Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2018 Winners Announced

Ngoni

Length: 58.2m

Exterior stylst: Dubois Naval Architects

Naval architect: Dubois Naval Architects

Builder: Royal Huisman

The final project from the team at Dubois Naval Architects, Ngoni’s exterior styling shows the impressive results of pushing builders and glass manufacturers to the limit in pursuit of beauty, aerodynamics, and blurring exterior and interior environments. The effort to bend glass to the designer’s will that began with the substantially larger and deeper Aglaia (now Anatta) launched in 2012 sees its zenith with Ngoni showing proportionately more glass in the deckhouse, skylights and hullsides. The profile of the boat from plumb bow to open stern is low and exciting and accented by the fact the sheer is inflected to add stiffness to the hull. The foredeck contains a large spa tub that can be sheltered by a modern version of an Arabian tent. The indoor/outdoor lounge aft of the saloon offers a perfect spot for outdoor living underway or at anchor and the stepped stern with its raised sunbed creates a useful and unique experience. Showing that size isn’t everything, finishing just two points behind was the smallest of the finalists, 32.5 metre Ribelle, whose lovely profile, glass deckhouse and waterfall transom are by Malcolm McKeon.

TELLI

Length: 33m

Interior designer: Ferretti Group

Naval architect: Ferretti Group

Builder: Custom Line (Ferretti Group)

Motor yacht interiors drew the largest number of nominations of all categories, and even after shortlisting the best there were still enough boats for three groups based on volume. This, the smallest class, offered our judges a good mix of custom and production yachts. The judges zeroed in on a Navetta 33 model, TELLI, for the way her apparent architectural simplicity harmonised with her exterior profile. Behind the apparent simplicity of clear geometric lines, however, were clever features such as a single piece of saloon furniture designed to hide a TV and the AV system, a bar unit with a fridge and  the room’s cooling unit. Silky walnut veneer joinery with its horizontal lines in flat panels was put to use by the designers to extend space visually, and whitewashed hardwood floor timber establishes a feeling of relaxed casual living. It is  a simple backdrop, embellished by the fun chunkiness of the staircase, for a modern art collection. The lighting design also got high marks. Two of the owner’s material selections, Jerusalem marble and crystal, are used throughout to contribute just the right touch of elegance.

Faith

Length: 96.6m

Interior designer: RWD/Chahan Interior Design

Naval architect: Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects

Builder: Feadship

Much is expected of the interiors in the largest motor yacht category and the Feadship Faith did not disappoint. From her profile, it is apparent how important endless views through large expanses of glass are to the owner and this is reflected in the arrangement of furniture within the spaces, the absence of heavy window treatments and the almost-monochromatic colour palette. Experienced British yacht designers RWD were teamed with the owner’s personal designer, Chahan Minassian of Paris, to create an interior with transparency as its theme even to such objects as a double-sided fireplace between the saloon and dining room. Horizontal lines repeat in subtle treatments on floors, walls and furnishings, but this classic motif is beautifully modernised by woven leathers, multi-textured stone and stainless steel.

Judges’ Commendation Award

Of all the interior elements of all the nominees, the imaginative interplay of elements in Barbara’s main stair column garners special note. A large oval glass elevator shaft wrapped in the beautiful, gnarled and silvered root system  of an ancient teak tree rises through two continuous decks. This sinuous, signature decorative item, which took a whole year to complete, is the ultimate expression of the design brief “no straight lines”.

