sustainability is a Mindset.
Our dinghy for the 1001 VELA Cup in Italy.
The Core.
our dinghy in figures
this project focused on design and sustainability.
75 %
by weight from sustainable materials (s.a. flax fibre, bio epoxy resin)
100 %
100% designed and built by students themselves.
100 %
self-developed measurement electronics.
Rendering of our dinghy
Rules of the competition
The rules of the 1001 VELA Cup prescribe some dimensions of the boat. Besides the proportion of sustainable and renewable materials, the following:
4,6
m
LoA
2,1
m
BoA
33
qm
maximum sail area
The class specifications for the regatta allow for a variety of approaches to constructions. Besides the main dimensions such as length, width and sail area, it is mainly the choice of materials that is limited. For example, at least 70 per cent by weight of natural, renewable or 75 per cent fully recyclable raw materials must be used to manufacture the boat.
While many of the competing teams start with very flat constructions oriented to the local wind and wave conditions, we have deliberately chosen a somewhat higher hull shape, clearly more reminiscent of a 14ft skiff than the flat 49er. This has two advantages for us; on the one hand, several team members already have experience on the 14ft skiff, and on the other hand, we hope to have better training opportunities on our home area of the Fjord, which is known as an area with considerably more wind.
As our hull is still well below the permitted width, we have the possibility to work with outriggers, so-called racks, in order to make use of the permitted dimensions and to generate the greatest possible righting moment with the crew.
All in all, we are trying to construct a balanced boat with which we can sail at eye level with the competition in all wind conditions and hope to participate successfully in the Velacup 2023 through many training opportunities.
sustainable and still fast.
Materials
We laminated our first dinghy for the 1001 Vela Cup from flax fibres around a balsa wood core. Bio-epoxy was used for the lamination. The centreboard and rudder are still made of carbon fibre. The rig and sails are recycled from a Laser 5000. This gives us 75% sustainable materials by weight.
In the future, we want to achieve a much higher percentage by using epoxy with a higher bio-content, stronger flax tissue and the use of other renewable raw materials, while continuing to collect material data.
Responsibility
We are aspiring engineers educated in a rapidly evolving environment that relies on innovation and associated rethinking of materials and resource use. We don’t want to just sit back and watch, we want to contribute by looking at alternative materials for maritime and high performance applications.
Science
We want to learn more about sustainable materials in boat building and therefore equip our dinghy with specially developed measuring electronics. Strain gauges can be used to record forces in the form of changes in tension. This allows us to see in the evaluation what influence the prevailing environmental conditions (wind, wave) and our settings (sail trim, rig tension) have on the material.
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