Meet the 36 Superyacht Design Symposium 2017 speakers

Leonardo Ferragamo, is Group Executive Chairman of Nautor Holding that owns Nautor’s Swan, Camper & Nicholsons Yachts, and the Marina di Scarlino.

Having worked from a young age at the family company, in 2000 Leonardo became Director of Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., Ferragamo Finanziaria, the financial holding of the Group and Executive Vice President of Fondazione Ferragamo. At this time, he also moved to take responsibility as CEO of Palazzo Feroni Finanziaria S.p.A., one of the two holding companies of the Ferragamo family, managing the activities in real estate hospitality and diversified activities.

Leonardo is Chairman of “Windows on Tuscany”, specialising in the management of apartments and luxury villas, which merged in 2008 in “Windows on Europe”. He is founder and Chairman of Associazione Partners Palazzo Strozzi, who are committed together with the City of Florence and other institutional members to launch the Palazzo Strozzi cultural activities to make it an international centre of arts. Now an Honorary Chairman, Leonardo initially headed Altagamma from 2000-2009, which unites high-end Italian companies to promote the Italian lifestyle and gain recognition at an international level.

Leonardo graduated in Business Administration from Imede, Lausanne and obtained a degree in Administration and Finance from Columbia University.

Luca Bassani is the founder and president of Wally, founded in 1994, which introduced a new concept of sailing cruiser that opened up a new route in yacht design. Having revolutionised the sailing yachts, in 2001 he developed and introduced the wallypower line changing the whole powerboat design.

Luca created an outstanding and iconic brand in both the yachting industry and the luxury market, his breakthrough products are regarded as the state of the art in design: Wally is the only yachting brand two-time winner of the Compasso d’oro, the world’s most important award for quality and design. In 1994 Luca Bassani began racing the Wallys and in 1999 he founded the Wally Class, the largest fleet of racing superyachts and one of the IMA divisions - International Maxi Association.

Luca Bassani has been owner and helmsman of different yachts. In the IOR, he won the Mediterranean Championship and the Two Ton Cup in 1972 with the 43-foot S&S Locura, and in 1975 he owned Phantom, the first maxi-yacht at those times. After the IOR, he moved into the 6-metre division, winning two European Championships (1986-1990). He then started sailing in the Mumm 30 class winning the 1998 World Championship.

Luca Bassani graduated in Business/Economy at Bocconi University, Milan, in 1980. In 2004 he received the Honorary Degree in Industrial Design from the University of Architecture in Genoa, Italy.

Timur Bozca is a nature addict adventurer and a designer who is best known with his vehicle concepts.

Timur established his design studio, Bozca Design, in 2013 which focused towards creating new trends in yacht, aviation, automotive and architecture. The firm also works toward creating intrigue and innovative living spaces. Bozca Design’s vision is to create solutions through design by considering human factors, technology and aesthetics. The philosophy of his design firm is determined on not only creating for tomorrow, but also for the day after.

Timur graduated from Coventry University with a degree in automotive & transport design and continued his education at the Politecnico di Milano where he completed a masters in yacht design.

Timur Bozca was awarded as a Young Designer of the Year Award at ShowBoats Design Awards. Afterwards, he became a winner also in International Design Awards and A’Design Awards in the yacht design field.

Like many young men launching themselves into a career in design, Jonny Horsfield’s first love was focused on the curves of a beautiful car rather than those of a yacht. Following a degree in transport design from Coventry university, he quickly discovered the possibilities of superyacht design working for both Martin Francis and Donald Starkey. “It was great grounding. Over the next five years he started firstly working on yacht exteriors, but gravitated towards interior design which he quickly mastered on the job. “Don and Martin were very different, but they taught me a lot about the business, which you don't get at college. And it is a business at the end of the day. You can be very creative and still fail.”

H2 Design is now about to celebrate its 23rd anniversary. Jonny identifies that the turning point came in 2006, with the commission for the interior of the 54.2 metre Talisman C (now Talisman Maiton), and since then he and his team have gone on to design over 30 yachts with more than 15 coming out of Turkey. More recently H2 Design were identified as the exterior designers of the extraordinary 124 metre Project Jupiter launched from the Lürssen shipyard, as well as interior designers of the equally impressive 107 metre explorer Ulysses. The H2 Design studio is located in south-west London, currently numbering around 15 designers, and continues to work on an unusual mix of yacht projects for its clients around the world.

A leading “disruptor” in UK media for more than two decades, Adam Leigh joined communications consultancy W in 2011. As Strategy Director at W – which has offices in London, Amsterdam and Singapore – he has developed brand and campaign strategies for clients including Y.CO, Princess Yachts, L’Oréal, W Hotels, Alphabet, Facebook, Hearst Magazines, and Unilever. Based at the company’s London HQ, his role encompasses C-suite counsel, media planning, content development, and crisis management.

Prior to W Adam worked at The Independent, where he was Deputy Editor and directed the paper’s award-winning coverage of 9/11, the Iraq war and the Asian tsunami. In 2010 Adam was central to the launch of i - the UK’s first new national newspaper in 25 years, which remains the market’s only growing title and in 2003 he led the Independent’s reinvention as Britain’s first “quality tabloid” (a move followed by dozens of papers around the word).

Rebecca Sawyer is a Senior Interior Designer at Reymond Langton Design, splitting her time between London & Bath. She studied Fashion Design at Leeds University. After graduating in 2010 she began work experience at Reymond Langton Design and quickly fell in love with the industry. Within a month of starting at RLD she was offered a full time position, allowing her to put her knowledge of design and fabrics to practical use. Seven years later she has seen the launch of eleven new yachts under the Reymond Langton brand, along with refits and the development of numerous interior concepts and current projects. Most of her time is taken up by project management, along with artwork, furniture and fabric development. Although she loves working on such forward thinking projects, her dream project would be to refit a classic steam ship for a private client who appreciates the film Casablanca.