Ribelle

Length: 32.5m

Interior Designer: Rémi Tessier

Naval Architect: Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design

Builder: Vitters

The winner of this award proves once again that excellence in interior design is not predicated by yacht size. The smallest boat in the field, Ribelle has a bespoke contemporary interior reflecting considerable involvement by experienced owners. The palette is restrained in terms of materials but dramatic in its varied use of them. To counterpoint the darkly tinted glass forming the yacht’s coach roof, for example, gleaming copper bands cover the carbon frames. Easing the transition between deck and interior, the warming effect of the sun glinting on copper is stunning, its reflective qualities seeming to enlarge the space. Rarely seen on yachts, copper, sealed using a special automotive process, serves as an accent throughout. Along with creating a statement in a small space, the designer had to meet the strict weight budget of a boat conceived to win races. Rémi Tessier's answers came in strong architectural lines, a panoply of organic curves on built-in furniture and the clever reversed layout of the master suite. Of special note is the bright galley created to meet the needs of a gourmet. Ribelle is a triumph of space planning.

1 of 7

Length: 35.5m

Naval architect: Vripack

Builder: Dynamiq

The brief began with the typical characteristics requested of all semi-displacement yachts: optimal performance balanced with comfort. To this equation, Dynamiq added the goal of long range. Vripack created a round bilge hull with a narrow bow and small bulb for reduced resistance and lower fuel consumption while still being capable of 21 knots at top speed. The yacht scored  well on efficiency with a computed fuel burn of just 0.465 l/h/t and a range of more than 3,300 nm. To improve performance even further, the yacht is fitted with a Hull Vane, a patented horizontal foil fixed below the stern. Developed by Van Oossanen Naval Architects, it influences the stern wave pattern and creates hydrodynamic lift, which is partially directed forward. This innovation increases the yacht’s efficiency and improves seakeeping by reducing pitching and yawing motions, giving this yacht the top score among the finalists for seakeeping. An innovative electric stabiliser and interceptor system also increases comfort both underway and at anchor. Judges also noted that 1 of 7 received a RINA Comfort Class and Green Star certification.

Home

Length: 50m

Naval architect: Van Oossanen/Heesen Yachts

Builder: Heesen Yachts

Rather than review a shortlist of finalists selected by the senior editorial team at Boat International Media, all of the entries for naval architecture go straight to the pros on the naval architecture subcommittee. In this category, that meant crunching numbers on 13 candidates to present finalists to the full jury. Along with the objectivity of statistics, the subcommittee also compared the brief for the boat with the designer’s statements, thoroughness of design methods and images, including video of the yacht underway. This year’s winner was clearcut on nearly all the categories under scrutiny and showed clear determination by the originator of the project, in this case the shipyard, to excel in this arena. Van Oossanen’s task this time was to take its fast displacement hull form and optimise it for displacement speed economy with small engines and a hybrid propulsion package plus deliver comfort characteristics in waves. Thirty hull forms were tested via computational fluid dynamics with the top contender model tested at the Wolfson Unit. The vertical stem with modest flare, fin stabilisers and interceptors at the transom showed the best results for reducing roll and pitch. Everything else was created in support of controlling weight and drag to allow Home to achieve 16 knots or better with the least horsepower of any of the finalists.

Ngoni

Length: 58.2m

Naval architect: Dubois Naval Architects

Builder: Royal Huisman

The naval architects who lead the judges’ discussion on this category said they felt like they were splitting hairs to choose a winner. The yachts are extremely different in appearance and brief, yet all the finalists are superb designs and each received top marks in at least one of the sub-categories used to determine the winner. Ngoni pulled out the win by one point largely  on the basis of innovation, complexity of the vessel, demands of the brief — including class requirements – investigation of keel and rudder options and testing of hydrodynamics. While Ribelle posted top numbers for sheer performance, as her 2017 regatta results support, the judges felt at she was an evolution of her naval architect’s winning approach to performance cruisers, whereas Ngoni innovated solutions with an approach to stiffness via hull structure not seen before. Also innovative are her general arrangement and myriad design and engineering solutions for managing this sloop's tremendous sail power.

