Winners Revealed for the 2020 BOAT International Design and Innovation Awards

Race

Length: 49.9m

Exterior stylist: Officina Italiana Design

Naval architecture: Riva

Builder: Riva

The task for the design and build team behind Riva’s flagship Race was to combine the beauty typical of the Riva brand with the functionality of a superyacht and incorporate the owner’s demand for an all-round experience of the sea and an uninterrupted view of the coast or horizon. Designers Officina Italiana Design incorporated Carlo Riva’s classic Riva design language, which includes trademark materials such as stainless steel details and varnished mahogany handrails, along with a balanced and appealing profile. The decks are defined by strong horizontal lines and masculine angles, unlike the feminine curves of many of her Riva predecessors. Although the 120m² sundeck sports a substantial hardtop for shaded al fresco dining, there are naturally a lot of sunning spaces, including a walkaround bridge deck and forward seating area plus an elegant cockpit at the bow. The built-in exterior furniture is crisp and neat – inkeeping with the yacht’s lines – and covered in the consistent dark mahogany veneer. Race narrowly edged out another Italian builder, Pershing, and its flagship 14 Chorusline, which the judges noted had several bold and innovative styling features.

Lady S

Length: 93m

Exterior stylist: Michael Leach Design

Naval architecture: Feadship De Voogt

Builder: Feadship

Michael Leach Design hid the yacht’s high volume within a contemporary low profile, with a near plumb bow, a visible chine and complex shapes and beauty lines that employ shadow rather than paint to break up hull surfaces. Bands of black glass emphasise the yacht’s length. Judges appreciated the open and very liveable deck spaces and the transparency between decks brought about by balconies with glass inserts and a clever wasp waist that makes the helipad/sundeck seem like a special destination while ushering light to the owner’s deck below. The way the gym’s full-beam skylight transitions to opening glass walls presented an engineering challenge to builder Feadship, as did the owner’s insistence that there be no exposed hinges on any exterior doors or opening panels. Maximising sleekness, stern bollards hide below sections of deck and air intake grilles are disguised by strips of glass. A massive pool on main deck links the stern beach club to the living areas and guest accommodation. A touch-and-go landing area forward of the master suite can be rigged as a sports court in minutes and three huge hatches open the beach club, sports bar and massage room to the sea at the stern.

Calypso

Length: 36m

Interior design: Vickers Studio

Naval architect: Van Oossanen Naval Architects

Builder: Mulder

In Calypso's rich and detailed beach-house- style interior, designer John Vickers cleverly incorporated Mulder Shipyard’s 80-year history in design elements and construction techniques such as an illuminated art wall that hints at a wooden sailing ship. A bar decorated with diagonal planking is reminiscent of cold-moulded construction. The easy, well-proportioned layout featuring some built-in furniture to direct traffic flow, is appropriate to the relaxed raised pilothouse form and fits in a generous main-deck master suite and a full-beam VIP below. The decor relies on pale bleached oak, stainless steel, leather, light fabrics, louvred doors and lots of natural light spilling in through large windows. It’s a beachy, barefoot look but elegant lights and hardware make sure it’s chic, giving it an upmarket Ibiza vibe. To maximise the feeling of height, Vickers relied on a few indirectly lit tray ceilings, a theme of wall washers and lights recessed under furniture for iPad-controlled ambience. So complete was the design that when the yacht was purchased from Nick Mulder midway through construction, the new owners changed nothing but the angles of the saloon sofa backs and commissioned paintings.

Liara

Length: 34.1m

Interior design: Adam Lay Studio

Naval architect: Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design

Builder: Baltic Yachts

The overall decor and the usefulness of Liara’s interior layout earned the top score in this category. Weathered-looking oak joinery and easy- care textured materials in warm colours met the owner’s brief to recall the look of the Channel Islands and lend an appealing backdrop for world cruising. An open plan flows from the cockpit accessed through a wide glass door to the recessed saloon and down three steps to a study occupying the same level as the master and VIP cabins. The deckhead recessed between structural beams creates a feature and maximises height in the sleek, low deckhouse. The dining and coffee table surface finishes mimic ripples – as when a pebble is dropped into a pond. Hanging locker doors are also designed to echo the appearance of water or tree bark and lighting is carefully positioned to highlight these elements. The experienced owner was closely involved with the design of a sliding track and box system to utilise undersole stowage spaces and a requirement for large crew quarters with clear separation between laundry, crew mess and galley. A ship’s office thoughtfully converts to an extra crew cabin for regattas.

Zalanka

Length: 27.3m

Naval architect: Dominator

Builder: Dominator

Evaluating supplied data from very different types of yachts, especially when they have a variety of propulsion methods, makes for an interesting number-crunching task for the naval architecture sub-committee. As contrasting as their above waterline appearance is, their hull materials, underbodies, power, design speeds and propulsion are equally different and first had to be considered for their appropriateness to the yacht’s stated mission. While all three finalists did well on that basis, Dominator’s Illumen 28, Zalanka, the fourth hull in this model series from the Austria- headquartered, Italy-based builder, achieved the best total score on the basis of achieving higher marks for her seaworthiness, hydrodynamics and cruising range.The hull shape uses a combination of methods to increase efficiency and was developed using computational fluid dynamics followed by model testing in a towing tank — always the best practice although a more costly approach — and the entire naval architecture solution included finite element analysis to pinpoint ways and places to reduce weight aloft for greater cruising economy and passenger comfort. In the judges’ opinion, that’s exactly what was achieved in Zalanka.

