RM Yachts are traditionally made of epoxy plywood. These are plywood sheets that are assembled with epoxy bonding and then protected with this resin.
The new RM 1180 is a bit of a new genre. Already the previous models, to offer more design possibilities, had abandoned the wooden bridge for a polyester bridge. A moulded part that offers more flexibility to make curves (deckhouse, cockpit...). But the hull (dead works and living works) remained made of plywood.
Dead works in sandwich form
On the next model, the novelty of the construction site, the dead works (above the water) are made with 2 pieces in epoxy sandwich. Tops that are made in a mold before being presented on the dummy.
In practice, this choice does not significantly change the way the RM is constructed. The boat's hull is always built upside down on a manikin that holds the bulkheads in place. But from now on, only the bottom of the boat will be made of plywood. The planks will be sandwiched.
This choice was dictated by several reasons, as Maxime Vedrenne, Sales Director of the site, explains:" Plywood offers great comfort in terms of thermal and sound insulation. It is also very rigid, exactly what is required of a hull structure. In addition, it is easily repaired from inside or outside, even at sea, which is a guarantee of safety for our very typical long cruising boats. But a certain flexibility in punching made the RM planks not like violent berthing. The new shell plating will be stronger at this level. It is also stiffer, lighter and will make it easier for us to finish by limiting the use of plasters. "
In addition, the new RM models, designed by Marc Lombard, have a frigated hull. This removal from the shell plating before the deck is even easier to achieve with a moulded part. On the finishing side, the hull of the next RM will be painted with an infinite choice of colours for the customer, an option already available for the entire range. " Copy No. 1 of RM 11.80 will be apple green, almost yellow. Very flashy ", says Maxime Vedrenne.
The end of plywood for RMs?
We could not resist the question of why not produce an RM made entirely of "plastic". If the bridge comes out of a mould, if the planks come out of a mould, why not produce the moulded RMs entirely?
" We are not married to plywood ", explains Maxime Vedrenne, " We are looking for the most suitable solutions to build the best sailboats possible. The moulded shell plating will facilitate construction, but this would be a problem if the entire hull were made of this material. Indeed, we would have encountered complications in fixing our metal structure that houses the pin(s), for example. For the moment, there is no question of abandoning plywood ".
