Aspiring yacht designers had the chance to mingle with industry heavyweights at this year’s Young Designers’ Creative Breakfast, which was held during the Monaco Yacht Show.
Held in the run up to the Young Designer of the Year Award, the creative breakfast was hosted by Oceanco and Boat International. Competitors treated to an exclusive tour of the 90 metre Oceanco superyacht DAR by the superyacht's designers Luiz DeBasto and Valentina Zannier from Nuvolari Lenard.
They were then whisked away on a tender ride touring the most impressive yachts moored in Monaco.
There have already been over 100 entries into the Young Designers’ of the Year Award, which tasks entrants with creating a design for a motor sailing yacht between 80 metres and 84 metres.
The prize, which closes on November 8, is judged by an experienced panel of designers and sponsored by Oceanco, which awards the winner with a €3,000 cash prize and three month paid internship.
The event was attended by a number of judges, including Adam Lay, founder of Adam Lay Studio, Peder Eidsgaard, co-founder of Harrison Eidsgaard, and legendary designer Tim Heywood.
All three judges said they were specifically looking for entrants to demonstrate their drawing prowess by providing hand drawn sketches as part of their submissions.
“When I see good sketches – that excites me,” said Harrison Eidsgaard director Peder. “I like to see hand drawn sketches that shows a lot of the exterior and interior detailing and how those spaces come together.”
Adam Lay agreed, adding: “I like seeing the hand drawing and seeing those thought processes – hand drawing is something that universities aren’t pushing anymore and a lot of students go straight to CGI, which is a bit of a lazy approach.”
The judges also flagged guest flow, the relationship between interior and exterior spaces and a solid general arrangement as key features in entrants’ submissions.
“The students need to know the relationship between the interior and exterior and how the exterior provides for good interior spaces, how that effects guest flow and how people move through the boat,” Eidsgaard said.
Lay added: “It’s very important to have a good general arrangement, which considers the concentration of guest and crew flow. We’ve seen some absolutely terrible GAs and it comes down to practicality.”
Meanwhile Tim Heywood urged the young designers to demonstrate their passion for the subject.
“I look for passion about the work,” he said. “Everyone in this industry that is successful has passion for it. That’s the most important thing.”