Meet the 26 speakers at the 2016 Superyacht Design Symposium

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Is beauty a science or an art?

Terence Disdale Design is one of the world’s leading companies specialising in yacht design. The company employs a team of 15 and was formed in 1973.

Prior to this Terence Disdale worked as one of Jon Bannenberg’s two design assistants for a few years. His other experiences were in the hotel design industry and with shop fitting and joinery specialists.

In his forty years of experience Terence has participated in the design and construction of more than a hundred yachts including fifty of these above the category of 45 meters. Eighteen of his projects have been completed above the category of 60 meters & he is the holder of thirty international design awards for his projects, including their latest creation the 81 metre Kibo which won the 2015 Showboats Holistic Design Award.

In 2015 the 163 metre Eclipse was recognised by Boat International with the status of ‘Motor Yacht Of The Decade.’

His forte is in creating the total design concept of the yacht from the water line upward. The design team develops the complete deck by deck planning, the superstructure lines, design and detail as well as the complete and totally bespoke interior.

Occasionally they have been invited to work on the interior of private aircraft and the houses of various clients where they have carried out extensive architectural work, landscape design and interior design.

Monégasque Naval Architect Richard Hein has taken on many roles in the yachting world. He began his career opening a sales and design office in the US for Guy Couach and then moved to the then-largest US yacht builder Broward Marine as its in-house designer, where he was responsible for drawing the yards landmark 120-footers.

In 1984 he returned to his native Monaco and opened The A Group design studio where his yachts caught the attention of several European yards and led to him being tapped to help begin Oceanco and then serve as its chief designer and CEO for 12 years, during which time the yard delivered 18 yachts from 35 to 95 meters including the Stargate twins and Al-Mirqab, the biggest yachts ever built in The Netherlands to that time. A management buyout of Oceanco headed by Hein and backed by yacht owner Theodore Angelopoulos, took place in 2002 and in 2004, Hein stepped down as CEO turning sole ownership of the yard to Angelopoulos.

Augmenting his design studio, Hein established VegaYachts, a project development and management company focused on vessels in the 100-meter range. Its first project is the world’s first unrestricted PYC class yacht. The 101-meter IDynasty was launched at the Kusch Yachts shipyard in Germany during November 2014 and delivered successfully to her owner in July 2015. Various projects between 70 and 135 meters are currently in development at The A Group along with exclusive residential properties in The Bahamas.

“Thanks to our background as yacht builders, all our original and innovative designs incorporate construction knowledge, particularly the complex PYC,” says Hein.

“At The A group, we design to build.”

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Is the client always right?

Francesco Lovo, graduated in Aeronautical Engineering at the Politecnico of Turin in 1993, starts his career at Fiat Avio with particular assignments related to ESA programs for the development of new generation reusable space launchers and advanced ‘airbreathing’ hypersonic propulsion systems.

In 1997 he starts collaborating with Pininfarina Extra as Engineering Manager establishing a new CAD virtual modeling unit for industrial design projects.

From 1998 to 2001 he is responsible for business development while in 2002, he takes the responsibility of the creative, design and engineering management at Pininfarina Extra as R&D Director.

In 2005-2006, in the occasion of the Olympic Winter Games 2006 in Turin, he manages the whole research, development and manufacturing program for the Olympic torch, produced in 12.000 pieces by Pinnfarina SpA.

From 2007 to 2013 he manage the development program at Pininfarina Extra for the new passenger cabin interiors for Sukhoi Superjet-100 regional jet.

In the meantime he establish a new architectural-design division at Pininfarina Extra.

In the following years he manage the design development programs for superyachts projects collaborating with the selected shipyards and the end users.

In 2015 he take the responsibility of the whole operative activities relevant to the Pininfarina projects outside the automotive field as Pininfarina Extra Vice President Operations.

Up to now he has managed more than 400 different design projects in different design and industrial fields working with customers all around the world.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Is the client always right?

Peter Lürssen has been the managing partner of the Lürssen Shipyard since 1988‎, continuing the company's family-owned tradition in the fourth generation together with his cousin Friedrich Lürssen. A graduated naval architect, industrial engineer and having obtained an MBA from Cornell University, Peter Lürssen oversees all seven Lürssen shipyard locations in Northern Germany and is active in the operative business of yacht sales. Not only passionate about yachting and sailing, Lürssen has made the support of marine protection a priority in his charity work. He is a strong supporter of the Blue Marine Foundation, a marine conservancy successfully and efficiently campaigning for the set-up of Marine Protected Areas in the world's oceans, and he passionately spreads the word amongst clients and industry leaders.

‎In his free time, Peter Lürssen prioritizes spending time with his family, on sailing cruises or at home in Bremen.

James O'Callaghan is a structural engineer with more than 20 years of experience. Widely acknowledged as an authority on structural glass, he is perhaps best known for his highly innovative designs for glass stairs, bridges and other structural elements in Apple’s iconic retail stores around the world.

He co-founded engineering design firm Eckersley O'Callaghan with Brian Eckersley in 2004. The practice is based in London, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Paris and Shanghai.

