The entries for the 2015 Young Designer of the Year Award will close on Friday, January 9, 2015. The competition is presented by Boat International Media, in partnership with the premier Dutch yacht manufacturer, Oceanco.
Yacht designers Dickie Bannenberg, Rob Humphreys and Andrew Winch join an expert panel of judges who will decide the 2015 winner
The Young Designer of the Year Award celebrates the best of superyacht design from the boards of student and trainee designers around the globe. With an impressive 120 registrations already received from students, recent graduates and design studio apprentices, the judges anticipate an exceptionally high standard of submissions for the 2015 competition.
Year on year, the competition continues to gain prominence within the superyacht industry and wider yacht design community. The Young Designer of the Year Award has propelled the careers of some of the yachting industry’s most exciting and innovative new talent, with an impressive collection of past finalists and award winners now employed in prestigious design studios all over the world. Many leading universities offering naval architecture and yacht design courses encourage competition entry. To name but a few, this year submissions have been received from students at Coventry University (England), University of Southampton (England), Art Center College of Design (USA), College for Creative Studies (USA), Politecnico di Milano (Italy) the University of Genoa (Italy) and Bangladesh University Of Engineering and Technology.
2014 Winner Raphael Laloux collects his prize on stage at the ShowBoats Design Awards 2014
The 2015 task presents aspiring yacht designers with a realistic client request, set to encourage their creativity and test their technical skills. Entrants are challenged to expand an initial concept drawing for a 55-metre sailing yacht into a fully thought-out design including the design of the deckhouse (or deckhouses) and a complete general arrangement plan for the cockpits and all enclosed spaces.
The winner of the Young Designer of the Year Award will be presented with a gold Neptune trophy and a €5,000 cash prize at the ShowBoats Design Awards which take place on 23 February 2015 during the Superyacht Design Symposium. The coveted gold Neptune that will be awarded to the winner has become a symbol of pride and distinction for the industry’s design professionals. Its presentation at this prestigious ceremony will provide the winner with the unique opportunity to receive critical acclaim in front of an international audience of superyacht owners, designers and industry leaders, and to network among the most influential players in the yachting industry.
Five finalists, chosen by a jury drawn from the ranks of the most highly regarded naval architects and yacht designers, will be invited to attend the awards and will benefit from a host of incredible opportunities aimed at advancing their early design careers. They will receive complimentary access to the 2015 edition of the Superyacht Design Symposium and an all-expenses paid visit to Oceanco’s shipyard in The Netherlands.
Entries for the 2015 competition close at midday (GMT) on 9 January, 2015.
