{"id":16638,"date":"2014-10-24T07:13:13","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T07:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lapossibilitadiunisola.wordpress.com\/?p=16638"},"modified":"2018-06-16T14:18:12","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T14:18:12","slug":"building-sustainable-boats-with-agrocomposites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lapossibilitadiunisola.com\/blog\/building-sustainable-boats-with-agrocomposites\/","title":{"rendered":"Building sustainable boats with biocomposites"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Humankind had been building sustainable boats for millennia using biodegradable material. Most commonly the materials used was wood or bark. Picture for example the canoes of the American natives.<\/p>\n

In the last 150 years progress in the industrial manufacturing made it possible to build metal hulls. Big ships needed a solid structure due to their size but also pleasure yachts started to use the same technology. Steel and aluminum became broadly utilized.<\/p>\n

Finally reinforced plastic (fiberglass) appeared as a convenient technology to build boats that were cheaper and lighter yet strong. Fiberglass became the main material used in production of mall and medium boats and yachts. Yacht design in recent years started to look into new syntethic fibers, like carbon fiber and Kevlar, to build lighter and stiffer boat, especially suitable for racing.
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Natural fibers in boatbuilding<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"sustainable<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a new and revolutionary attempt to use fibers from agriculture\u00a0such as Flax and Jute to build boats.<\/p>\n

Flax in particular seems to be an interesting alternative to synthetic fibers as a reinforcement material in composites instead of fiberglass or carbon fiber. This fiber was used by the Romans to make the sails of their ships two millennia ago, and its relative stiffness and durability make it an interesting ingredient for sustainable boat building.<\/p>\n

Beside the ecological advantage in carbon emissions over synthetic fibers, natural fibers have a low specific weight and very good insulating properties. They also tend to absorb water and that\u2019s a concern when it comes to boat building.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers are trying different technologies to create a fiber that will not absorb water, including innovative waiving and coating. So far, the use of resin such as polyester or epoxy and the adoption of synthetic fibers with different ratios have proved to be good solutions in sealing the fibers and preventing water to penetrate into the fibers.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of this pioneering method sport canoes were the favorite prototypes because of their low cost production, but after the first encouraging results somebody moved the bar a little bit higher. The great challenge lied in achieving the high mechanical resistance required for ocean sailing. It appears that this is not only possible, it is a reality.<\/p>\n

The revolution of biocomposites sailboats speaks French, and I wish I did too because a lot of videos and references available online are in French. However I will try my best to introduce some pivotal characters in this story, and present sustainable boats that were not just manifactured using biocomposites, but that also achieved important results.<\/p>\n

Tara Tari Shipyard and Watever
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