Combining innovation, sustainability and accessibility is the ambition of the Sail on Bamboo project . The SoBoo 650 is a bamboo plywood sailboat designed to meet the environmental challenges of boating, while remaining affordable for amateur builders.

Bamboo: a promising material for the marine industry
Bamboo is often presented as a material of the future. Nicknamed "green steel", it is characterized by rapid growth (three to six years to reach maturity) and an advantageous carbon footprint: it captures up to 30% more CO2 than a conventional tree. In mechanical terms, bamboo offers superior tensile and flexural strength to many wood species.

Bamboo plywood: simple and effective
Plywood was the obvious choice for the SoBoo 650. This material, made from thin layers of cross-laminated bamboo, combines lightness, strength and ease of processing. What's more, it requires less resin than a composite or biocomposite construction, with the proportion of resin limited to 15-25% of the total weight.
Drawing inspiration from the work of Jean-Pierre Villenave, author of reference works on plywood, the young Sail on Bamboo team opted for an accessible approach, suitable for amateurs and in line with the project's ecological values.

Architecture designed for coastal shipping
The SoBoo 650, a 6.50-meter dayboat, has been designed to maximize cruising pleasure and simplicity. Its hull adopts a scow bow and wide transom, offering a good balance between modernity and efficiency.
With a 25 m² sail area and a large cockpit optimized for maneuvering, this yacht is designed for coastal sailing. Its C design category guarantees a level of safety adapted to coastal areas.

A vision shared by passionate experts
Spearheaded by Marine and François Rouvrais (brother and sister), two naval architects who graduated from ENSTA Bretagne, the Sail on Bamboo project illustrates their commitment to an ecological transition in the boating industry.
With the help of their school, they developed a bamboo plywood and subjected it to mechanical tensile, sectioning and shearing tests. Only the fatigue tests, too long and too costly, could not be carried out. Today, their sailboat is made entirely from this plywood.

Launch scheduled for autumn 2025
The hull of the SoBoo 650 is now finished. It has been turned over and decked, then transported to another yard. All that's left is to fit her out. To keep with the environmental (and financial) logic, the two project leaders found second-hand parts. The mast is that of a 7.50 m prototype, the keel is that of a Pogo 2... These opportunities required some adjustments to the plans, but the project continues.