Canadian Plastics

ALUULA Composites partners with French sailmaker for round-the-world Ocean Race

Canadian Plastics   

Canadian Plastics Materials Research & Development editor pick

Incidence Sails is using ALUULA's Durlyte material for critical sail reinforcements on the IMOCA Biotherm racing yacht.

The IMOCA Biotherm during the first leg of The Ocean Race in January 2023. Photo Credit: The Ocean Race.

Canadian materials technology firm ALUULA Composites Inc. is partnering with French sailmaker Incidence Sails to introduce what’s being called a new generation of ultra-light, strong, and recycle-ready composite material for use in sailmaking.

After two years of testing both on and off the water, Incidence Sails is the first to commercialize ALUULA Durlyte material, which is created through a proprietary fusion technology that bonds films at a molecular level to an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene – or UHMWPE – core, resulting in a new generation of recycle-ready performance composite fabrics said to deliver unique and superior performance results.

For Incidence Sails, ALUULA officials said, the Durlyte material is being used primarily for critical sail reinforcements such as batten pockets, bolt ropes, high-wear points such as stanchions and spreaders, decksweepers, and sail bags.

Incidence Sails is supplying skipper Paul Meilhat’s IMOCA Biotherm racing yacht with high-performance sails for The Ocean Race round-the-world racing challenge, which has been held every three or four years since 1973. “With a decksweeper and various critical reinforcements made with ALUULA Durlyte on the team’s boat, the initial applications of this material are proving to exceed expectations in the world’s most extreme conditions,” ALUULA officials said. “As an inherently recycle-ready material, ALUULA Durlyte is a key ingredient towards sustainable sailmaking.”

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ALUULA was founded in 2019 in Victoria, B.C. by a group of chemists and engineers as an offshoot of kiteboarding and wingsurf company Ocean Rodeo Sports Inc. ALUULA was profiled by Canadian Plastics here.

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