Glues and Resins: Can Boatbuilding Be Regenerative?

While bio-based epoxy and resin manufacturers market their products as more eco-friendly than traditional products, Angie Richard digs into the details to find out which options measure up.

By
Angie Richard
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"The epoxy primer was applied quickly by Jacob and Hanneke, one rolls it on the other strokes it out. We applied two coats and afterwards wet-and-dry sanded them." (Info/Photo Wharram Designs)

The use of glues and resins is indispensable in modern wooden and plywood boat construction. Ahead of self-building a 41-ft. Wharram Designs Narai Mk IV wooden catamaran, my husband Remy and I—amateur sailors and first-time boat builders with a desire to tread lightly on the environment—wanted to dive into the sticky business of glues and resins.

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Glues and Resins: Can Boatbuilding Be Regenerative?
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Angie Richard
Angie Richard
https://www.voyagevirage.com/floating-stories-lab
Angie is a multidisciplinary storyteller, researcher and academic, exploring how creative practitioners can drive science and envision regenerative futures. Angie is self-building a Wharram Narai Mk IV wooden catamaran with her family, creating a Floating Stories Lab - a regenerative sailboat studio - to depart Europe on a circumnavigation, merging science, art, research, and storytelling to discover how humans can thrive on a flourishing planet. For the latest updates, visit www.voyagevirage.com or subscribe to the Floating Stories Lab Substack newsletter.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Why is Practical Sailing hosting this content? It is written by an amateur builder non-sailor who by their own admission does not know what they are talking about. While the academic research is impeccable, it is presenting solutions that are purely theoretical and seriously biased by the writer’s wants, needs and budget. I am especially concerned with your advocation of non-proven epoxy formulations in boat building; leave it with the surfboards and check back in 15-20 years. While a wharram cat may not be highly loaded, it is folly to envision using unproven epoxy on a blue water craft. The author is welcome to do anything they like, but Practical Sailor needs to be more responsible with what you are presenting to the public. Please. If I wanted crap, unvetted content I would watch youtube channels of sailing wannabes.
    To the author: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If you are truly concerned with your impact, find an old boat and fix it up; there are thousands to chose from. Don’t greenwash your choices as sustainable and good- just admit this is what you want to do and do it without justifying it to all of us. Or get a youtube channel like all the other sailing wannabes.

    • Agree 100% except I do like to hear about industry progress and new technology.

      A surfboard which is in the water and sun for several hours at a time is not a sailboat weeks away from shore. Also, fiberglass and resin if not reused as the original boat can at least be ground up for concrete additives.