Newport, RI. What do modern composite materials and a 19th-century 131-foot schooner have in common? Not much, you might think, but both topics are of interest to the International Yacht Restoration School here. IYRS offers a composites technology program focused on composite building materials, mold making, and infusion processing. The school notes that composites are of interest to aerospace, automotive, and other industries in addition to marine applications. The school offers training in CNC machine operation, vacuum infusion processing, advanced composites molding, and CAD software.
But most impressive to a visitor to the IYRS facility on Spring Wharf off South Thames St. in Newport is the Coronet schooner yacht. IYRS has been working on restoration of this vessel since 1995.
As IYRS puts it, “Coronet is a Schooner Yacht which was first launched in 1885, and she was one of the most elegant sailing yachts of her day. She was designed for crossing the ocean in style, featuring a marble staircase, stained glass doors, mahogany paneled staterooms, and a piano in the main salon.”
IYRS—its main impressive red-brick building as well as the huge temporary building housing the Coronet restoration project—is open to the public, although you wouldn’t notice that just passing by. Thanks to our hosts Lisa and Randy at The Artful Lodger for recommending this point of interest. Both buildings offer catwalks that give you a bird’s-eye view of the restoration efforts taking place below.
Yachting may seem like an unlikely topic for coverage in an electronics magazine, but back in 2003, at a different publication, I commissioned an article on Team Alinghi, the Swiss winner of the America’s Cup title that year. You can read Paul Schreier’s report on that team’s efforts here (PDF download), and yes, composites played a role.
