It was a ‘clean sweep’ of award wins for Dubois at Saturday’s World Superyacht Awards 2011, as presented by Boat International Media. Dubois would like to congratulate and thank all those involved with these wonderful yachts.

zefira

Sailing Yacht of the Year:  Sailing Yacht Zefira

Best Sailing Yacht 45m+:  Zefira

Zefira is the 7th Dubois design to be built by Fitzroy Yachts and signifies a new and appealing development both above and below decks. This 49.7m fast cruising sloop is the largest sloop Dubois Naval Architects has designed without a flybridge. She is of aluminium construction with a bulb keel and a maximum beam of 9.95m. Zefira’s lines, silhouette and technical performance are something to be admired. Zefira was built for Italian owners who are wonderfully passionate and artistic. Previously owning an older Dubois-designed sloop, the challenge to us was to combine our extensive experience with a fresh look at style, while still embodying all the features which combine seaworthiness with performance. Comfort below was essential, as was the detail and finish. This has been provided by the inimitable skills of Remi Tessier.

Best Sailing Yacht 30m – 44.99m:  Sailing Yacht Imagine

imagine

The new Imagine is something of a landmark yacht for Dubois Naval Architects.
She bears the name of one of our favourites, launched in early 1993. Both were built by Alloy Yachts in New Zealand; the first Imagine at 33.6m was our third design constructed by that yard and the new Imagine, somewhat larger at 44.2m, is the 21st. A composite daggerboard, semi-balanced composite blade rudder and an Alloy Yachts custom helm feedback system enables superb performance and stability at speed. The owner so loved the first Imagine that he wanted to emulate the appearance and character of the earlier yacht and to embody in the new yacht many of her attractive features. The owner’s racing passion and close association with the America’s Cup, Volvo and TP52 races has seen, with great success, racing technology transferred and blended into this classic superyacht.

Judges’ Special Award:  Sailing Yacht Kokomo

kokomo

Kokomo is, quite simply, the most advanced yacht of her type in the world today. She is the third yacht that we have designed for this owner, each one more advanced and larger than the last.In the case of the latest Kokomo, built by Alloy Yachts, New Zealand, she has something very special; her lifting keel. At 58.4m length overall, Kokomo’s keel weighs 130 tonnes and can be raised and lowered through 3.3m, allowing her access to all the major harbours and marinas around the world but also giving her a unique performance. The stability afforded by this arrangement and her powerful sloop rig takes this yacht into a new league. Kokomo’s interior, by Redman Whiteley Dixon, ensures her standards are right at the top of world rankings. Kokomo represents the pinnacle of what we at Dubois have been striving towards for so many years – combining great comfort, a wonderful lifestyle on board, both at sea and in harbour, with exceptional sailing performance.

Judges’ Commendation:  Sailing Yacht Lady B

Lady B

Lady B is a very important yacht in the Dubois stable. She has a lifting keel which offers enhanced performance and puts her into a different league. Careful engineering was required so that the lifting mechanism would operate even if the yacht grounded. While there are many Dubois-designed yachts afloat of about her size, the 44.7m Lady B stands out for this reason. Her especially sleek appearance, matches the high sailing performance and expresses the character of this superb yacht. Dubois developed the interior layout and the interior designers, Rhoades Young, have made a beautiful job of styling the interior and attending to the many details. The result is a striking vessel both externally and within. Direct access to the owner’s stateroom from the aft deck is an interesting feature and is not only convenient but gives a wonderful light to this important area of the yacht. Beautifully built by Vitters Shipyard, Lady B is one of the most sophisticated and well finished yachts of her size in the world today and will stand out as being a craft of exceptional quality, beauty and performance.

Judges; Commendation:  Sailing Yacht Twizzle

twizzle

Twizzle is the first Dubois-designed sailing superyacht to be built at the Royal Huisman Shipyard and at 57.5m, she is the largest Dubois-designed ketch built to date. Twizzle is a shallow draft centreboard yacht and builds on the considerable experience we gained with Nirvana. A large and powerful ketch rig together with sleek flowing hull lines and a super-efficient centreboard give Twizzle great performance under sail. The quality of her design and construction and the beauty of her interior styling make this yacht truly unique. Twizzle’s beautifully proportioned, minimalist teak deck conceals the secrets of her advanced technology along with two tenders, complimenting Twizzle’s clean and modern appearance. Twizzle is the very successful result of the owners’ vision for a high performance, high-tech and modern sailing yacht with all the comfort of a motor yacht. The owners have been central to this talented team, bringing their own ideas and significant experience to the process, adding challenge and momentum. In close collaboration with Redman Whiteley Dixon, who were the interior designers and exterior stylists, Dubois Naval Architects developed the hull and deck layout, sail plan, naval architecture, aluminium structure and propulsion layout into a perfectly integrated package.