Meet the 36 Superyacht Design Symposium 2017 speakers

Leonardo Ferragamo, is Group Executive Chairman of Nautor Holding that owns Nautor’s Swan, Camper & Nicholsons Yachts, and the Marina di Scarlino.

Having worked from a young age at the family company, in 2000 Leonardo became Director of Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., Ferragamo Finanziaria, the financial holding of the Group and Executive Vice President of Fondazione Ferragamo. At this time, he also moved to take responsibility as CEO of Palazzo Feroni Finanziaria S.p.A., one of the two holding companies of the Ferragamo family, managing the activities in real estate hospitality and diversified activities.

Leonardo is Chairman of “Windows on Tuscany”, specialising in the management of apartments and luxury villas, which merged in 2008 in “Windows on Europe”. He is founder and Chairman of Associazione Partners Palazzo Strozzi, who are committed together with the City of Florence and other institutional members to launch the Palazzo Strozzi cultural activities to make it an international centre of arts. Now an Honorary Chairman, Leonardo initially headed Altagamma from 2000-2009, which unites high-end Italian companies to promote the Italian lifestyle and gain recognition at an international level.

Leonardo graduated in Business Administration from Imede, Lausanne and obtained a degree in Administration and Finance from Columbia University.

Luca Bassani is the founder and president of Wally, founded in 1994, which introduced a new concept of sailing cruiser that opened up a new route in yacht design. Having revolutionised the sailing yachts, in 2001 he developed and introduced the wallypower line changing the whole powerboat design.

Luca created an outstanding and iconic brand in both the yachting industry and the luxury market, his breakthrough products are regarded as the state of the art in design: Wally is the only yachting brand two-time winner of the Compasso d’oro, the world’s most important award for quality and design. In 1994 Luca Bassani began racing the Wallys and in 1999 he founded the Wally Class, the largest fleet of racing superyachts and one of the IMA divisions - International Maxi Association.

Luca Bassani has been owner and helmsman of different yachts. In the IOR, he won the Mediterranean Championship and the Two Ton Cup in 1972 with the 43-foot S&S Locura, and in 1975 he owned Phantom, the first maxi-yacht at those times. After the IOR, he moved into the 6-metre division, winning two European Championships (1986-1990). He then started sailing in the Mumm 30 class winning the 1998 World Championship.

Luca Bassani graduated in Business/Economy at Bocconi University, Milan, in 1980. In 2004 he received the Honorary Degree in Industrial Design from the University of Architecture in Genoa, Italy.

Timur Bozca is a nature addict adventurer and a designer who is best known with his vehicle concepts.

Timur established his design studio, Bozca Design, in 2013 which focused towards creating new trends in yacht, aviation, automotive and architecture. The firm also works toward creating intrigue and innovative living spaces. Bozca Design’s vision is to create solutions through design by considering human factors, technology and aesthetics. The philosophy of his design firm is determined on not only creating for tomorrow, but also for the day after.

Timur graduated from Coventry University with a degree in automotive & transport design and continued his education at the Politecnico di Milano where he completed a masters in yacht design.

Timur Bozca was awarded as a Young Designer of the Year Award at ShowBoats Design Awards. Afterwards, he became a winner also in International Design Awards and A’Design Awards in the yacht design field.

Like many young men launching themselves into a career in design, Jonny Horsfield’s first love was focused on the curves of a beautiful car rather than those of a yacht. Following a degree in transport design from Coventry university, he quickly discovered the possibilities of superyacht design working for both Martin Francis and Donald Starkey. “It was great grounding. Over the next five years he started firstly working on yacht exteriors, but gravitated towards interior design which he quickly mastered on the job. “Don and Martin were very different, but they taught me a lot about the business, which you don't get at college. And it is a business at the end of the day. You can be very creative and still fail.”

H2 Design is now about to celebrate its 23rd anniversary. Jonny identifies that the turning point came in 2006, with the commission for the interior of the 54.2 metre Talisman C (now Talisman Maiton), and since then he and his team have gone on to design over 30 yachts with more than 15 coming out of Turkey. More recently H2 Design were identified as the exterior designers of the extraordinary 124 metre Project Jupiter launched from the Lürssen shipyard, as well as interior designers of the equally impressive 107 metre explorer Ulysses. The H2 Design studio is located in south-west London, currently numbering around 15 designers, and continues to work on an unusual mix of yacht projects for its clients around the world.

Martin Francis of Francis Design are currently working on a variety of different projects, including architectural work on the New headquarters for Vitsoe in Leamington Spa and a project for flood resistant housing in the UK. Their yachting work includes the 124-meter M/Y Golden Odyssey recently delivered by Luerssen plus other new large yacht projects. Francis Design are also completing the technical development of a 14 meter Mercedes-Benz Styled luxury yacht for Silver Arrows Marine and a consultancy project with Swarovski for the development of new surface products for interiors.

For the last 20 years, Martin has been working collaboratively with the American Artist Frank Stella on large sculptures and computer assisted art projects. In 2005 he was engaged by RCCL Celebrity Cruises to design the exterior of the Solstice class a series of five 120,000 GRT Cruise Ships. In 1982 Martin joined Peter Rice in the creation of RFR, a Paris based engineering company, established to design the glass facades of the Museum of Science and Technology in Paris. He was also responsible for assisting IM Pei in the design of the cable structure of the Louvre Pyramid using yacht rigging technology.

Working in France since 1976, Martin's first motor yacht was the iconic ECO followed by a number of innovative vessels like M/Y Senses, M/Y Golden Shadow, M/Y Sultan and more recently the 118-meter M/Y ‘A’ for which he was the Technical and Naval designer, a joint project with Phillip Starck.

