LIGHTWEIGHT BUILDING MATERIALS
Sturdy wooden boats and thick fiberglass hulls may have been the hallmark of great yachts, but that era is slowly coming to an end. In their place, we now see lightweight building materials such as carbon fiber, Corecell, Divinycell, and 3D printing technology. These materials increase hydrodynamics and make yachts lighter and faster. Fortunately, while these materials are lighter, they are as strong as – or stronger than – traditional boat-building materials.
As technology advances, new materials are being tested and more builders are beginning to combine the old and the new. For example, we’ll soon see more innovations like resin infusion, foam-core stringers and bulkheads, and traditional processes used to make composites, like carbon-fiber-infused hulls.
The Serenity 74 catamaran features about 1,200 square feet of solar panels.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES ON THE HORIZON
It certainly looks like smoother, more sustainable, and lightweight yachting will start to catch on in 2022, but what else does the future hold for yachting?
Marine architects and engineers predict that 3D-printed yachts will arrive by 2050, while other designers foresee yachts that will be able to shapeshift – luxurious and conspicuous one day, and practically invisible the next. Multihull yachts could also be the norm in little more than a decade.
Wherever the future of yachting takes us, we can be confident that there are endless possibilities in store.
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