Space-age record breaker for Syd-Hobart?

In the company’s 200 years of service, Hodgdon Yachts of Boothbay, Maine has achieved world class notoriety, pushing the envelope of innovation and advanced composite boatbuilding.

But now, this company in its quaint little village by the sea, East Boothbay, has reached the Space Age.

Hodgdon Yachts’ latest endeavour is to build one of the most ambitious racing yachts, from material so high-end, it can send astronauts into orbit. Literally.

"This is really aerospace technology. There are not many boats that are built this way," Tim Hodgdon said. "You’ve got to have a really good reason to want to build something light and stiff and strong to want to put this kind of effort into it."

And that really good reason means our local workforce is pulling out all the stops, which might just put Hodgdon Yachts on the books for building the super yacht that shatters world records.

"This whole thing is specifically intended to be the fastest mono-hull ever built," Hodgdon said. "It’s built to crush records."

Hodgdon, the company president, and the fifth generation of East Boothbay boatbuilders, said it took "massive capital investments" last year to renovate the facilities from a boat shop into a giant oven. That's right, Hodgdon Yachts is now an industrial-sized oven where technicians, builders and engineers work around the clock.

"Pre-preg" is a term frequently used in Hodgdon Yachts. It means pre-impregnated composite fibres, which are used to build incredibly light and sturdy carbon infused hulls.

In reality, making pre-preg carbon-fibre composites is a high-tech process that not too many, outside of those in NASA and the aircraft manufacturers are doing right now. The method involves an elaborate matrix of epoxies and fibres that come embedded in frozen sheets that then get baked at extreme temperatures. The fibres fuse under heat and pressure and the sheets form an incredibly strong surface. Hence the need for an oven that stretches 120 feet long and 40 feet wide. Inside it houses the futuristic 100-foot carbon hull dubbed NewCubed.

Outside aerospace, carbon infusions are a niche market few boatbuilders have cornered due the high price of materials, infrastructure and risks involved. But with this cutting-edge technology used in NewCubed, this monstrous carbon infused hull is strong enough to withstand rugged ocean crossings, but light enough to fly through the water. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have a world renowned skipper on board. Ken Read has joined the team.

As president of the North Sails group, Read plans to navigate NewCubed, (or whatever the real name will be) into the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race; an event that will surely keep sailing enthusiasts busy blogging around the world starting the day after Christmas 2014.

Read also intends to shatter transatlantic records with the sheer power, thrust and agility wrought by the ultra-light carbon fibre design.

Fast-tracked on an aggressive timeline, the NewCubed vessel is slated for a September 1 launch in East Boothbay.

But before the doors open and champagne corks fly, Hodgdon is quick to point out that none of this could have happened without the combined efforts of his local team of skilled builders and engineers collaborating with world class people from Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prevost (VPLP) and Guillaime Verdier, the French design firms behind this innovative vessel.

Watch this space.