The yacht of the future

Australian Yachting editor, Barry Henson, interviewed Jean-Francois Fontaine, founder and CEO of Fountaine Pajot. The topic was 'what will the yacht of the future look like?' His views are thought provoking and make fascinating reading.

AY editor: Today’s yachts are significantly different from yachts that were designed and built 100, or even 20, years ago. How will the yacht of the future differ from today’s yacht?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: Good question. There will be numerous changes. Year’s ago you had to choose between comfort and performance. In the yacht of the future that gap between those choices will decrease. You will see boats that are increasingly well balanced, that are both more comfortable and more efficient.

AY Editor: Can you give our reader’s an example of what you mean?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: The yacht of the future will not only be comfortable, but it will perform better in terms of sailing performance. The boats of the future will be able to cruise for longer periods without the need to stop: they’ll use less fuel, they’ll capture and treat their own water and they’ll become more effective at handling and treating their rubbish. You’ll be able to cruise for longer between stops and leave a negligible environmental footprint.

In the future equipment to capture renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, water, will be an integral part of the yacht, and the systems to capture and utilize these energy sources will be built into the yacht at the time of manufacture, not added as after-market upgrades.

AY Editor: These technologies are available now. What is going to be different?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: Yes, some of these technologies are available now, but they’re going to become more and more efficient. LED lights and more efficient electronics will reduce electrical loads. Yachts will also become more efficient in terms of generating power. Solar panels have been around for years, but these technologies have been relatively inefficient and the after-market cost of adding them has been high. All that is going to change.

Several of today’s super-yachts have gone green. They are pushing technologies further and their ‘green capabilities’ are being built into them from the drawing board.

As these technologies filter down to production yachts, the costs will come down and the technologies will continue to develop. In the future, instead of having solar panels on the stern, the entire deck or mast will act as a solar panel.

In the future yachts will have systems to collect rainwater built into them. They’ll use solar to heat water and they’ll have better systems for treating rubbish.

AY Editor: Can you give our readers some examples of what you mean when you talk about better systems for treating rubbish?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: The yacht of the future will be much better at separating and treating their own waste and rubbish. It will start with the decreased use of plastics and packaging materials and increased use of biodegradable soaps and detergents. Then we’ll see improved macerating and grey water treatment systems. Eventually, yachts will be able to easily separate their rubbish into that which can be treated by onboard systems and returned to the sea, and that which requires recycling on land. Macerating and treatment systems will enable yachts to treat their sewage and grey water and return it to the sea. The eventual goal will be for yachts to leave no environmental footprint.

In Europe the market and regulation are driving this change and what we’re going to see as a result is improved efficiency in terms of equipment and that equipment being built into yachts at manufacture.

We’re also seeing changes in how yachts are manufactured. For example, we are capturing and recycling polyester used in the manufacture of our hulls. We’re reducing the emissions from solvents and preventing fumes from escaping into the atmosphere.

AY Editor: Other than the green yacht, what other trends do you see?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: I think we’ll see a lot of developments in terms of automation. In the future yachts will be driven via an iPhone or similar device. In terms of electronics, everything will be integrated and controlled wirelessly. You’ll have one device that can control your autopilot, GPS, navigation, alarms, winches, furlers, etc. It will provide you information, such as engine information, weather updates, tidal information, harbour conditions, and enable you to control the boat. Everything will be controlled via a wireless controller. Physically the helm will play a less and less important role as you’ll be able to control your boat from a device in your hand. We’re seeing the start of this today and with devices like the iPhone and iPad, which already have numerous marine applications, the future is clear.

We’re also going to see larger sail plans. Cutting edge multi-hulls are using enormous mains made out of lighter, stronger fibres and controlled by automation.

AY Editor: I notice you haven’t mentioned changes to the diesel engine. Do you see the day when marine engines will be electric and charged by onboard systems?

JEAN-FRANCOIS: That day is still quite some time off. The amount of energy generated by 1 kilo of diesel is equal to the amount of energy stored by 10 kilos of batteries. So electrical generation and storage would need to become exponentially more efficient before the marine diesel could be replaced.

AY Editor: JEAN-FRANCOIS, on behalf of Australian Yachting and our readers, thank you for sharing your vision of the future with us.