Saturday, May 3, 2014, in Amsterdam’s historic Maritime Museum, saw the international Superyacht community gather to unveil the winners of the annual World Superyacht Awards and present them with their Neptune trophies, representing the ‘Oscars’ of the Superyacht industry. Specialist London-based design firm, Andrew Winch Designs, was the evening’s big winner, receiving four Neptunes for its designs for mega yacht Madame Gu (Category winner and Motor Yacht of the Year winner), motor yacht Sea Owl (category winner), as well as sailing yacht Inoui (judges’ commendation).
For winning yachts “Sea Owl” and “Madame Gu”, the Andrew Winch Designs team were able to call on their 30 years of specialist experience to design both the Exterior and Interior of these stunning, but very different superyachts. From initial profile concepts and general arrangements through to final furniture and fabric selections, every element of these magnificent projects was meticulously planned by the 50-strong AWD Design team. An holistic approach that ensured design fluency and consistency for the Clients.
The World Superyacht Awards honours only the very finest new superyachts to have been delivered to their owners in the past year and this year saw a record number of entries. Judged by an independent panel of judges made up of superyacht owners and industry experts, the Andrew Winch Designs team fought off fierce competition in each of their yacht’s categories to take home a ‘Special Judges Award’ for the 33m sailing yacht ‘Inoui’, ‘Displacement Motor Yacht of 1,300GT to 1,999 GT’ for the 62m motor yacht ‘Sea Owl’ and ‘Displacement Motor Yacht of 2,000GT and above’ for the 99m motor yacht ‘Madame Gu’. “Madame Gu” was also the judges’ unanimous winner of the most coveted overall “Motor Yacht of the Year” award, recognising its iconic exterior design and the perfection of its interior layout and decoration.
“We are very honoured to have won awards for both Motor Yachts and Sailing Yachts,” said Andrew Winch, founder and Creative Director of the leading design studio, “each award is a testament to the extraordinary creativity and hard work that everyone at the AWD Studios puts in to designing these exquisite Projects. ‘Madame Gu’, ‘Sea Owl’ and ‘Inoui’ reflect the spirit and vision of their Owners, the adaptability of Andrew Winch Designs and the engineering and build skill of their respective shipyards. Truly a team effort!”
Below is a selection of the outstanding charter yachts with design by Andrew Winch.