Upcycling Old Boats: Lagoon’s Green Boat Refit Scheme

Glassfibre is an indestructible material and its legacy in the world of boatbuilding is thousands of unwanted boats. What’s the solution to this problem? 

Sam Jefferson talks to catamaran manufacturer Lagoon who thinks they have the answer

Glassfibre is an extraordinary material; the combination of fine chopped strands of glass glued together and moulded with epoxy provides both good tensile strength and moderate weight. For boatbuilders it was a godsend when it was introduced in the 1950s because of another quality. Unlike wood, it did not rot. Unlike wood it was, in fact, virtually indestructible. The ultimate testament of this is the fact that if you go into almost any boatyard in the world, there is a glassfibre boat turning an appealing shade of green yet still afloat and leaving the boatyard or owner with an intriguing conundrum of what to do with said boat. If you’ve ever questioned the logic of launching year on year more and more of these indestructible glassfibre boats onto our oceans, you’re not alone – many have quietly voiced reservations – particularly when a yacht dating from 1994 often has very similar performance characteristics to a boat launched in 2024. This big difference is, of course, that when you head down below the interior is likely to be somewhat tired and the deck hardware, sails and engine might need some attention. 

Generally boatbuilders themselves have been understandably somewhat reticent on this matter – until now. This reticence has been entirely understandable as building boats is key to the survival of a boatbuilder. Yet despite this, multihull manufacturer Lagoon has opted to speak frankly about the problem. Now, Lagoon is the biggest multihull manufacturer in the world and is part of the Beneteau Group which is the biggest boatbuilder in the marine leisure sector, so when they speak, we should all listen. The fact that they have chosen to address this problem is fascinating. The name of this new project is NEO and the basic idea is to take old Lagoon catamarans, strip them out and then refit them at their factory before re-launching the boat ‘as new’ with a fresh warranty. This makes a lot of sense – particularly as Lagoon calculate that on average around 45% of the carbon footprint of a yacht is in its construction. “What a great idea”, you might think; but how, exactly does it work? I chatted with Lagoon’s Matthieu Brouillet who is project managing the initiative to find out more.

Money for old boat

“This is an idea that came from our team at Lagoon. We prefer to call it upcycling as opposed to recycling,” he explained. “The aim is to ensure that we can make this cost effective. Some have pointed out that it may cut into our new boat market and perhaps that will be the case – but at the same time, if it works as a business model then that’s really not a problem and I really feel that this is the future. We are the market leader so it’s important that we show the way for others to follow.”

Having received the green light to go ahead with the project, Matthieu and his team set to work on acquiring a prototype boat to refit that would give them a clear idea of costings and how things would work. They settled on a 2012 Lagoon 620 which was an owner boat in a reasonable state but in need of a refresh. 

“The plan for the future is to work with owners rather than buy boats back,” Matthieu explains. “But this is the prototype; the boat had been chartered quite a bit but it was in good shape with some things that needed to be redone. The engines had done 10,000 hours and the genset had also done a lot of hours. so it needed a deep refresh. The decision was taken that this being the first boat we would change everything; new engine, new floor, new sails, new standing rigging, new hull paint, which took six months.”

The result was a boat that was ‘new’ and an example to show potential clients. The 620 was a popular boat at the time and the results of the refit are evident as soon as you step aboard; the boat looks and feels brand-new and, given that this is a 2012 model, there are few things that betray her age. It helps that the 620 was a stylish yacht at the time. 

How will it work?

It’s all very well taking one old boat and restoring it to its former glory, but how will the scheme actually work? And does it work? Matthieu explains: “While we bought this first boat outright but as I mentioned before that’s not the plan for the future; we want to have a customer approach us with an idea of what he wants to refit. At that point we will carry out an inspection of the boat. We can’t take a boat that’s in too bad a condition and there’s no point taking on boats where we just do one specific thing such as the engines because an independent yard could do the same. This needs to be a full refit.”

None of this comes cheap; the standard entry price for standard NEO pack is 480,000 Euros with the price increasing for enhanced packages (see box on facing page for full breakdown of prices). Even this price is only viable if the company can refit a decent batch of boats at the same time and it also makes more sense to refit big boats that have a higher residual value, as the man hours spent on a big boat versus a small boat are not sufficiently less on a small boat to dramatically reduce that 480,000 Euro refit price. The key advantage Lagoon has is that it has built so many yachts throughout the years that it has a pool of yachts such as the 620 that are ripe for a refit and can therefore take a more efficient ‘production line’ approach to refit work, as Matthieu explains: “There were 170 620s and 50 630s (power version) made so that is what makes it a good option. We have to find enough boats to make it work essentially. I would like to have a batch of 620s to refit, that is much easier. What I want to avoid is switching from size to size so the production staff can get used to the boat and we can refit the boat like a production line.

“At the end of the refit we can do a warranty on the boat for two years. Unlike a smaller yard – even if they give a warranty, the boat would still have to go back to the yard but we have the dealer network and, based on the existing Lagoon service, we can repair the boat anywhere in the world under warranty.”

Lagoon Boat Refits: The economics

So does the project pay off for either Lagoon or for potential customers? The answer for Lagoon will depend on numbers but Matthieu is confident that, although the project might have a slight impact on new boat sales, there remain sufficient customers out there who simply want a new boat. For buyers though, the economics are clear enough, as Matthieu explains: “Basically if you look at it from a cold economic viewpoint this is how it adds up: a brand-new Lagoon 60 costs 3.2m Euros so even if you offset the maximum cost of the refit which is 800,000 Euros then you’re looking at a saving of around 1 million for a boat ‘as new’ with the same warranty. 

“It’s almost a cold business decision. Some people will want the new boat and that is all there is to it. Others will not feel like that.”

Smaller boat refits

So for big boats this is a project that might work for both owner and boatbuilder – although that is predicated on enough boats being available to refit. For a smaller boat, it may well be a different story – you might end up in a zero sum game where the refit is actually pricier than an all-new boat.

 “It makes more sense for the bigger boats but we still have an open mind for the smaller boats,” Matthieu admits: “Profit margins are much more narrow. We have to do a survey on the boat but you may find something we didn’t expect and the margin is slowly eroded over time. Maybe we could make it work in the future for smaller boat such as the Lagoon 420 provided we have a batch of boats. I need at least five boats all needing to be refitted.”

Conclusions

Lagoon should be lauded for what they are trying to do here which shows that Beneteau Group’s aim of reducing its carbon footprint by 30% is more than just worthy words. They are an industry leader and they are trying to show the way forward with a scheme that will help reduce their carbon footprint while also providing a workable option for potential owners who want a more ecologically sound solution. However, it’s clear that the scheme is unlikely to become an industry wide one as it is predicated on there being sufficient numbers of one particular type of yacht ripe for a refit – something only boatbuilding giants such as the Beneteau Group have. Meanwhile, the tight margins when it comes to refitting boats below 50ft also presents a challenge. 

The company has also taken a refreshing approach to the project, preferring not to slip into virtue signalling but instead working on a practical solution to a complicated problem: “We are creating a new market for people who are more ecologically minded – can it be better for the planet to upcycle boats? We believe yes and this is what we have to prove. As one of the brand leaders we have to take that risk.”

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