Technology
The finest meals will always require the best ingredients
Gunboat’s success in the cruiser/ racer multihull world has been driven by many factors, not least a reputation for performance on the water that matches the sleek modern looks that the marque has become so well known for.
The Gunboat 68 is no exception, with the group’s latest, series-built, luxury cruising cat featuring a complex carbon fibre composite construction that presented an opportunity to develop new partnerships with raw material providers.
Gunboat’s target was to identify a supplier that could deliver the entire package of dry carbon fibre reinforcements used for the 68’s hull and deck. The first boat was launched in January 2019 and it was at this time that SF Composites, part of Hexcel’s official distributor network in Europe, started to work with Gunboat and began to optimise the supply chain for the series production of subsequent yachts. Hexcel is a major producer of composite materials. With a turnover of more than $2.3billion per year they
66 SEAHORSE
How Hexcel and SF Composites combined their considerable forces to make the already magnificent Gunboat 68 even better Above:
are one of the world’s largest and supply raw materials for a wide range of commercial, military and industrial applications that include automotive and wind energy businesses. And yet despite their size, it is the close relationship with their customers and distributors that lies at the heart of the company’s success. Achieving better performance by keeping the weight down and the structural integrity up is a familiar strategy that has led to an ever more sophisticated approach by designers and structural engineers. This in turn has required builders to refine their construction techniques, which also has an effect on the raw materials that are used. Often this means increasing the complexity and cost of the build, but through the partnership with Hexcel, Gunboat has been able to refine the construction of the 68 and improve the production process. Hexcel and SF Composites were able to offer Gunboat several key benefits as a single source of all dry carbon reinforcement fabrics. Not only do the HiMax multiaxials deliver
Gunboat’s purpose-built factory at La Grande Motte produces some of the world’s finest catamarans. All carbon fibre used in Gunboat 68 hulls and decks is made by Hexcel and supplied by SF
Composites, which keeps an entire boat’s worth of materials in stock at all times to guarantee availability
high product quality consistently, they are also optimised for easy resin flow during infusion. All produced in Hexcel’s dedicated carbon fibre multiaxial production unit in the UK, they are also DNV-GL accredited.
Working with the Gunboat design office, Hexcel was able to offer fabrics at the exact weights required and cut to specific widths, increasing efficiency on the shop floor and keeping the overall structural weight to a minimum. Instead of receiving rolls of carbon and cutting everything themselves, as would normally be the case, SF Composites supplies Gunboat with much of the batch as a set of pre-cut dry carbon rolls. With a multi-year supply contract in place, SF Composites ensures it always has a complete boat set of materials in stock.
‘Today, every piece of carbon that goes into the construction of a 68 has been cut for the task either off site or at times on a cutting table, laid down and quality checked,’ says
MATTHIEU ROUGEVIN-BAVILLE
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