At the Olympics, rowing boats are more polluting than they look

Of the five French rowing crews qualified for the Paris Gamesfour will be equipped by the Italian Filippi, and the fifth by the German Empacher, two of the world’s largest boat manufacturers. They are the ones who supply their boats to the rowers who will compete over a distance of 2000 meters at the Vaires-sur-Marne nautical stadium, alone or in teams of two, four or eight.

It is therefore in Europe that most competition boats are produced, which explains their very high price, up to more than 10,000 euros for a skiff (an individual boat) for example. Many rowers turn to second-hand boats or buy training boats from Chinese manufacturers. The latter take advantage of low-cost labor to practice more affordable prices.

Manufacturing dangerous for the environment and health

It is on the leisure market that the French manufacturer Liteboat positioned itself when it was created in 2012 in Pontcharra (Isère). The company does not have Olympic clients, but builds boats for individuals and clubs. Stable, light and easy to handle, “Our boats aim to make rowing more accessible by allowing people with health problems to practice it”says Mathieu Bonnier, the founder whose company exports 85% of its production abroad.

Liteboat boats also owe their specificity to their production technique, which claims to be less polluting and less costly than the most common process. “Olympic boats are made of carbon fiber fabric, on which resin is applied before freezing itdescribes Mathieu Bonnier. Honeycomb or foam is then placed between two fabrics, and the whole thing is vacuum-packed and heated to 120°C.”The result: a remarkably rigid and light boat, certainly, but “not very ecological, since carbon is a derivative of petroleum and the boat has been through an energy-hungry freezer and oven”. In addition, the resin handled by manufacturers can be harmful to humans.

Liteboat manufactures its boats dry, to avoid any chemical pollution: “The resin is injected into fabric assemblies under vacuum, without contact with personnel”explains Mathieu Bonnier. This infusion manufacturing technique allows the Alpine company to produce more affordable boats than the Italian and German giants: “Our skiffs cost around 5,000 euros, half as much as those produced by Empacher and Filippi”says the founder of Liteboat.