16 ShowBoats Design Awards 2016 winners

Exterior Styling: AB Studio - Omega Architects

Builder: Heesen Yachts

The ShowBoats Design Award for exterior design and styling on motor yachts below 500GT had nine finalists featured yachts from 32 meters to 50 meters and styles from raised pilothouse to expedition.

The runaway winner was the second longest yacht in the group – Sibelle – whose radical styling combined a slight reverse or destroyer bow with a hard chine and a knuckle to broaden the bow above the waterline and blunt it at the sheerline. The spray rails at the bow were envisioned as part of a strong, deliberate horizontal design vocabulary that includes dark bands of glass that although stepped, appear continuous and help make the yacht appear longer than her actual 49.9-meter length.

The bullnosed shape of the side and aft deck overhangs reinforces the powerful look of the exterior while mirroring the curves of the built-in aft deck seating areas. Symmetry is a strong secondary design theme and this is particularly noticeable on the mast and sun deck. The surprise of skylights in the sun deck hardtop, however, and the picture window opening onto the aft swim platform add a light touch and remind us that Sibelle is a yacht of delightful, engaging contrasts.

This award is sponsored by MAST.

Exterior Styling: CG Design

Builder: Feadship, De Vries

The rarefied air of exclusivity pervades the category for interiors of the largest motor yachts. It is the world where knowledgeable and sophisticated owners challenge their design teams to produce beautiful and personalised statements. Such is the case with Savannah, and although it is only this architectural team’s second yacht, the owner was well known to them and made clear his interest in continuity of indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces, visual contact with the sea and having a variety of living spaces for different activities.

Turning convention on its head, Paris-based CG Design responded with a layout where walls, ceilings, furniture and surface patterns are developed on curved lines to accentuate fluidity via natural and organic forms – there are no boxes. The window architecture is fresh and inspiring and from the interior, draws less attention to window shape and structure than to the views outside. This, plus a semi-underwater lounge and cinema, a secret observation room in the bow, stunning lighting design, a floating catwalk, and a main deck living area that is one continuous space from salon to swim platform left the judges applauding.

This award is sponsored by Tai Ping.

Naval Architecture: Azimut Benetti SpA

Builder: Benetti Shipyard

Benetti’s 38.1m Vivace model _Iron Man _presents an interesting application of azimuthing propulsion in a relatively small motor yacht and an innovative hull designed to transition smoothly from displacement speeds to semi-planing and a sprightly top end of 24.5 knots — two knots faster than predicted.

An 18-month development period of what Azimut Benetti calls its D2P hull utilised CFD to refine every element and appendage, evolving a hull shape with a pair of asymmetrical chines and a wave-piercing bow. Its smooth underwater profile and reduced forward resistance result in a 20 percent higher cruising speed. At 11.5 knots Iron Man burns 100 litres per hour. A weight control budget utilising carbon fibre in the hull resulted in 40 percent less weight when compared to traditional structures. Azimut Benetti chose pod drive propulsion with a forward pulling propeller for increased efficiency and enhanced maneuvering.

The ShowBoats Design Awards judges were also impressed with the efficient design of Palumbo Group’s 40.1-meter motor yacht, Divine, with naval architecture by Hydrotec. This all-aluminum yacht achieved nearly the same efficiency rating as Iron Man, but, it should be noted, with diesel/electric power and traditional shaft propulsion.

This award is sponsored by JFA Yachts.

Exterior Styling: Nauta Design

Builder: Baltic Yachts

The ShowBoats Design Award judges felt as if they were comparing apples and oranges among the finalists in this category and quickly opted to judge the modern yachts separately.

The owner’s brief for Nikata described a boat to not just enter regattas but to “race successfully”, which we all know means “podium finishes”, a result he experienced with his previous yacht.

To achieve this same performance on a larger boat, Judel/Vrolijk began with what they already know about high performance hulls and then refined it through CFD study to match the owner’s equally important demands for an attractive profile and for comfortable cruising in all sea conditions.

For racing stiffness with realistic harbor draft, Rolf Vrolijk chose a lifting keel with stainless steel fin and lead bulb extending from 3.65 meters in the up position to 5.85 meters in full extension. The sail plan developed with the help of extensive VPP studies led to a bow sprit and a special flat-top main for racing that adds 73 square meters of sail area, both of which are removed for cruising.

The deck is well laid-out for safe and efficient racing with good separation between the helm stations and jib/gennaker sheet winches and the guest seating areas.

This award is sponsored by RINA Services.

Naval Architecture: Andre Hoek to original lines by Frank Paine

Builder: Holland Jachtbouw

Because redrawing a classic yacht to meet a modern racing rule is a rare task, the jury chose to award a second naval architecture prize to Topaz. J-8, as she is known in her class, is a so-called Super J because of her 88-foot waterline.

She was designed by Frank Paine for the 1937 America’s Cup but never built. Topaz’s owner tracked her plans to MIT in Boston and bought the package. Included in the documents was a hand-drawn lines plan that was neither symmetrical nor fair. From this baseline Andre Hoek re-designed the yacht and rig in 3D, optimized to perform under the current J Class Association handicap system.

Mast position, stability, sail area and hull stiffness were extensively researched and compared with all existing J Class hulls. The hull and deck structure was augmented to take very high runner loads in order to reduce head stay sag.

The yacht’s deck layout suits both top-end racing and easy handling when cruising with good visibility for the helmsman and most importantly direct communication between the trimmers and the helmsman. The main cockpit can accommodate eight people for dining in comfort, something never imagined aboard a J in 1937!

This award is sponsored by RINA Services.

Exterior Styling: CG Design

Builder: Feadship, De Vries

Based on the number and strength of candidates for this ShowBoats Design Award category, the judges chose to split motor and sailing yachts.

Savannah is a yacht that presents herself differently from various angles and if seen bow-on only, the judges remarked that the straight lines of her exterior seemed completely at odds with her curvaceous interior architecture.

Yet yachts are truly 3D things and soon the cascading curves of her aft decks became apparent, as did the smoothness of the metallic seafoam-green profile — which bears no lumps, bumps or glass seams — and matches the sleek contemporary nature of her interior architecture. Just as the dark, tempered glass appears as an unbroken line on the exterior, the interior hides window frames within sleek architectural features.

There is no sense that any area of the yacht inside or out has less stature than any other and stainless steel is used inside and out. The custom treatment for deck furniture and exterior lighting was also part of the detailed design approach. The fact that one hand guided both interior and exterior made for an uninterrupted aesthetic vocabulary and harmony unequaled by any other contenders.

This award is sponsored by MTN.