We Found a Boat Made of Rocks and Plastic Bottles!
We found an electric sailing catamaran built from volcanic rock and recycled plastic bottles. First, we tour the factory, then the boat, then we take her sailing.
This episode starts at the Windelo yard to see how they build a durable, lightweight performance catamaran at a competitive price — with no extra cost for the reduced ecological impact. The hulls use basalt fibre from volcanic rock and PET foam from recycled plastic bottles, a composite sandwich the yard says cuts construction emissions by nearly 50% compared with traditional GRP.
From there we come aboard for a full tour of the interior living spaces and the exterior, then we go for a sail to feel what life is like on this vessel under passage and see first-hand how she performs in light airs. Silent electric propulsion, solar, hydrogeneration, and an easily driven hull are the other half of the story.
If you care about sustainable boatbuilding — or you just want to know whether a “plastic bottle boat” can actually sail — this is factory, tour, and sea trial in one.
What do you think of this approach versus conventional fibreglass? Tell us in the comments.
Episode S04E26 Recorded: Mid-August 2026
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4K Video
Chapters
00:00 We are back in Canet-en-Roussillon
01:53 Ecological Foundations
07:37 Windelo Factory Tour
23:05 Windelo 54 Boat Tour
42:49 Sailing a Windelo 54
50:53 The Energy Equation
54:43 Our Thoughts
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