His contribution to the Feadship Venus was instrumental in demonstrating and justifying that glazing of such a scale could be used in the marine environment. This landmark success has paved the way for his dedicated team of glass engineers to further support the industry in realising large-format glazing and striking glass features such as canopies, stairs or swimming pools in superyachts. The team provides technical design, detailing, and procurement expertise to deliver cutting-edge glass structures meeting classification regulations. O’Callaghan believes that collaboration and engagement are key to continuously redefine what is achievable in this ambitious market.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Superyacht Owner Panel

Owner and captain of 41m Superyacht Komokwa, Brian O’Sullivan is a self-proclaimed ‘meat and potatoes boater’ who states; ‘luxury for the sake of luxury’s sake has never interested me, unless it serves a higher purpose.’

Currently the President of the Mexico Power Group, Brian is an entrepreneur with an active career in sustainable wind energy and most recently solar energy. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Wind Energy Associations and is founder of the California Wind Energy Association.

In October 2013 Brian departed from Vancouver, Canada for an extended round the world cruise, stopping in at the Montenegro Rendezvous on the back of his tour of the Balearic Islands.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Is beauty a science or an art?

Marek Reichman is Chief Creative Officer and Design Director of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. Since joining the company in 2005, he has strengthened its iconic styling and led it through a prolific period, introducing the graceful high-performance Rapide S, the new Vanquish and Aston Martin’s recent flagship model, the stunning One-77. The most recent creations to leave the Aston Martin Design Studio include the DB10 Bond car for Spectre, DBX Concept, Aston Martin Vulcan and Vantage GT12. Throughout his career, Marek has been involved with some of the world’s most iconic cars, including the Rolls-Royce Phantom, the Lincoln MKX and Navicross Concept Cars and the Range Rover Mk lll. After beginning his design career with Rover Cars in 1991, Marek moved to BMW Designworks, California in 1995 to become Senior Designer. Here he led the overhaul of Land Rover design DNA for future production models, with the most significant of these becoming 2003’s new Range Rover. He joined Ford in 1999 as Chief Designer for the company’s Ford and Lincoln Mercury brands and rose to the position of Director of Design for Product at Ford North America before moving to Aston Martin.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: Is the client always right?

Pascale Reymond is the Managing Director of Reymond Langton Design, an international award winning interior and exterior design company for Super Yachts located in the UK.

The company was established in 2001 by the talented design duo Pascale Reymond and Andrew Langton. Pascale’s creative background involves a Master’s degree in Art History from La Sorbonne, Paris before moving to London to study Interior Design.

Pascale’s superb attention to detail means that every delivery has unquestionable quality, which undoubtly can been seen in the team’s most recent delivery, Lürssen’s Lady Lara, along with other recent deliveries including the new Kismet, Ester III and Ann G.

PLENARY SESSION SPEAKER: What is the new luxury?

Richard Woolley is the Studio Director for Design Research and Special Vehicle Operations, working under the direction of Gerry McGovern Jaguar Land Rover board member and Land Rover’s Chief Creative Officer.

Richard started his career in the UK, completing studies at Swansea University College of Art and Design before taking on his first design role at Airbus Industrie in Hamburg, Germany.

His career at Land Rover began in 1985, when he worked for the Rover Group on numerous passenger vehicle programmes including Rover, MG, MINI, and Land Rover vehicles. During this period he also worked in Tokyo, Japan and Munich, Germany.

After a period working in Detroit for Ford Design North America, Richard returned to the UK to take up the role of Studio Director within Land Rover. His significant design achievements upon his return included the 2003 Range Stormer concept, 2004 Range Rover Sport, 2007 Freelander, and 2009 Range Rover. Under Gerry McGovern’s overall leadership, he also directed the design team working on the all-new 2012 Range Rover.

Richard leads a team of creative designers who are developing future technologies and looking at other product opportunities for Land Rover. This includes design responsibility for the Special Vehicle Operations business within Land Rover, which develops high-end luxury bespoke and extreme performance vehicles, including the Range Rover SVAutobiography and the Range Rover Sport SVR.

In his spare time, Richard enjoys all aspects of design, travel and music. He has a great interest in rugby & football with a particular passion for his national side Wales. He is married with one daughter and lives in Warwickshire.

Fred van Beers has been the CEO of Blohm + Voss since March 2015 and has held senior leadership positions in the maritime industry for more than 15 years. Fred joined Blohm+Voss from his former position as Vice President Services Northern Europe at Wärtsilä, the global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the maritime industry and energy markets with a presence in more than 70 countries.

Fred van Beers is a qualified ship engineer, went to sea for four years, and has led all stages of design, engineering, production and aftermarket services. He has a proven track record in delivering profitable sales growth. Throughout his career at Wärtsilä and his positions in various maritime industry organisations in the Netherlands and Europe, Fred van Beers built up an extensive international network within the community of yacht and ship owners, yacht designers, shipyards and the maritime supply industry. For the past 20 years delivery of systems and services for yachts has been part of his wider responsibilities.