Martin trained at the Central School of Art and Design and worked as a cabinet maker before in 1967 starting working with Architect Norman Foster on a wide range of projects including the glass wall of the Willis Faber and Dumas building in Ipswich.

Raphaël Laloux has worked with the Philippe Briand team based in London since 2014. He is in charge of the exterior design for various projects from production boats, with the Benneteau group, to large sailing yachts. He is also developing the styling for the Vitruvius Motor yachts, including a range from 25m to 45m for Ocea, a 58m for a prestigious shipyard and a 81m for Turquoise.

Raphaël won the Young Designer of the Year Award organised by Boat International in 2014, with his 60m Symphony. Developed on a SWATH platform, Symphony has been recognised as a yacht offering a true adventure thanks to her curving promenade spiraling around the superstructure and the several novel features (such as a climbing wall mast and a through-deck tender launching platform).

From childhood, Raphaël Laloux has been passionate about the world of creativity. He studied transportation design at the prestigious International School of Design (ISD) in France. Having a strong interest in architecture and car design, Raphaël has found his fulfilment in yacht design which is a harmonious combination of these two worlds.

Peter Mikic is a London based interior and furniture designer working with mid-century antiques and contemporary art. A new entry in House & Garden’s 100 Leading Interior Designers 2015, he is commended for delivering “ultra-stylish, subtly coloured interiors featuring sharp tailoring and beautifully chosen art”. Peter has been featured in AD Collector’s Top 100, his style described as ‘avant-garde glamour’ and a new hardback book called ‘Room’ by Phaidon press features his work.

He is currently working on several houses in London and abroad, refurbishing a luxury yacht and a wonderful country house with a modern twist. He also designs his own range of bespoke lighting, rugs and furniture using the finest artisans.

In 2007, his first solo commission was a 53m superyacht called Elisabeth F. It went on to win best refit at the Showboats Design Award in 2007, as well as receiving a ‘highly commended’ at the World Superyacht Awards. He has worked in the UK and abroad on a range of private houses, yachts and private jets. In 2006, Candy & Candy commissioned Peter to design couture uniforms for a luxury yacht called Candyscape. They loved the embroidered Japanese cranes on the women’s cocktail Kimonos so much they commissioned embroidered curtains, cushions and upholstering for the yacht.

Peter studied fashion at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology between 1988 – 1990 where he completed a BA in Fashion with Distinction and during which time won Victoria’s Womenswear Designer in 1990 for the Australian Wool Corporation. He moved to London in 1992 working in fashion for almost 15 years before moving to interiors. It was by default, though inevitable, he has a passion for all design.

Jeremy Roche is WIDER’s Sales & Marketing Director. Joining in February 2015, Jeremy brings a remarkable knowledge of the industry and strong management skills which are now applied to promoting the WIDER brand and increasing sales for the Italian superyacht builder. “We are overjoyed to have Jeremy on board, he brings international experience in the world of superyachts that is of fundamental importance to the growth of our company.” Tilli Antonelli, WIDER Founder and CEO.

In 2001 Jeremy took up a post with Boat International Media, quickly rising to the position of Sales Director. During his eight years in this role, he gained the respect and confidence of top executives from shipyards and brokerage houses across the world.

A chance meeting in Spain opened Jeremy’s eyes to the possibilities of the yachting industry, and he spent seven years employed aboard both motor and sailing yachts. During this time he completed three Atlantic crossings, and a delivery from Thailand to the South of France, and also qualified as an RYA Yachtmaster.

Jeremy studied Chemistry at Durham University.

Rebecca Sawyer is a Senior Interior Designer at Reymond Langton Design, splitting her time between London & Bath. She studied Fashion Design at Leeds University. After graduating in 2010 she began work experience at Reymond Langton Design and quickly fell in love with the industry. Within a month of starting at RLD she was offered a full time position, allowing her to put her knowledge of design and fabrics to practical use. Seven years later she has seen the launch of eleven new yachts under the Reymond Langton brand, along with refits and the development of numerous interior concepts and current projects. Most of her time is taken up by project management, along with artwork, furniture and fabric development. Although she loves working on such forward thinking projects, her dream project would be to refit a classic steam ship for a private client who appreciates the film Casablanca.

Thomas Haffa has been passionate about boating from an early age, inspired by a little folding boat with sails that his uncle gave him. Thomas’ enthusiasm for boats has remained constant and his passion has grown with his age and wealth in size and scope. So far, Thomas Haffa owned 33 boats –including the famous Wally Tiketitoo. While racing this boat for several years, he invented, together with Massimo Perotti, his Sanlorenzo Alloy No. 1 4H. – winner of the 18th Showboats Award 2008 in Monaco. Recently, he developed the Cantieri di Pisa 22 together with Luca Dini and currently he is discussing an explorer project with Sanlorenzo.

Thomas Haffa is a German entrepreneur, well-known as founder of EM.TV AG, a German Media Company. Thomas Haffa was the

company’s CEO and major shareholder until July 2001, when he sold his shares. Today, Thomas Haffa operates Air Independence GmbH, an exclusive air charter company based in Germany and Austria, amongst other entrepreneurial activities. His latest venture is dotbooks GmbH – an electronic book company.

Thomas Haffa is founding member of the International SeaKeepers Society (www.seakeepers.org). For charity commitment, Thomas Haffa runs the Thomas Haffa Foundation (Thomas Haffa Stiftung).