The winners of the inaugural Boat Builders Awards 2015 were unveiled during a gala dinner in the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam on the second day of the METSTRADE show. Paolo Vitelli, founder and chairman of Azimut Benetti, has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Paolo Vitelli, founder and chairman of Azimut Benetti, honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award
In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award, there were five other categories of winners at the Boat Builder Awards for Business Achievement.
Monte Carlo Yachts received the Innovation in a Production Process award for its game-changing modular production technique. This enables semi-customised yachts to be built up to 50% more quickly on a full scale production line.
Dominator has become winner of the Retail Marketing Award for its Ilumen Virtual Reality system. The judges praised the technology as a genuine innovation, the like of which has not been seen before in the maritime business.
Galeon Yachts and the ‘beach mode’ that according to judges brought a little bit of big boat functionality and superyacht chic to its new 500 Fly yacht, was named winner of the Innovative On-Board Design Solution.
Brunswick Marine EMEA’s expansion of its Quicksilver line outside of Europe earned it the podium spot in the Boat Builder International Distributor/Dealer Development category, while Jenneau and Harken’s three-year collaboration on the Assisted Sail Trim system, which has the potential to revolutionise cruising and shorthanded sailing, has become a worthy winner of the Boatbuilder & Equipment Manufacturer Collaborative Solution award.
There were also three honourable mentions. Karnic was recognised in the Innovation in a production process category for its Smart Production Controller. Fairline Boats and Falcon were mentioned for the engineering feat of creating frameless windows that can be fitted to any hull form. Mastervolt’s CZone digital control and monitoring network was also commended by the judges.
