UMaine's 3Dirigo X: A 30-Foot 3D-Printed Boat That Runs at 40 Knots

The University of Maine launched a 30-foot, high-performance boat built entirely through large-scale 3D printing. The vessel, named 3Dirigo X, reached speeds approaching 40 knots during its public debut in Hampden, Maine.

Researchers at UMaine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center built the boat to prove that additive manufacturing can move past demonstrations and into real offshore use. The original 3Dirigo, unveiled in 2019, earned three Guinness World Records for being the largest 3D-printed object at the time. The new vessel refines that design for rougher water and higher speeds.

Printing speed made the difference. When the research started, the process deposited about 20 pounds of material per hour. Today that rate sits around 500 pounds per hour, and a new Factory of the Future opening inside UMaine's GEM facility is expected to push it to 1,000 pounds per hour. Faster deposition means shorter production runs and less reliance on expensive, one-off molds.

The boat itself uses composite materials engineered for marine conditions. Digital design changes let the same printers produce new hull shapes without retooling. That flexibility matters to the Navy, which is watching the technology for unmanned vessels, patrol craft, and logistics ships.

The Accelerated Rapid Prototyping initiative that produced 3Dirigo X pairs UMaine with defense labs and industry partners. The goal is not to replace traditional shipyards, but to give manufacturers another tool. The boat now enters a testing phase where it will be run hard in Atlantic waters to see how the materials and digital design hold up over time.

Students played a role in the build, working alongside researchers on composite layup, sensor integration, and AI-assisted design. More than 3,000 student interns have passed through the center, giving the program a steady pipeline of workers who already know advanced manufacturing from the inside.