Yacht Club de Monaco is promoting sustainable solutions for the luxury yachting sector. It is the aim of the Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous supported by Ubs, Sindalah, the shipyards MB92 Group and Wider Yachts. Following the success of the first three editions of the Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous (4th edition 22-23 September 2024), Monegasque consultancy experts, M3 (Monaco Marina Management), continues its quest to promote sustainable solutions.
“We invited shipyards alongside with small companies such as startups, trying to enter the market, and scale-ups, so companies that already have a market and clients. What they have in common is something to offer for implementing innovation and adapt new technologies to protect the environment,” said Jose Marco Casellini, CEO of M3. Among 350 participants, 5 finalists in startup and scale-up categories were selected by a jury of experts for the Smart Innovative Yacht Awards.
Swiss-based company Composite Recycling, born 3 years ago and developing in Europe, won the Award in the startup category. “Basically, what we do is recycling composite materials which make boats and wind turbines and we enable them to become new boats, so we close the loop on component materials,” explained Guillaume Perben, co-founder of the startup. “We feel very good because we won this award for the work we do on the recycling of the boats and making boating sustainable and something that no longer damages the environment,” he added.
On the scale-up side, collecting the prize was Loris Schimanski of Greenboats. The German company is specialised in building boats and fibre composite parts out of natural fibre.
“We feel great and amazed after winning this award and being recognised from all those giants of the industry and to see that the work that we are doing wasn’t for nothing. We’ve been working quite hard in the R&D in the last few years to try and develop the fibers that could stand up to glass fibres and even better of it, lighter. That’s the project we won the award for. It is a panel based solution that can be implemented more easily in big shipyards in order to reduce the carbon footprint,” said Schimanski.
Keeping a close eye at innovation and sustainability is explorer Mike Horn, who took part in the event. “I think people must be smarter before the yachts become smarter. In the last 10-15 years we’ve seen an amazing development in different fields of yachting we’ve seen construction becoming greener and propulsion systems change from combustion engine to electrifying and now hydrogen coming on the market, and we’ve also seen systems to manage water much better. If you think of a yacht becoming a home where you want to live, entertain, play, have fun and work, then yachts must be thought differently than before,” he said.
Organised in collaboration with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the event gathered innovation experts, architects and yachting enthusiasts from all over the world. It is positioned as a unique platform promoting collaboration and the discovery of smart sustainable technologies that will shape the sector’s future.
ORIGINAL SOURCE & PHOTO: Monaco Yacht Club
