Alternative materials

IMOCA’s skippers have also voted in favour of a rule enabling them to experiment with new materials. It is a forward-looking approach where boats will not be made entirely of carbon fibre composite. As such, the teams are allowed to demonstrate creativity with new or alternative fibres (flax, hemp, recycled carbon), bio-resins or thermoplastics and various core elements like balsa, recycled PET or cork, so as to build removable parts like a chart table or navigation seat for example.  

For now, teams are being encouraged to manufacture a maximum of 100 kg of these parts, which will be deducted from the total IMOCA measurement weight – which gives them a slight competitive advantage. In this way, Biotherm, Bureau Vallée, Groupe APICIL, Team Malizia and V and B-Monbana-Mayenne are just some of the teams which have snapped up the opportunity to trial this new rule.  

Damien Seguin’s team, Groupe APICIL, has specially taken on the services of engineer Marie van Den Heede to create customised parts: "Not only have we made electronic component brackets but also the whole rear deck. We’ve also begun to characterise the materials as the properties of flax fibre vary widely. This data will then be shared with the whole Class, which will enable us to develop our understanding of these alternative materials.”  

© Jean-Marie Liot/Groupe APICIL

Within Team Malizia, Boris Herrmann’s team has been working with GreenBoats, a sustainable composite manufacturer based in Bremen in Germany. Their expertise relates to reinforced natural fibre composites (NFC), but by working with Team Malizia they’ve been able to bring their process in line with the demands of competition, to the point where they can create parts that are lighter than their carbon equivalents.

Propelling the carbon recycling industry forward  

Carbon fibre is brimming with properties which enhance performance, safety and longevity. Even though the lifespan of a carbon product is relatively long, there’s always an end and, once again, it is possible to break new ground in this area.  

Right now, recycling is a possibility, whose ramifications are expanding. However, numerous industries (aerospace, wind , etc.) are not exploiting it enough. Of the 56,000 tonnes of carbon fibre waste produced around the world last year, less than 1,000 tonnes were recycled.  

That’s where IMOCA is beginning to play an interesting role. Thanks to the impetus of 11th Hour Racing Team, focus has shifted to a research project, which enables those recycling carbon fibre, like Gen2Carbon, to improve their recycling techniques. “The marine sector provides an opportunity to be pioneers in waste material by helping to develop an understanding of the need to deal with end of life materials, the problems created by it and the potential role of recycled fibres in a circular economy,”confirms Mark Hitchmough, Managing Director of Gen2Carbon.  

Until now, teams like MACSF, CORUM L’Épargne, 11th Hour Racing Team and suppliers like C3 Technologies and Avel Robotics have supplied 10 tonnes of fibre waste ready to be recycled, but it doesn’t stop there. Recycled carbon fibre will be directly implemented in the IMOCA’s removable parts or in the moulds, which brings us full circle and once again highlights the role of our boats as test laboratories.  

© Antoine Auriol/Team Malizia