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.

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.

Najiba

Length: 58m

Naval architect: Feadship De Voogt/Philippe Briand

Builder: Feadship

There were six highly qualified finalists in this competition and the final analysis was made more difficult by the secrecy surrounding one of the contenders, nevertheless, our naval architecture sub-committee was able to rate the data. Of particular attention in the full displacement category are the issues of efficiency as borne out by details of range and horsepower for given displacements, and efforts made to reduce drag. The two top scorers in this analysis were an unlikely pair with very different gross tonnages, Najiba and Flying Fox.Interestingly, the core mission for both was the same – comfortable long-range cruising. While Flying Fox had advantages stemming from waterline length (at 124m), Najiba exploited the benefits of a relatively narrow beam (at 11m). In comparative analysis, the approach taken by a naval architect noted for his sailing yacht designs – Philippe Briand – working in concert with De Voogt Design presented a more efficient hull form and one more innovative and forward - looking in its approach. In sea trials, Najiba had average fuel consumption of just 11.4 litres per nautical mile at 12 knots and a range of 6,000nm-plus, more than 1,000nm over the estimate.

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.

Vanadis

Length: 31.4m

Builder: Cerri Cantieri Navali

Naval architect: Ginton Naval Architects

Exterior stylist: Guido De Groot

Interior design: Guido De Groot

From an array of worthy entrants, the judges were most impressed by Cerri Cantieri Navali’s well-prepared entry for Vanadis. This is the most comprehensive diesel-electric power system yet on a yacht of modest (31m) length and has the first Hybrid Power certification by Lloyd’s Register for an Italian-built yacht. Ten years ago, the yacht’s owner began conceptualising an environmentally friendly, high-tech project with maximum propulsion efficiency for long-range cruising. Less than two years ago, he took his challenge to CCN, which co-ordinated the build and a large international cast of specialist companies. Key to the success of the project was analysis of efficient power sources and distribution for all navigation and hotel loads based on the owner’s request for both fin and gyro stabilisation and great manoeuvring, including Dynamic Positioning. Siemens combined propulsion control and power generation, plus the management of the energy stored in lithium-ion batteries, in one seven-mode application. This latest generation system uses a single 750V DC network to distribute the power needed for the azimuthing Schottel pod propulsion and the auxiliary systems, including a battery- powered night mode.

Bold

Length: 85.3m

Lifestyle feature: The Loft/Winter Garden

Interior design: SilverYachts

Exterior stylist: Espen Øino

Naval architect: SilverYachts

Builder: SilverYachts

This year's judges could not have predicted how varied the 18 entrants in this category would be and how difficult the selection of a winner, even after the field was narrowed to eight finalists. While all were aesthetically outstanding and contributed a unique feature to their yachts, one stood out for showing something new, delightful and undeniably Bold. With this latest offering from SilverYachts, a brand known for innovation, designer Espen Øino put a new spin on the typical upper saloon or owner’s deck saloon by creating a multifunction loft-style winter garden space. On those occasions when a helicopter needs to be housed in the hangar below, a section of the winter garden floor can be raised to accommodate it and appears as a table/room divider. As if the floor-to- ceiling windows surrounding the full beam space weren’t enough, these glass walls are capable of folding, sliding and stacking out of the way, fully or in part, to create an outdoor living space in the same footprint, allowing the owner to entertain guests for indoor or outdoor dinner parties. Glass balustrades on the fixed railing prevent any intrusion into the endless views.

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.