Fit for the future

Annie Means talks to the founders of BlueTree about their innovative approach to boatbuilding design and construction

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The term maritime innovation usually brings to mind bustling ports, sprawling factories, and urban coastal cities, rarely a quaint seaside town. Yet, nestled among the rolling cliffs of Lyme Regis, a small startup is quietly challenging 'business as usual' in the leisure marine industry, putting sustainability at the company's heart.

"What we're trying to do is not only push sustainability, but also push what's possible," says Otto Marples of BlueTree Boatbuilders.

Marples and his co-founder, Obioma Oji, met at the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy during their boatbuilding course. They came from different backgrounds - Otto, rooted in marketing and operations, Obi, in design and academia. On paper, the two might have seemed an unlikely team. But they quickly became friends and launched their eco-conscious marine startup.

Now, three years in, Marples and Oji have unveiled Stria 5: their company's first boat, built with a deliberately progressive approach to construction and stewardship.

The Stria is a 5m vessel made from Vendia marine plywood, oak, and Douglas fir. It's powered by two high-performance 3,500Wh lithium batteries and a Torqeedo Cruise 3.0 pod drive - underscoring BlueTree's steadfast avoidance of non-biodegradable glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) and fuel-guzzling outboards.

Oji and Marples describe their business as a progressive boatbuilding company, rather than pioneering; for example, resin is still used, but it's Entropy, a bio-based epoxy resin that utilises plant-based ingredients not petroleum-derived ones.