Integrating flax fiber in the construction of a boat
Roland Jourdain will participate in the next edition of the Route du Rhum 2022 on a boat that is a little different from what the ocean racer is used to. It will be different, first of all, because of its construction method, since it will be made of at least 50% flax fiber. A choice that the man nicknamed "Bilou" explains to us
"We chose linen for many different reasons. First, because it is the most advanced vegetable fiber for what we are interested in, technical fabrics. We have the most experience with this fiber because we have been testing it for several years and have made several boats incorporating a maximum of linen. But the challenge is moving to a larger size."
A 60-foot production catamaran
Indeed, the aim is to build a 60-foot (18.28 m) Outremer 5X catamaran. Another novelty for Roland Jourdain.
"I know less about mass production and customer boats. But Marc Van Peteghem (editor's note: architect at VPLP and architect of the 5X) advised me to contact Xavier Desmarest, president of Outremer, who was very interested in the project. He thinks that clients want to move toward more virtuous modes of construction."
A virtuous partnership
Roland Jourdain will build this new boat in partnership with Terre de Lin - supplier of the plant material - and Outremer. He is also supported in his project by the Bureau Vallée group and its endowment fund Bureau Vallée for a happy planet.
"We all have a real vision of sustainable development. We share all of these issues that we are putting into practice with this boat. We're also working on transforming the Bureau Vallée company through materials, reducing their carbon footprint. It's a real land-sea round trip."
Collaborative construction
The boat will be built by the Outremer shipyard, which will be supported by Roland and his teams for the integration of the linen.
"This is a collaborative boat. The challenge is to use as much linen as possible, but today we can't build 100% in biosourced products, as for the land. There will also be fiberglass and the frame bulkheads are made of carbon. I might have gone further in the use of biobased materials, but this is a 60-foot catamaran and there is a notion of safety."
And so it is on board that Roland Jourdain will participate in his 4th e Route du Rhum, which he has already won twice in 2006 and 2010 in IMOCA. But in a new class since it will be the Rhum Multi, boats on two or three hulls between 39 and 59 feet that do not fit in any other category.
A demonstration boat
But it's a project that goes far beyond fiber technology and the Route du Rhum, explains Roland Jourdain.
"We Explore (Editor's note: the name of the boat) is a conjunction of paths between our professional adventure - at first ocean racing and less impactful manufacturing - and the Explore endowment fund, an incubator for the adventurers of tomorrow. These are people who think differently and work on solutions like Under The Pole, Captain Darwin, the Low Tech Lab and Nomade des Mers..."
The choice of the model of the boat was well thought out. It had to be a large boat and rather recognized as pretty. The boat will also be "naked" from the inside, without comfort.
"We made this choice because in the first year, we will experiment and analyze the biocomposite. It's not bad to be light for the Route du Rhum. We will unravel a boat so that it can be used for several other activities. Then, we will integrate more strongly biosourced materials. There are a lot of things that are done in the development. We will work on the happy sobriety, on the high-tech of tomorrow (the low-tech). The idea is to show that we need fewer things to be happy."
From 2023 onwards, the boat will be used by the Explore endowment fund to animate, raise awareness and explore new techniques and uses.
"Maybe we'll be able to learn some techniques on deconstruction. We will also show that the more a boat sails, the less it impacts. So it should be used for different types of activities. We're going to go beyond integrating materials and techniques."
A highlight on the Route du Rhum
And it is precisely thanks to the Route du Rhum that Roland Jourdain will be able to bring his project to light.
" I love doing the race. I have done it 3 times and won it twice. It is part of my life path beyond the competition. I'm coming back in another class that I don't know, on a different boat. With a proposal to do something different for tomorrow. The Route du Rhum contributes to the evolution of boats and that's what we're here to show. Today, the Explore endowment fund has grown, the projects are great and we can talk about them. Kairos (editor's note: Roland Jourdain and Sophie Vercelletto's company) means in Greek, the right moment and it is now, concludes Roland Jourdain.
