The sailboat project was the more engineering intensive project between the two thesis projects within the masters. My involvement within the project included the design of the hull, sail plan, appendages, propulsion systems, onboard systems, structure typology and design, a weight list, a VPP analysis, and a large angle stability analysis.

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This thesis project started from zero, and everything on this project was something that the group had designed originally. The team, Ludovica Pasini and Leo Raposo, went through two different versions of general arrangements, exterior decks, hull designs, appendages, and structure designs. This team went through the design spiral to get to the current revision of the project.

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Coming from a background of fiberglass construction, I wanted to learn more about cold molded wooden construction and apply my knowledge of fiberglass materials to wooden construction. Furthermore, as I was doing research upon the construction typology, I started studying the feasibility of natural fibers and bio-epoxy resins integrated with the construction. I read many academic articles about the strengths of natural fibers, and started comparing them to E-glass and their application within the cold molding process. I came across natural flax fibers and their comparable material properties to fiberglass. I also found a bio-epoxy resin made from hemp fiber called Zila resin that is a carbon negative epoxy resin. I realized that paired with strip planked cold molded construction, a boat can be built completely from sustainable materials, and from a materials perspective, can be built carbon negatively. 

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Going forward with the project, the last presentation of the work was in March of 2024. My goals for the next presentation is to verify the hull scantlings to be in accordance to the ISO 12215 standards, prepare a full 3D model of the construction, and finalize and further detail the systems drawings.