Any new venture should always begin with a deep and thorough dive into research – if only to establish the right questions to ask.
I began with ‘The Elements of Boat Strength‘ by Dave Gerr, which introduced me to scantling rules and provided a detailed comparison between steel, aluminium, wood epoxy and glass fibre for hull and deck construction. I did have some experience with glass fibre from my work in automotive restoration and knew that its strength and durability had transformed the boating industry making it possible to mass produce hull, deck and other components.
This led to my first question.
“Could we build a yacht’s hull and deck out of natural fibre composite, as a low carbon alternative to glass fibre construction?”
To begin answering this question, my son and I headed down to Plymouth university for the Green Tech Boat Show.
Here we spoke with like-minded academics and pioneering businesses which reinforced my belief that a carbon neutral, luxury sailing yacht could contribute to a greener future for the marine sector.
Having a background in digital technology, I quickly reverted to type and started trawling the net finding a plethora of information and software solutions from naval architecture to innovations in bio polymer fibre and smart resins.
The next challenge was to find the perfect yacht design. Following weeks of research, I decided to go with a proven design as my starting point: the New York 65, designed by Bruce Roberts.
This design has a history of ocean voyages covering thousands of miles including the Northwest Passage from the North Atlantic, north of Canada’s Baffin Island, in the east to the Beaufort Sea, north of the U.S. state of Alaska, in the west.
Designed in 1993, this is a 30 year old design but with a low carbon composite hull, solar power, electric engine and stunning interior design it will become a lean, green 65’ luxury sailing yacht, the MollyD.
An invitation via Medway Growth Hub led me to Net Zero workshops delivered by Dr Robert Barker and Chloe Skingle at the University of Kent.
The workshops were exactly what I needed to define the challenges.
1. Source low carbon alternatives to fibreglass as the main composite for hull and deck construction.
2. Explore sustainable energy sources for manufacturing process.
3. Design vacuum infusion delivery system to minimise material waste.
4. Identify suitable manufacturing site locations to minimise transportation to launch site.
Following the workshops I had the tools to develop a Life Cycle Assessment.
Having gained a grant from the Community Renewal Fund to collaborate with the University of Kent the work now starts to overcome the challenges and decarbonise the yacht manufacturing process from beginning to end of use.
