The joy of boating is the freedom of the open water, but the downside is the struggle of scraping barnacles off a chipped hull. A new ultra-light stainless steel boat designed by Gävle-based Swedish Steel Yachts (SSY) is a boater’s dream come true: the world’s first maintenance-free yacht. The 10.5-meter-long vessel is the first of its kind constructed from stainless steel.
The material chosen for the boat is Outokumpu Forta duplex stainless steel, which makes the hull lightweight yet super-durable.
Strong as a Viking
The combination of SSY’s patented design with Outokumpu’s specific stainless steel grade delivers an extremely thin structure without compromising an ounce of strength. The yacht weighs only 2,000 kilograms, one-third of the average weight of common carbon steel boat. The flexible, resilient vessel moves with fluid control even in the choppiest waters.
Thanks to its unique design and steely strength, the hull absorbs the force of powerful waves just as Viking boats did one thousand years ago. It can also withstand icy and other extreme conditions at sea.
Goodbye to paintbrushes
Many owners of fiberglass and carbon steel boats lament the time and resources wasted on maintenance. The beauty of stainless steel is that it completely eliminates the need for painting and coating.
Added to being sustainable, the stainless hull is attractive and has a mirror finish to ensure that water elements don’t attach on the boat surface. “Our vision was to construct a boat that honors the long shipbuilding history in the Gävle region in Sweden and combine it with our desire to build strong and sustainable boats. The use of stainless steel enabled us to meet both of these goals,” says Håkan Rosén of SSY.
The material for the project, Outokumpu Forta SDX 2507 duplex stainless steel, was delivered by Outokumpu’s units in Nyby, Avesta and Degerfors in Sweden.