Affordable yachting for everyone with SoBoo

Family contract

François and Marine Rouvre are siblings. Both have been engaged in yachting and marine architecture for several years. Moreover, marine engineering is done professionally. François and Marin entered ENSTA Bretagne together.

The university was founded in 2017, but very quickly received the necessary state accreditation and is now graduating graduate engineers. At the moment, the university is one of the most prestigious in France and is engaged in marine and naval engineering. In short, the guys hit the right place.

The brother and sister sailed together for many years on the Optimist class yachts, as well as the J80 and the famous Muscadet. Today, young people are 23 and 24 years old. Right now, the relatives are working on their new idea, which is likely to reduce the cost of small yachts in the future and make yachting more affordable than ever.

mysterious material

Marin says in an interview with local media: “We always wanted to build a boat together. The main criterion for us was the convenience on board, so that we could walk on it with pleasure. We also remember the importance of ecology - if we make a boat, then it is environmentally friendly.”

François supports his sister: “The idea is to try to do something with your own hands and understand how big the limits are for our idea.” 

The guys decided to use not the most widely used material in the yacht industry. But that's the trick - they have a plan to introduce a new material in yacht building. However, the material is quite familiar to many people who are not even connected with yachting. François and Marin will use bamboo plywood to build their boat.

The main advantages of the material: easy to use, quite durable and strong. In addition, bamboo is relatively easy to grow and use as a renewable source of wood. 

Project work

Francois says: “The design of the boat was ready at the end of 2022. In addition to the material, the assembly process of such yachts is also important - it should remain simple and accessible to everyone. Hence the choice of material, which can also be obtained without much difficulty.

The siblings are researching plywood and its applications in shipbuilding as part of their study projects. University laboratories allow this. Now they have the task of studying the bonding of bamboo plywood. These experiments will serve as a basis for further studies of structures based on these plywood for strength and the influence of various factors on the final cost.

Marin says that they have already gathered people and companies that are ready to cooperate with them in this industry. Now being tested.

Future plans

In March 2023, the second stage of testing materials selected by François and Marin will begin. However, this does not prevent them from preparing for the construction of a yacht. The guys already have a partnership agreement with the P'tit Morgat studio in Hennebon. François elaborates: “They are carpenters with a lot of experience with plywood. We will build together with them and learn from them.”

Now the brother and sister have a boat concept ready. The sailboat will be called SoBoo, which literally means “sail on bamboo”. The length of the boat will be 6.5 meters. There will be 4 berths on board. 

The young people sum up: “We are planning a tour of Brittany to demonstrate the finished product in action and at the exhibition. It is also necessary to get people interested in using the new material for boats.”

17.03.2023