No plywood: Supersede Marine Board

Supersede Company and Innovations

Supersede is an American technology company from Arizona. The company is currently looking for a replacement for traditional yacht building materials. The main criterion is the possibility of recycling the material, i.e., when the yacht is scrapped, its components can be reused for new products.

The main product of Supersede, presented at the recent exhibition in Tampa, was Marine Board. According to the description on the official website, Marine Board is an analogue of the classic and well-known plywood and OSB - only more environmentally friendly and durable.

Marine Board is recyclable, waterproof, rot-resistant and resistant to high loads. The new product is a sheet formed using extrusion. According to Supersede, Marine Board, although developed specifically for the marine industry, will successfully find its application in the production of modular homes, caravans and trailers.

Features of Supersede Marine Board

The reason why this production technology was possible in the first place is not just environmental. Since 2019, prices for traditional plywood have increased. Economists attribute this increase to COVID and supply chain issues.

Due to disruption of supply chains and a decline in the overall quality of plywood, shipyards have increasingly come across the natural properties of plywood - susceptibility to decay, dependence on temperature and humidity, etc. In addition, the plywood from which boats are made is additionally treated with fairly aggressive chemicals. According to research, some types of these chemicals can release carcinogens harmful to the human body during operation.

As you can see, the problem of using plywood is not so much ecological as practical. Marine Board is called upon to correct these problems. 

Marine Board vs Plywood Comparison

The Supersede website has an interesting comparison chart of plywood and Marine Board properties. Here are some interesting points:

In the right column, you can see the frequent use of the word "claimed". At this point, despite the potential advantages, it is unfortunately impossible to claim 100% superiority of Marine Board.

For a quality check, at least a minimal implementation of this technology in new yachts is necessary. This will be a clear example of all the advantages and disadvantages of the technology.

In addition, we hasten to remind you that the very fact of using secondary materials does not mean that these materials are environmentally friendly. We do not know and cannot know for sure how exactly the raw materials for Marine Board were initially processed, what technologies were used. For example, recycling old fiberglass hulls is impossible today - there is no safe recycling of resin-impregnated fiberglass. 

Instead of conclusions

The Marine Board idea sounds interesting and even intriguing. We can't wait to see the boats that will be made from this plywood replacement. As many reviewers, such as Cruising World, Marine Business and Marine Business World, have rightly pointed out, plywood is not really an eco-friendly product.

Supersede founders Darling and Petterson had experience working on innovative startups. Darling founded Free Form Factory, which invented and patented personal electric watercraft. Petterson’s company, Strongarm Technologies, provided industrial workers with the tools and knowledge needed to make the workplace safer and more efficient. This background of Supersede’s founding fathers gives hope for the new startup and its successful application in the near future.

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17.10.2024