Source | Manon Le Guen, MiniLab

With the third race of the 2025 season over, MiniLab (Lorient, France) reports its technical findings after the first 4 months of sailing with what is says is the world’s first full-scale recyclable thermoplastic composite (TPC) hydrofoils. The foils are working as expected, compared to the industry’s current standard of thermoset carbon fiber/epoxy foils. “After more than 1,500 miles covered since March, half of which were in races, we can start to draw some initial conclusions,” reports MiniLab founder, Adrien Marchandise. “No structural weaknesses have been noted, only signs of good operation, and integration into the boat’s composite foil wells has been smooth and performing as expected.”

MiniLab is an open innovation ecosystem that develops full-scale demonstrator projects to advance sustainability and reduce the sailing industry’s environmental impact. Formed in 2023, MiniLab has completed in situ testing aboard the Mini 6.5-meter regatta sailing vessel through 2024 and 2025.

Recyclable TPC composite foils could bring a revolution in sustainability to global class sailing, such as the Route du Rhum, Americas Cup, Vendée Globe and Jules Verne which involve classes such as IMOCA, Ultim, Figaro, Class40, Mini 6.50 and others.

Marchandise, co-founder and CTO of Avel Robotics (Lorient, France), is well-versed in advancing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) foils using thermoset epoxy (see “Plant tour: Avel Robotics, Lorient, France”). But developing TPC foils for the 60-foot yachts that Avel supplies for the IMOCA class will not be so easy, due to the high loads they must sustain to support an 8-10 metric-tonne sailing vessel moving at up to 30 knots/56 kilometers per hour. These hydrofoils counteract the heeling moment of these racers’ massive sails and cannot fail, especially as IMOCA class yachts complete the single-handed around the globe races that could put their one-person crew at peril in challenging open sea conditions common, for example, in the Southern Ocean.

Developing TPC foils, next steps

Thermoplastic composite hydrofoil for the MiniLab 6.5 open innovation test vessel. Source | MiniLab

Developed with ComposiTIC (Ploemeur, France), produced by Avel Robotics, integrating Diab (Helsingborg, Sweden) and Victrex (Clevelys, U.K.) materials and monitored in real time thanks to on-board sensors from Pixel sur Mer (Lorient, France), these foils are performing well, says Marchandise, “and as I start to master the settings and the feel of these new appendages, I’ve made my first top five placement!”

This was in the Marie-Agnès Péron Trophy, a 24-hour, 220-nautical mile sprint around the south of Brittany, France. “This short, intense race has been another ideal opportunity to put our foils to the test in real conditions,” adds Marchandise. “Now, we will dismantle and inspect all of the TPC foil parts, continue to do tests in the laboratories and get back on the water quickly to prepare for the next races.”

The final race of the season will be the 7,500-kilometer Mini Transat, a single-handed race across the Atlantic Ocean that begins Sept. 21, 2025. The MiniLab still welcomes additional sponsors. For more information, contact MiniLab via linkedIn.