SuMoth Project: An Eco-Designed Foiling Sailboat

The Foiling SuMoth Challenge is a student competition to design, build and sail the most sustainable and efficient Moth (IMCA) class sailboat possible.

In mid-February, 15 teams are selected from universities all over the world (ETS Montréal, Polytechnique Milan, Polytechnique Turin, Southampton University, etc.). Selection is based on an engineering report in which students must respond to precise specifications and justify their design choices. 15 teams will be selected to take part in the Challenge on Lake Garda in Italy from June 22 to July 1, 2024.

Teams will be judged by sailing professionals on the engineering, manufacturing and competition phases. The boat must comply with precise specifications to take part in the various events: time trial, regatta, explanation of design choices in front of the jury and other teams.

The aim of the competition is to design a Su-moth: “Su” stands for Sustainable, and “Moth” for the class of boat that corresponds to a lightweight dinghy on foils, as eco-designed as possible.

Since January 2023, some twenty students in 2nd, 3rd and 4th year aeronautical and naval programs have been working on modeling and designing their sailboat, as well as optimizing the hulls and foils.

After working on the design, the manufacturing phase started with tests in the ESTACA’LAB laboratory to select the right materials for manufacturing the hull and interior partitions.

To design as eco-responsibly as possible, the team chose to work with second-hand rigs, innovative renewable materials, new manufacturing methods and to work on the boat’s hydrodynamics… For example, the Wave team will be using basalt fiber to replace the carbon fiber, cork to replace plastic foams and bio-sourced resins. The Sumoth Wave measures 3.35m long and 2.25m wide and should weigh less than 40kg.

Three studies were included in the educational projects as part of the 3rd and 4th year engineering curriculum, the Projets d’Ingénierie Technologiques Associatifs (PITA). They cover finite element design, SuMoth stability and life cycle analysis. The association defined a set of specifications based on the hypotheses put forward, which was validated by the School’s teacher-researchers before commissioning students to carry out the technical studies.

“In this project we learn a lot by ourselves, we function a bit like a small company by dividing up the missions between various departments (hull, wings, communication, sponsors, logistics…),”

explain Guillaume, team manager, Tanguy, captain and Brice, co-captain.

All the components for a first prototype were assembled in March 2024, so that testing can be carried out in spring to take part in the race at the beginning of July. A project combining technical skill, technology and human quality.