JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #85 - November/December 2013 - 13

specimen testing and mechanical/physicochemical testing,
the company either does these
procedures itself or has them
done.

Impressive feats
The number of records and
prestige races on carbon/epoxy
boats from the Multiplast shipyard is remarkable. The skippers
in command of these boats have
won fame in a long list of events,
including the Jules Verne Trophy
(five Multiplast boats have broken the Jules Verne Trophy record for the fastest world circumnavigation by a crew without call
or assistance), the North Pacific
crossing, the Lorient-Saint Barth
Transatlantic, the Volvo Ocean
Race, the Québec-Saint Malo
Transatlantic, the Transatlantic
record, the Route du Rhum, or
"The Race" and Vendée Globe
round-the-world events. In 25
years, Multiplast has become a
global reference.
Having both a naval architecture
department and processing
facilities for composite materials enables a global approach.
But Multiplast can also work
as a shipyard only, building
large composite yachts that
are designed by world-famous
architects.
In the boating sector, Multiplast
has a foothold both in the market
for large racing catamarans/trimarans and monohulls (America
Class, Vendée Globe, etc.) and in
the market for high-performance
cruising yachts (catamarans and
monohulls - open-sea cruise,
day boat, etc.).
And the adventure is continuing. The three largest boats for
the next Route du Rhum race
will come out of the shipyard.
Multiplast is also working with

FARR Yacht Design, Decision,
Green Marine and Persico on
making monotypes for the next
two Volvo Ocean Race seasons,
producing the decks and 2 bulkheads for eight boats at a rate of
one every seven weeks.

Some remarkable
industrial projects
Multiplast makes composite
moulds for large customers, and
also produces large composite
industrial parts in small series.
Some of its well-known customers are Airbus, European Southern Observatory (ESO), and
the Thalès group. Here are some
examples of its production:
- For Thales Training & Simula-tion, Multiplast produced the
composite component of its
flight simulators for the Tigre
helicopter - a carbon/epoxysandwich sphere 7.5 metres in
diameter.
- For Airbus, the company
produced the leading edge fair
-ings (flares) to test the engines
in wind tunnel. This job was
done for the Airbus A380,
A350 and recently for the
A320Né programs.
- For Thalès Alenia Space, it
produced 25 composite cabin
receivers with the capability to
swivel with great precision in all
directions for the ALMA radio
telescope, a scientific project to
observe the coldest and farthest

Fig. 3:NTPT® plotter in service at Multiplast in January 2014

objects in the universe. It was
also chosen to produce a mould
for the Exomars project to send
a robot onto the surface of
Mars to establish whether life
exists or ever did on that
planet.
Other Multiplast projects
include radomes, carbon auto
bodies for the Pescarolo racecar
stables, and acoustic panels for
the Nouveau Siècle theatre in
Lille (France).

International and
local development
In 2013, Multiplast invested
about €1 million in a 23-metrewide paint spraying booth, and
is planning other investments,
with two international development goals in mind:
- in Switzerland, where the
company wants to establish a
production site to use thin ply
technology ( TPT®), which
was developed by North Thin

Fig. 2: The ALMA radiotelescope project, Atacama, Chile

No85 November - December 2013

Ply Technology LLC, also
based in Switzerland (see
Figure 3 and JEC Composites
Magazine No. 84, pp. 30-32).
Multiplast should have the
machinery operational to start
production in January 2014.
This involves a fibre-laying tech-nology that was first developed
to manufacture racing sails. It
enables laying down extra-thin
plies, as little as 18g/m². The
targets are high-tech markets
like racing boats, aeronautics, or
Formula One.
- in England, where Multiplast is
planning to extend its activi-ties within two or three years.
England has not only a strong
boating tradition, but also excel-lence centres for composites,
like the one for Airbus.
Multiplast plans to create its
own layup training centre, open
to competitors in early January 2014. There is a real need
for skilled labour, and making
composites requires professional
experience. This is why the
training course takes, place on
site. The course should complete
its funding through regional
organizations and the employment centre. Ten candidates
have already been chosen for the
program 8 weeks long modules
followed by a period working in
a company. n
More information:
www.multiplast.eu

/ jec composites magazine 13

http://www.multiplast.eu

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #85 - November/December 2013

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