As a young and responsive company, Sunreef Yachts is constantly researching new and improved technical solutions integrating its Corporate Social Responsibility philosophy into real life. One of such improvements is eco-friendly approach in yacht building. For the past few years, Sunreef Yachts has been striving to reduce the carbon footprint of its boats as much as possible.

FIRST STEP: 70 Sunreef Power JAMBO

The company\'s first power catamaran, the 70 Sunreef Power JAMBO, has many interesting features on board, such as wind generators on the flybridge, specially designed bulbous bows to increase hull length and thus naturally reduce fuel consumption, reduced weight thanks to light interior design, natural air circulation instead of AC, and eco-friendly antifouling. Above all the yacht has truly marine hulls which reduce water resistance and thus decrease fuel consumption. JAMBO\'s success has convinced yacht owners looking for elegant and comfortable power yachts with low fuel consumption to trust Sunreef in this field.

Today, Sunreef power catamarans are cruising with their owners and families in French Polynesia, Chile and the Mediterranean. The first unit, JAMBO, travelled from Poland to Bora Bora through Northern Africa, South America and Pacific - a trip of over 18 000 nautical miles, with fuel consumption reaching as low as 1.77L per hour per engine (2 x 455HP) at 8 knots. The recently launched DAMRAK II cruised in Scandinavia before heading to the Mediterranean for the summer.

With an average cruising speed of 11 knots, DAMRAK II consumed only 20L per hour per engine (2 x 870HP), with autonomy equalling 4000nm. Reducing the speed to 8 knots means an autonomy of up to 10 000 nautical miles on one fuel tank (2 x 8000L). The yacht also has solar panels installed on the flybridge\'s hard top to support the generator, and is fully equipped with LED lights by providing long life, better illumination and lower heat emission (efficiently used energy results in lower CO2 emissions). LEDs also create a more intimate ambience and can be regulated with dimmers.

SAILING CATAMARANS AND GREEN POSSIBILITIES

Sailing catamarans can also be fitted with solar panels such as BLAZE II or HERENUI, wind and wave generators, etc. During the design stage, Sunreef\'s design team and Engineering Office carefully select all available equipment to make sure they suggest lighter options to reduce the boat\'s displacement and allow better speed under sails and lower fuel consumption for motor yachts. All yachts are fitted with special monitoring systems by NAVYLEC to control energy use and maintain it at the most efficient levels. For composite yachts there is an option to use ultra-light composite sandwich made of PVC foam core, epoxy/vinyl ester resin and glass /carbon fibre. This configuration will be used on a large 80-feet sailing cruiser with a focus on performance. The mast and boom are made entirely of carbon at the Sunreef shipyard.

NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR POWER CATAMARANS

As for motor boats, new options are currently being researched by our Innovation Team whose job it is to follow new technological trends and opportunities, and apply them to our yachts. Although the popular 70 Sunreef Power already has record breaking low fuel consumption in its class, Sunreef specialists continue to search for further improvements. Hybrid engines should be implemented in the near future, with electric engines being the next step. Engineers are also studying new lithium-ion batteries to replace traditional ones, as the ratio of weigh to obtained energy is significantly better than in standard solutions. Also, the shipyard will soon start working with manufacturers of towing kite propulsion system for power yachts.