The results are resins that are not only sustainable but also outperform their fossil-based counterparts! During testing, the glass fiber-reinforced composites with a variant of the plant-based resin exhibited improved toughness and significantly higher tensile and flexural strengths and toughness than DGEBA resins. These results represent a big win for sustainable composite alternatives.

Any movement needs its purists; people who consider “epoxy” to be a dirty word, and are happy to rinse their cotton sails in seawater every time it rains. Most of us sit nearer the middle of the spectrum enjoying and admiring the best values and aesthetics of traditional looking craft, but appreciate a watertight hull and push button navigation more than a slavish devotion to outdated techniques.