Yachting and sustainability. There is not often a clear correlation between the two, but the Venn diagram intersect between them is currently registering an impressive uptick. There is a strong preference for environmentally friendly yachts among new buyers. While mindful of their environmental footprint, buyers are also reluctant to give up on luxury. Comfort and style remain top priorities.
One innovative yacht builder is providing an intelligent option: The Sunreef 80 Eco sailing yacht. A remarkable catamaran aimed directly toward leaving no trace, the 80 Eco offers creativity, luxury, technology, and efficiency, wrapped in a chic package of form and function.
The leadership of Sunreef Yachts, a father and son team, is making impressive progress with their Eco range of sailing and power yachts. The high-performance Sunreef 80 Eco sailing catamaran represents extensive effort in the reduction of negative impacts while providing a comfortable onboard experience. A spacious, well-appointed catamaran with a conscience, the 80 Eco is capable of extended itineraries aboard a vibration-free, fume-free, silent, and fully-autonomous home upon the sea.
Origins: Unmet Yachting Needs and a Love of the Sea
The Sunreef Eco range of sailing and power catamarans, particularly the 80 Eco, comes from deep respect for, and love of, the ocean. The technological innovations represented by the Eco range began when father and son, Francis and Nicolas Lapp, were searching for luxury catamarans to use in their yacht charter and tourism businesses.
Unable to find sailing yachts to meet their criteria, using less plastic with more luxury and a more environmentally respectful footprint, they opted to create their own yacht building company. In 2001, setting sights on becoming the first shipyard to create luxury sailing catamarans in Gdansk, Poland, Sunreef Yachts began its quest in earnest.
Sunreef’s debut at the 2003 Cannes Yachting Festival featured a 74-foot catamaran sporting a flybridge, a rather unusual feature for its time. Critics painted a less than rosy picture for the venture, predicting demand would not materialize. Sunreef confidently rose above the noise, weathering the financial storm of 2008 and a horribly destructive fire in 2012 that reduced the production facility to ash, in addition to the most recent stresses of Covid.
Sunreef successfully emerged from each challenge, continuing to refine, learn, research and test ways to build the highest quality, most aesthetically pleasing yachts that also shoulder responsibility for their impacts. They also discovered that a new generation of yacht buyers were in profound agreement with Sunreef’s sustainably-focused mindset. Their environmentally sound developments attracted the attention of tennis champion Rafa Nadal and Formula One drivers Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso as Sunreef owners, with Rosberg also signing on as a spokesman for the brand.
Serious R & D: Innovation and Vision
In Gdansk, Poland, the company found ready workers with long histories of naval construction to work in their modern facility. With direct access to the Baltic Sea, they were able to design, build, test, and improve bespoke yachts displaying a high level of quality and customization. In-house workshops ensured specialists had all the tools needed to create top of industry designs while streamlining efficiency and maintaining control of the processes.
Embracing green technologies, Sunreef took their commitments of responsibility further than current manufacturing techniques allow. Working to redefine the use of solar energy for the yachting industry, they developed integrated solar panels that were one with the composite structures. Built right into the yacht, the panels are manufactured in-house with a 25-30 year lifespan and a cooling method developed by the shipyard. The panels are as tough as the composite and can easily be replaced in case of damage or failure.
These durable, high quality solar panels created by the Sunreef R & D team are less than 1mm thick and weigh 1.8 kilograms per square meter. By comparison, traditional solar cells weigh between 8-15 kilograms per square meter, allowing a significant weight reduction across the Eco range build, from their 50, 60, 70, and 80 Eco sailing catamarans, to the 60, 70, 80, and 100 power cats.
Sunreef found they could integrate the panels into the hulls, mast, superstructure, boom, Bimini -- every possible surface – to create a high performance yacht worthy of expectations. Sunreef also designed their own lightweight batteries, developing models that, after ten years of use, retain 80% of their capacity. Significant improvements were also made in efficiency of the air conditioning system, the propulsion system, the water maker, and the materials used to construct interiors and furnishings.
A relatively new player in the large sailing yacht category, Sunreef facilities are modern and substantial. The yard is equipped with a 300-ton floating crane, Europe’s largest CNC machine, interconnected offices that allow every engineer, project manager, designer, and worker to directly access all aspects of the manufacturing process in the composite, carpentry, upholstery, and paintwork production halls, with warm, dry storage. The layout ensures an efficient, coordinated build that is dedicated to delivering on every detail.