Faith

Length: 96.6m

Naval architect: Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects

Interior designer: RWD/Chahan Interior Design

Exterior stylist: RWD

Builder: Feadship

In this complex category, judges surveyed not just the arrangement of guest areas but the space and layout for crew service, tender operations, maintenance and safety. Faith shines on all counts thanks in part to a clear owner’s brief to create a yacht for intensive use with private spaces and open areas for friends and family gatherings. Driving length and layout was the helicopter hanger; when the air tender is stored, the deck can be used for netted games. The beach club nearly doubles in size when transom and side terraces are open, its sloping ceiling being the bottom of a nine metre pool. Ease of movement is highlighted with separate elevators for crew and guests plus multiple staircases. Guests are treated to a hair salon and pantry next to their cabins, while the owner has a full private deck. His office is cleverly one deck below on the bridge/helideck next to staff cabins and the captain’s office. A portside loading bay, separate crew mess and lounge, dedicated hospital, crew gym and lower deck tender bays are top features. Proving size isn’t a precursor to good layout, tying for second place were sailing yachts Pink Gin and Ribelle.

Faith - Limousine Tender

Length: 10m

Builder: Tenderworks

Naval architect: Allseas Design

Exterior stylist: RWD

Interior designer: RWD

This category attracted 14 exciting tenders including open boats, enclosed limo tenders and even specialised landing craft. Although the subcommittee members evaluating the entries studied  the entrants separately, they came to the same conclusion for the top finisher, the 10-passenger limo tender matching the gentle curves and design ethos of its mothership, Faith. Design perfection was the primary objective for the owner but functionality still had to be paramount for the safe operation of the 40+ knot craft. Indirect lighting for night use is superb. The construction is mahogany veneer over carbon composite with an interior of leather and walnut crafted with the same detail as the yacht. The concept is a convertible tender with maximum possible headroom as a closed limousine that can automatically switch to an open boat. Its 3D curved glass roof panels slide forward utilising a cable drive system and disappear into a dedicated storage compartment, while the glass door aft and the side windows drop via a rack and pinion system. In all it took 18 months to design, 22,000 man hours to execute, 2,500 parts and seven servomotors to make an extraordinarily beautiful tender that goes from limousine to open with the touch of one button.

Giovanni Zuccon

Company: Zuccon International Projects

Nationality: Italy

First Yacht Design:1978, Technema 65, Posillipo

Giovanni Zuccon’s achievements in yacht design began as a happy accident. After beginning college as an engineering student he switched to architecture at La Sapienza University. Truth be told, his first love is arguably research. After graduation, Gianni, as he is affectionately known, and his beloved late wife, architect Paola Galeazzi, opened a studio in Rome in 1972. Also an industrial designer, he approaches problems by first studying the relationship of objects and spaces. Among his first projects was helping design a city for 50,000 people on the banks of Zaire's Congo River. Here he learned to design for a cultural context not his own. Likewise, he is proud of designs as diverse as intercity and tourist buses and buildings for the European Space Agency since 1984.

In the mid 1970s Posillipo Shipyards solicited input from architects for two recreational boat projects. Zuccon declined to submit on the basis that he knew nothing of boats. But when the shipyard said it wanted someone without boat knowledge, someone with a new approach, he relented. He and Paola submitted two small interior drawings. When Posillipo called their submission “interesting and viable”, Gianni threw himself into researching boats, from materials to methods. The rest is history. Actually, it's the history of the dawn of semi-custom boatbuilding, a modular process of standardised bulkheads for preset wiring and piping. He noted a theatre thus arranged made a variety of stage scenes possible. It was Zuccon’s idea to create designs that matched the builder’s industrial production objectives while allowing boat owners to satisfy specific needs.

In 1978 Gianni and Paola galvanized the core of their design philosophy around the belief that to secure its future, the yachting industry had to create and give space to a new kind of close relationship between craftsmanship and industry. Our database reveals 430 yachts beyond 20 metres with the Zuccon name attached ranging from a 38-foot open to the 80 metre CRN Chopi Chopi. We salute Giovanni Zuccon for a lifetime of yachting achievement.