Superyacht designer Terence Disdale has been named the recipient of the 2014 ShowBoats Design Awards Lifetime Achievement Award – sponsored by Fincantieri Yachts.
Marco Mazzu, Head of Origination Strategies and Market Development for Fincantieri Yachts, says, ‘We feel it’s very important to recognise the importance of the contributions that iconic designers have made to the superyacht industry, which shape the way we think and feel about yachting today. Fincantieri Yachts is a young business unit, since 2005, and we have good success so far and feel the way we should look at our future is to take inspiration from iconic designers careers – who have always kept pushing forward to the next wave of innovation. We are very proud to announce this Lifetime Achievement award Terence Disdale.’
Fellow superyacht designer and long-time collaborator Tim Heywood comments on Disdale’s win:
_After graduating from the Bannenberg College of Interior & Yacht Design in 1973, Terry Disdale opened his first design studio in Richmond and began his meteoric rise to the top of our industry. From the relatively small beginnings of a car-carrying catamaran yacht, to some of the largest yachts afloat today, Terry has created works of art that have stood the test of time and will continue to sail the oceans of the world long into the future.
Boadicea, Al Salamah, Ecstasea, Montkaj and Eclipse are a small selection of the yachts that have been crafted, inside and out, by his talents. Distinctive, timelessly modern exteriors with interiors in a rich, eclectic fusion of materials and textures that create a calming, stylish and welcoming ambience have drawn clients to Richmond from all over the world._
_Terry’s focus on his work is sometimes welcomingly disrupted by his musical, motoring and angling interests, which provide him with an antidote to the high pressure world in which he plies his trade. He spends a great deal of time on the water in his own boat, a 1.5-meter coracle, paddling along chasing elusive Mahseer and Goonch in the rivers of India.
Under his generous tutelage, many students have passed through the doors of his studio to become successful designers in their own right, always remembering the Disdale mantras of ‘Beach house, not Penthouse,’ and ‘Don’t gild the lily, sand blast it!’_
_Terry has collaborated with several established exterior designers over the years, adding his interiors to such yachts as Taramber and Sunrise. I am very pleased to say that we worked very successfully together on Pelorus, Ice, Mayan Queen, Kogo, Radiant and Topaz, where he has cast his magic to remarkable success, creating stunning interiors that have delighted our clients. Unfortunately, some of of these yachts were unable to be featured in the world’s yachting press, but they remain well known to a small, elite group of very private yachtsmen and women.
May we take this opportunity to congratulate Terry on this very well deserved, Lifetime Achievement Award._ – Tim Heywood