteristics as virgin resin; this has the advantage of being adoptable by recy- cling companies using standard processes, on a small and medium scale, using less energy than complex chemical processes. The Eco Yachts team then conducted a
comprehensive emissions analysis of the boat’s production process with the support of the innovative Climate Standard’s tools. This Cradle-to-Grave Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) considered every aspect, including raw material procurement, pre-production processes, hull creation and assembly, to calculate the product’s carbon footprint to the point of leaving the shipyard. The result: the boat emitted 11.16 tonnes of
CO2 equivalent, considering both CO2 and other greenhouse gases. To achieve carbon neutrality the team
then devised emissions offset and reduc- tion strategies. Through the first strategy Eco Yachts offset 100% of emissions, directly and indirectly, by investing in high-quality carbon credits from projects with positive social impacts. Simultane- ously they committed to an emissions- reduction strategy involving targeted, intel- ligent investments to reduce the vessel’s own carbon footprint year after year. Climate Standard is an independent
auditing body, verified for the validation of the three steps necessary for Climate Neutrality compliance and issuing a label of approval to affix to the vessel itself. To ensure transparency Climate Standard publishes all the climate data it employs on its
climatestandard.net website. This allows the company’s clients and industry environmental enthusiasts to access data on pollutant gas emissions and track the lifetime progress of projects such as the Ecoracer 30 aiming to reduce emissions. In a sea of claim and counterclaim, such
an open approach demonstrates a reassur- ing commitment to transparency, truthful- ness and accountability.
SEAHORSE 47 q
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