Soliloquy Brief

Soliloquy Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News

International Superyacht Society (ISS) Announce Design & Leadership Award Winners

October 29, 2010

ISS (International Superyacht Society) is pleased to announce winners of the 2010 Design & Leadership Awards. Representing superlative achievement, the awards were presented last night at the 20th Anniversary of ISS’s Awards Gala in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Highlights of the festivities and photography of the evening’s highlights will be made available within two weeks.

Sailing Yacht Kokomo - Photo Credit Chris Lewis

Sailing Yacht Kokomo - Photo Credit Chris Lewis

ISS Design & Leadership Award Winners

DESIGN AWARDS

 
Best Sail 24-40m
Sail yacht Chrisco

Best Sail 40m+
Sailing Yacht Kokomo

Best Power 24-40m
Motor yacht Northlander

Best Power 40-65m
Super yacht Elandess

Best Power 65m+
Megayacht Sunrays

Best Interior—Power or Sail
Yacht Chrisco

Sailing yacht Chrisco Photo Credit Nicolas Claris

Sailing yacht Chrisco Photo Credit Nicolas Claris

Motor Yacht ELANDESS – Image courtesy of Heesen Shipyards

Motor Yacht ELANDESS – Image courtesy of Heesen Shipyards

AWARDS OF DISTINCTION & LEADERSHIP AWARD

 
Excellence in Innovation
Sailing Yacht Soliloquy, Callender Designs

Business of the Year
Corporation of Trinity House, Professional Yachtsman Bursary Scheme

Distinguished Crew Award
Captain David Hill

Leadership Award
Bill Langan, Langan Design Associates, Inc.

Moonen Shipyards Yacht Northlander

Moonen Shipyards Yacht Northlander

 About International Superyacht Society
The International Superyacht Society is the sole organization serving and representing the large yacht industry worldwide. Society members are individuals and companies who have been recognized for their leadership and dedication to raising the standards of design construction, maintenance, repair and operation of large yachts.

Founded in 1989, the Society is a not-for-profit organization and relies wholly on membership dues, the support of corporate sponsors, revenues from special events, and other donations. An elected Board of Directors guides the Society’s activities.

Education Programs are conducted internationally and include open forums such as symposia, informal gatherings and round-tables. It is a Society priority to foster dialogue among Society members and others in the large yacht segment of the marine industry, leading to the strengthening and growth of the business interests of Society members and the industry as a whole.

Superyacht SUNRAYS in the Mediterranean – Photo by Yacht Photographer Giovanni Romero as taken in Gibraltar

Superyacht SUNRAYS in the Mediterranean – Photo by Yacht Photographer Giovanni Romero as taken in Gibraltar

Callender Designs win the 2010 ISS Excellence in Innovation Award

September 28, 2010

The Design Director of UK based Callender Designs, Alastair Callender was announced as the winner of the Excellence in Innovation Award category during the 2010 Monaco Yacht Show. The award is part of the prestigious Award of Distinction and was voted by the Board of Directors of the International Superyacht Society (ISS).

Alastair Callender receiving the Award for Excellence in Innovation - © Copyright 2009 Alastair Callender

Alastair Callender said, “This Excellence in Innovation award is a real honour to receive: to have my name and design work recognised in this way is tremendous. I am looking forward to an exciting career in the yacht design industry.”

The Monaco Yacht Club was a fitting venue to announce Alastair as the winner of this category. It was here – one year ago – the 190 foot Soliloquy eco-design concept, was displayed during the 2009 Monaco Yacht Show week.

“Innovation is essential to future business and the development of the industry as a whole.
I hope by coupling beautiful aesthetics with a novel, sustainable design approach, the Green Agenda will also be supported through the work that we do as designers.”

Alastair‟s career has been going from strength-to-strength, after receiving numerous international accolades over the last 12 months, including winning the esteemed Condé Nast International Innovation and Design Award in May 2010, for Sustainable Design.

“It is a wonderful award from the ISS, especially in the knowledge that my design work was voted for by professionals within the superyacht industry.”

All recipients of the ISS Awards of Distinction will be presented their awards during the ISS International Awards for Design & Leadership Gala, held on the opening night of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October 2010.

Although the multi-award winning Soliloquy superyacht remains a concept at present, the Callender Designs studio are positive that this super-green superyacht, with technology supplied by Solar Sailor Ltd; or other recent yacht design enquires, will soon be taken through further development, and into reality.

Princess Cruises honoured by Port of San Francisco for environmental efforts.

May 25, 2010

Three Princess Cruises ships Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess and Star Princess  have just been named as gold-level winners of the Port of San Francisco 2009 Cruise Ship Environmental Award. The awards honor the ships’ “outstanding record in safeguarding the environment and protecting the air and water quality of San Francisco Bay during their port calls.” This is the fifth year Princess ships have earned this prestigious distinction.

Sapphire Princess

Sea Princess

Star Princess

 

The annual award recognizes the vessel for demonstrating ”the strong environmental commitment of Princess Cruises in the areas of air emission reduction, waste water treatment, and recycling and disposal programs for solid waste.” The honors are determined by San Francisco’s Cruise Terminal Environmental Advisory Committee (CTEAC), which operates a program to recognize cruise lines that are committed to environmentally responsible operations, include the deployment of ships using reduced emission system technology or cleaner-burning fuel.

The San Francisco awards follow on the heels of other environmental honors earned from ports where Princess ships call, including the Venice Blue Flag, recognizing the line’s commitment to reducing polluting emissions by burning cleaner fuels, plus the Port of Los Angeles Vessel Speed Reduction Recognition Flag for actions to reduce air emissions.

