Francis Lapp will participate in the World Yachting Summit, scheduled in Monaco from 15 to 17 April, with a speech in the “Technological Advances – The Road to Net-Zero” section. Founder and president of Sunreef Yachts, a Polish shipyard specializing in customized “green” catamarans, Lapp has been awarded, together with the brand he created, important international awards for the quality of the objectives achieved and the sustainability of the hulls. And the largest electric catamaran in the world, the Sunreef 43M Eco, is still under construction at the Sunreef Yachts site.

Daily Nautica, among the media partners of the World Yachting Summit, had the opportunity to interview him starting from the topic dearest to him: the path that pleasure boating must take to respond to the increasingly shared objectives of environmental sustainability.

How, between past, present and future, does the search for efficiency bring yacht and superyacht shipyards closer to sustainability?

For most shipyards, this process is too slow. When Sunreef Yachts started out over 23 years ago, energy efficiency was already one of the key factors for us. It was clear to me that catamarans presented many advantages. Stability, shallow draft, space but also fuel efficiency. One of the reasons why I wanted to develop catamarans was their energy-efficient architecture. Propelling them forward doesn’t require a lot of energy. Over the years, we have put a lot of effort into developing the most sustainable yachts possible. We redefined everything, from the build process to the technical specs, interior design and added our own solar tech. Today, we have a full range of eco-responsible sailing and motor yachts.

When you observe the market, you see that there is a rising presence of sustainable yacht concepts – for instance, we notice a growing number of multihulls, both in yachts and superyachts. In the past, there wasn’t much concern for sustainability at sea. Nowadays, this mindset is changing and many shipyards begin a new journey towards cleaner technologies.

Is the path towards the Net Zero point of boating can really be achieved in the short term?

It is a long term commitment rather than a revolution. Yachts are very complex, and bringing them to net zero represents a complicated task. There are a lot of factors to address and measuring them accurately may be a challenge on its own. This is why we are part of an important LCA project carried out by the European Boating Industry. We contribute to the development of an assessment tool that will eventually become widely available and help builders carry out their product life cycle assessment.

Can the current regulations be of help in this evolutionary path of pleasure boating or should they be revised?

It is clear that regulations in yachts do not have the same momentum as those for the automobile industry. Current regulations provide some foundation for eco-yachting, but including smaller vessels, adapting to new technologies, and ensuring global consistency remains a challenge.

Given your experience with Sunreef  Yachts, what do you think your contribution could be to the Monaco Yacht Summit?

Sharing our vision of cleaner boating experiences is something that we really enjoy doing. The summit looks like a fantastic opportunity for a creative exchange of ideas and points of view. Depending on the discussion, we will be able to tell you about our R&D and our latest superyacht projects. I think superyachts are a great subject for a debate in Monaco. We are currently building a first 43m electric sailing catamaran that will be a new definition of the superyacht experience. Our goal is to prove that superyachts can be clean and energy efficient.

What new challenges are you preparing for in the future?

We are now building an entirely new range in the UAE, so I would say that we have already set a challenge for Sunreef Yachts. Our new ULTIMA range is entirely carried out by our manufacturing site in the Emirates, where we have a growing team and a growing infrastructure. Not long ago we premiered our first UAE-built yacht which enjoyed a very positive feedback. As for other challenges, I am sure we will be busy identifying the evolving customer expectations and developing the technologies to exceed them.