From architectural firms to companies, via research laboratories, the technological sector of competitive sailing is seeking to reduce its environmental impact by designing the performance of boats. This is the objective of the collaborative project, financed by the Region, ENS Rennes and the participating companies, Eco Sailing Design®: to integrate Breton companies into a research and development programme in order to work on new eco-design tools, to increase their skills on the subject and to progress together within the Breton sector on the basis of representative data. Eleven companies have already embarked on this project led by a consortium comprising ENS Rennes, UBS and BDI. With this project, Brittany, the cradle of ocean racing, intends to transform itself and maintain its leadership in this field.
The objective of the Eco Sailing Design® project is to support and accelerate the ecological transition of companies in the Breton competitive sailing technology sector. Concerned about its environmental impact, the sector intends to participate in this major transformation project by changing its practices. The integration of eco-design in the design and manufacture of racing yachts, throughout their entire life cycle, has become a major challenge for companies in the sector. According to a study conducted in June 2020 by BDI for the Eurolarge Innovation programme, 76% of the companies questioned stated their desire to engage in a collective approach in this direction and to benefit from content and training related to CSR.
A collaborative project to progress together
The project was recently launched for a period of 3 years and will end in the last quarter of 2024. It proposes that local companies building competition yachts and their equipment join forces to work together to promote the ecological transition. The objective is to co-construct with the companies an eco-design tool adapted to their needs and to set up procedures to enable them to :
- Acquire a better understanding of environmental impacts in order to better control them, identify their own levers for improvement and make progress in this direction;
- Integrate environmental considerations into the design and construction of competition yachts;
- Facilitate the eco-design of high-performance racing yachts at a controlled economic and environmental cost;
- To support the ecological transition of Breton companies in the competitive sailing sector, involved in this project.
The tool, because of its compatibility with the main LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) tools available on the market, will enable them to save time and be more efficient in their eco-design.
11 Breton companies involved in the project
To date, 11 Breton companies in the competitive sailing technology sector have signed up to participate in the Eco Sailing Design® project: Avel Robotics, Gsea Design, Guelt Nautic, Ino Rope, Karver Systems, Lorima, Nautix, North Sails, Pixel sur mer, SMM, VPLP
On Tuesday 14 June, these companies met in Lorient at the Cité de la Voile Eric Tabarly for the launch of the project and a first collective action around the Climate Fresco. Faced with the evolution of awareness and the challenge of reducing environmental impact, the technological sector of competitive sailing in Brittany Sailing Valley® is showing that it knows how to adapt and innovate in favour of the ecological transition