Canova

Length: 43.3m

Naval architect: Farr Yacht Design

Builder: Baltic Yachts

The entries put forward in this category this year included both cruisers and racer/cruisers yet the system developed by our expert judging sub- committee can quite fairly score them together. Of the finalists, both Liara and Canova are fully custom yachts developed to match specific owner briefs and were able to show more R&D detail. While both achieve their performance targets, Canova steps ahead on innovation, being the first large yacht fitted with a DSS foil and contributing to the science on this method of enhancing stability. Adding up the points applied for all factors, Canova displayed a higher overall naval architecture profile along with a higher mark for hydrodynamics. While our judges noted that the entry did not have enough miles under sail to adequately note the impact of the foil purely on speed, Farr’s hull itself was impressive. Sea trials confirmed predicted performance numbers and showed that Canova could comfortably achieve boat speeds equal to wind speed in moderate to strong conditions. Deployed by the push of a button, the foil’s positive impact on Canova’s stability and righting moment was obvious both in data and in videos of the yacht under way.

Solas

Length: 11m

Builder: Knierim Yachtbau

Naval architect: Beiderbeck Designs

Exterior stylist: Beiderbeck Designs

Interior design: Beiderbeck Designs

The top tender of the year in the limousine category stood out immediately in a field of very strong candidates with numerous notable features such as good looks, good comfort and, importantly, the ability to fit snugly inside a yacht garage witha total height of just 2.4m. However, this 11m tender, part of a pair custom-built at the Knierim Yachtbau yard in Kiel for a Lürssen, offers something new over all the other candidates. It can serve both as the guest tender with comfortable accommodation in a sheltered, air-conditioned interior that will deliver 15 dry guests to shore at speeds up to 30 knots, thanks to two Volvo Penta D3 220 engines. At this speed, even water-skiing is an option too. And the Solas tender can also hold up to 38 people when acting as a rescue boat in an emergency. Along with uncommon features such as a bar with a refrigerator and a comfortable wet room, its design and construction comply with stringent SOLAS rules. It is fire resistant and can be dropped to launch, plus it is certified to withstand the most rigorous sea conditions. In essence, it serves two functions, solving an issue that has plagued the industry for years: the need to carry several auxiliary boats.

Tender 15

Length: 4.5m

Builder: Schaaf Yachtbau

The winner of the open tender category – the Tender 15 – stood out for the judges with its unique features, including its petite dimensions and ease of use, which make it a good contender for smaller yachts – indeed, it was designed and built to accompany a 30m Sunseeker. At 4.5m long by 2m of beam, and just 1m high, it is small enough to be stowed on many a yacht’s bathing platform, which means it can be launched and retrieved without the use of expensive equipment or heavy cranes. Built in carbon composite by German custom boat builder Schaaf Yachtbau, with two integral “skids” to support it without a cradle, it is also light (730kg of dry weight including its 80hp Mercury outboard) and sturdy enough to be parked on the hard in a marina. Those “skids” are also an essential part of the distinctive and modern design language of the Tender 15. If need be, it can accommodate up to seven passengers and carries around 70 litres of petrol or diesel fuel (for the inboard version). The hull shape gives it a dry ride. Easy water access makes it useful for diving or tow sports. Judges appreciated its innovative, simple design that is reminiscent of the original Boston Whaler dinghy.

Valentin Weigand

Concept Name: Plato

Nationality: German

Education: ENSA Nantes

The aim of the Young Designer of the Year competition is to identify the best trainee designers and encourage them to join the superyacht industry. The task that is set for entrants is, by intention, always difficult. This year it was especially so as it tested four essential skills of a yacht designer – digital rendering, hand sketching, planning a yacht’s general arrangement, and creating a decorative style for its interior. Competitors were also required to look into the mind of a young client and create a yacht that was both future-proofed and complementary to his lifestyle requirements. Among others, these featured a love for fine dining and good wine, partying, cinema and adventurous sports. The entrants were given four A4 pages to illustrate and explain their ideas, with the contents of each page clearly specified so that the jury of 15 eminent yacht designers who gathered in the Linley showroom in London could easily compare the submissions. Following a detailed study and discussion of the entries, the field was reduced to 12 before a secret ballot produced the six finalists. The honours eventually went to Valentin Weigand, whose accomplished forward-thinking design fulfilled every aspect of the given task.

Martin Francis

Company: Francis Design Limited

Nationality : British

First Yacht Design: Prototype,1978

From his first 14m sailboat, Prototype, to 119m Motor Yacht A, from a Rolling Stones stage set to Swarovski crystal fabrics, and from his work with architect IM Pei on the Louvre’s glass pyramid to inflatable Tour de France event platforms, Martin Francis is a designer who can’t be pigeon-holed into just one field. Born in Britain, Francis, a furniture design graduate of Central St Martins College of Art and Design, started out as a cabinet-maker for high-end shops and private clients in London. He soon began to work with structural engineer Tony Hunt, who introduced him to a rising architect named Norman Foster. They collaborated for two decades. In 1981, he co-founded RFR, a firm noted for pioneering cable-braced glass walls. Boats came about by accident. Britain’s financial crisis of the mid-1970s sent him packing to the South of France, where he found work building sailboat masts. The decision to sail the world with his family led him to design and build his own boat. Racing it locally led to commissions and the 28.2m Diablesse established him in yachting – by 1985, the four largest sloops in the world were his design. In 1988 Emilio Azcárraga offered him his first motor yacht project, which became 73m Eco. With innovative design, high speed and radical use of glass, Eco was the springboard that launched subsequent commissions for yachts as small as the Silver Arrow Granturismo, as unusual as Senses and as large as Golden Odyssey, and now cruise ships in excess of 120,000GT. Throughout his career from architecture to fine art, Martin Francis has brought to the table innovation and collaboration, enthusiasm for his craft and a profound artistic nature.