The World Superyacht Awards 2012 winners were revealed on Saturday May 5 in the beautiful surroundings of the Çırağan Palace Kempinski, overlooking Istanbul’s historic Bosphorus waterway. The seventh edition of this highly anticipated event was attended by the superyacht industry’s finest.
World Superyacht Awards 2012 Neptun Trophies
Southern Spars’ rigged yachts once again dominated the awards, with sailing yacht Vertigo taking top spot as she was crowned the 2012 sailing superyacht of the year and best sailing yacht 40m+ size range. Southern’ rigged Vertigo, built by Alloy Yachts was selected on the basis of her ‘extremely stylish exterior lines, combined with the extremely high build quality and the solutions to the engineering questions which this complex design from Philippe Briand had posed. Vertigo provides the optimum balance between performance sailing and world cruising, with neither compromising the other.’ – The Judging Panel
Luxury yacht Vertigo is the longest vessel built to date by New Zealand based boat builders Alloy Yachts. She is an astounding 67.2m and is equipped with the latest technology in both racing and cruising performance. She has a full Southern Spars rig package, a 64m main mast and a 48.10m mizzen mast equipped with EC6+ hybrid rigging.
67.2m sailing yacht Vertigo by Alloy Yachts
It is with no surprise after taking line honours victory in the Transatlantic Superyacht regatta and the Caribbean 600 that the sailing yacht Hetairos was awarded the judges’ Special Award in the 40m+ size range, for her notable contribution to the technical advancement of sailing superyachts. The 197ft (66.7m) Hetairos has set many new benchmarks in superyacht construction. It is, for example, the largest yacht that has been built from carbon-fibre composite to date.
Hetairos superyacht sports a full Southern Spars’ rig package, a 62.5m high modulus main mast with a Code Zero lock that is capable of locking up to 40 tonnes – the biggest Southern Spars has yet designed.
67m Sailing yacht Hetairos by Baltic Yachts - Credit to Baltic Yachts
The 30m (98ft) Southern Spars rigged and Yachting Developments built composite pilothouse sloop Antares III won the award for the “Best Sailing Yacht 30-40m”. ‘Antares III provided everything that made cruising a pleasure for her owner, including good sailing performance, a calm, understated interior, an ability to manage the yacht with just three crew, and good interconnectivity between helm station, cockpit and pilothouse.’ – The Judging Panel
Superyacht Antares III is 25-30% lighter than similar vessels built in Aluminium and sports a 42.7m tall high modulus carbon fibre rig with EC6 continuous composite rigging and a Southern Furl boom, allowing her to carry an impressive 4,876sq ft of sail area up wind.
Sailing yacht Antares III by Yachting Developments
It has been ten years since Southern Spars’ rigged sailing yacht Destination Fox Harbr was a finalist at the international Superyacht Design Awards and after an extensive refit she is back; crowned ‘Best refitted Superyacht 2012’. ‘Her cleverly conceived refit…not only brought her up to date but changed the whole aura of the yacht to create a relaxed, sophisticated and comfortable interior suited to the lifestyle of her new owners.’ – The Judging Panel.
The 2012 World Superyacht Awards have been yet another great triumph for Southern Spars, expressing the quality and caliber of projects that the company is involved with. Southern Spars would like to congratulate all of the designers and boat yards that contributed to these remarkable projects and brought these yachts to life.
Sailing yacht DESTINATION FOX HARBR - Photo Courtesy of Alloy yachts
Southern Spars would also like to congratulate Neville Crichton for receiving the ‘2012 Legacy Award’ for his instrumental role in the establishment and growth of the New Zealand superyacht industry, for his leading position in the world of the sailboat racing, his generosity of spirit, and his inspiration to others in these fields. Neville has been a continued supporter of Southern Spars over the past 25 years after utilizing Southern rigs on many of his cruising and racing yachts, including the hugely successful Alpha Romeo II campaign.
‘Without Neville Crichton the enormous growth in the superyacht industry in New Zealand… would simply not have happened’ – Ed Dubois.
