E-Force Marine Uses 3D Printed Hull Molds for Electric Catamaran Production

The Traditional Boatbuilding Problem

Boatbuilding has remained largely unchanged for decades. To create a fiberglass hull, you first build a full-scale physical "plug" — a precise male mold of the hull shape. Then you build a female mold around that plug. Only then can you lay up the actual hull. It's slow, expensive, and makes design changes excruciating.

"Boatbuilding hasn't fundamentally changed in decades," says Al Haghayegh, CEO of E-Force Marine. "For electric vessels, efficiency is everything, and the ability to fine-tune hull performance quickly is a game-changer."

E-Force Marine's Solution

Miami-based E-Force Marine, a family-owned marine tech firm, has invested in industrial-scale 3D printing technology to produce hull molds for their upcoming electric catamaran. The approach:

• Digital design — Hull geometry is modeled in CAD
• Sectional printing — Mold printed in ~1.5-meter modular sections
• Assembly — Sections are assembled into the full mold
• Rapid iteration — Design changes don't require restarting the entire tooling process

Why This Matters for Electric Boats

Electric vessels live and die by efficiency. Every percentage point of drag reduction translates to:

• More range on the same battery capacity
• Better performance with smaller motors
• Lower battery costs for equivalent capability

"Every small gain in efficiency translates directly into more range, better performance, or lower battery requirements," Haghayegh explains. "That level of iteration simply isn't possible with traditional tooling."

The company demonstrated their progress at the Miami International Boat Show (February 11-15, 2026).

The Aurora e30 Catamaran

E-Force Marine is developing an inboard electric catamaran as its flagship product, featuring:

• 100 kW electric drive system — developed in-house
• Optimized hull geometry — refined through rapid prototyping
• First production units — expected by end of 2026

Not the First 3D Printed Boat, But a Different Approach

This isn't the first 3D printed marine project. In 2025, Caracol and V2 Group produced the world's first 6-meter monolithic 3D printed catamaran using a robotic large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) platform. They printed the hull itself directly.

E-Force Marine's approach is different: they're printing the mold, not the hull. This allows them to use traditional fiberglass layup for the actual production hulls — a proven, scalable manufacturing method — while gaining the speed and flexibility of 3D printing for the tooling.

The Broader Trend

E-Force Marine joins a growing movement applying large-format additive manufacturing to marine applications:

• Netherlands Naval USV — MARIN printed a naval drone boat hull (covered earlier this week)
• Caracol/V2 catamaran — Direct-printed monolithic hull
• Various prototype vessels — LFAM for rapid prototyping

What's different here is the commercial focus: E-Force isn't a research project, it's a company planning production vessels by year-end.

The Bottom Line

3D printing hull molds won't revolutionize boatbuilding overnight. But for electric vessels where efficiency gains matter enormously, the ability to iterate hull designs quickly could be the difference between competitive products and also-rans.

First production units are expected by the end of 2026. We'll be watching to see if the promise translates to the water.