Young Designer of the Year Award Winners – Where Are They Now?

Scooping the 2018 student prize "fast-tracked" the career of Nicolò Piredda, who impressed judges with his 60 metre explorer yacht concept Galàna. Piredda went on to complete his coveted three-month internship at Dutch yard Oceanco, which saw him work across various processes such as feasibility, construction, durability and concept development. He has since landed a full time job at superyacht design firm Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design.

Nicolò described winning the award as a “career shortcut”. “As a young designer, I used to dream about getting involved in the superyacht industry and now I’m handling my own projects,” he said. “I couldn’t even imagine being here a year ago.”

Scooping the Young Designer of the Year award at the 2016 ShowBoats Design Awards kick-started a whirlwind year for Baoqi Xiao, who worked at De Voogt Naval Architects for six months, making several new proposals for Feadship clients with designers from the studio.

Due to graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California later this year, Xiao is currently working on a follow-up to his winning design. Cerchio II is being developed in collaboration with 2010 winner Adam Vorhees with a particular focus on refining the onboard experience.

Three-time Young Designer of the Year entrant and transportation design student Raphael Laloux had his moment to shine at the 2014 competition, when his innovative SWATH concept Symphony was awarded the Neptune. The 60-metre Symphony received the nod from the judges for being a well-balanced design that met the spec as a world cruising family vessel while introducing innovative features.

Laloux’s career in yacht design began a year prior, when as a finalist at the 2013 ceremony he was offered a job to develop a motor yacht range for Loguer Design. After winning the prize, Laloux joined Philippe Briand’s team and currently works on a variety of projects, from production boats for Beneteau to a 50 metre for Pendennis and an 80 metre Vitruvius with Turquoise Yachts.