The Venice Blue Flag is awarded for the line’s efforts to safeguard the city of Venice, Italy, by burning low sulfur fuel in port to reduce air emissions. The flag recognizes ship companies who make a commitment to preserve this unique city and its historic monuments. This was the second year Princess has been honored with this flag. Four Princess ships — Royal Princess, Ruby Princess, Crown Princess and Grand Princess called in Venice in 2009.

The Vessel Speed Reduction Flag recognizes Princess ships based at the Port of Los Angeles for following reduced speeds while entering and leaving the port as part of an effort to reduce air emissions. Princess was the only cruise line to earn this award, with all three home-ported vessels — Sapphire Princess, Golden Princess and Coral Princess — commended for 100 percent compliance in following the reduced speeds.

“We are gratified that our environmental efforts are being recognized in many different ways in places around the world,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “We make our living taking people to beautiful destinations. We’re committed to doing our part to make sure they stay that way.”

Princess Cruises is committed to environmental practices which set a high standard for excellence and responsibility, and which help preserve the marine environment in which its ships operate. The company’s environmental goals and policies go beyond what is required by law and include a zero solid waste discharge policy, state-of-the-art environmental technology and waste management equipment, programs to minimize waste generated, and recycling where possible. The company also pioneered the use of shore power programs in the cruise industry to reduce air emissions.

It is good to see members of the cruise industry committed to responsible environmental practices as well as many Superyachts who are also employing state-of-the-art environmental technology. Notable Superyachts with eco friendly designs are  SOLILOQUY  and  PLANETSOLAR .  Perhaps we will see further trends in Superyacht and cruiseship building and design leading to a greener approach.

Superyacht SOLILOQUY Wins Condé Nast Traveller Award

May 11, 2010

The super green Superyacht concept SOLILOQUY has won a Condé Nast Traveller Award at a presentation ceremony last night in London. The mega yacht SOLILOQUY was submitted for nomination by a panel of experts however it was the general public that gave her the final recognition.

Super green Superyacht Soliloquy

The annual Condé Nast Traveller Innovation and Design Awards, is a competition in which the magazine’s print and website readers vote to select the final winners.

Among the nominees for the prestigious award were 3 yachts including SOLILOQUY, the WHY 58×38 from Wally Hermès Yachts and Perini_Navi’s  PANTHALASSA . The WHY and PANTHALASSA were nominated in the Leisure category but did not win, while SOLILOQUY was the only superyacht to be nominated in the Sustainable category.

The sailing yacht SOLILOQUY has been designed featuring currently available solar energy technology.  Solarsails made by the Australian company Solar Sailor have been incorporated into the yachts design.  Its solarsails have proven to effectively harness solar and wind energy for ferries and other vessels. Solar Sailor’s team and SOLILOQUY’s designer, Alastair Callender, determined that Soliloquy could attain speeds to up to 8 knots powered only by using a combination of solar power, wind, and hybrid marine power technology. This, in turn, would make her emission-free and lower in cost to operate.

In a company press release of May 2009, Soliloquy’s proud designer Alastair Callender commented on his design approach, “In this ever-increasing environmentally conscious time, I wanted to focus my attention on looking at possible solutions to some of the current problems associated with the superyacht industry. Eco-luxury should no longer be viewed as an oxymoron. Soliloquy-the super-green superyacht-is a true metaphor to show that this ideal is viable.”

SOLILOQUYS designer Alastair Callender is “over the moon” and noted “I was truly humbled to be awarded this most prestigious of design awards in the Sustainable category. The whole issue of sustainability very close to my heart – and was a fundamental reason for why I undertook this revolutionary design. This award is the biggest achievement of my career to-date. For my name to be listed alongside some of the world’s most respected international design studios is a real honour.”

Callender continues to focus on securing an investor or group of investors to make the Superyacht SOLILOQUY concept into a reality.

Panthalassa Staircase

The Condé Nast judges nominated PANTHALASSA with interior design by Foster + Partners because they find her to be “the ultimate in sleek and super modern”. The 56m (184ft) ketch puts a significant emphasis on natural light with Skylights enabling light to filter down through the three decks and an oval staircase surrounded by light-reflecting acrylic rods. The storage areas for the cabins were moved toward centreline to enhance the views and allow for more port holes. The designers also set up each stateroom so that the curvature of the superstructure can be better appreciated.

Mega yacht WHY Aft View

The Condé Nast judges also nominated the WHY 58×38, where they commented it has “a shape reminiscent of a wad of £50 notes folded in half.” The wedge-like hull is an adaptation of a Ramform hull design, reportedly first used by the Norwegian navy in 1993. Like Panthalassa, WHY’s design concept also provides an abundance of natural light throughout the interior thanks to an all-glass house and roof panels that can pivot like Venetian blinds.

CharterWorld would be more than happy to provide you with any information required, or simply contact us if you are interested in chartering a superyacht such as PANTHALASSA.

Planetsolar – the World’s Largest Solar Powered Yacht will circumnavigate the globe in 2011.

March 03, 2010

Planetsolar 30m solar powered catamaran

  

A selection of international scientists, engineers and boat builders from Germany and Switzerland have developed the world’s largest solar powered yacht designed to circumnavigate the world. The PlanetSolar catamaran, conceptualised by Swiss designer Raphael Domjan and built by Knierim Yacht Club in Kiel in northern Germany, was unveiled on February 25, 2010 at the HDW Shipyard in Kiel, Germany.  

PlanetSolar is expected to begin testing in late March and will prepare to set sail on its maiden voyage to circumnavigate the globe in April 2011. With a top speed of 15 knots — she is expected to be the fastest solar boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the first to cross the Pacific. The planned route around the world will start from Europe. It is expected to reach an average speed of 8 knots and cover approximately 40,000km in around 4 months.  

A total of 500 sq metres (about 5,300 square feet) of solar panelling made up with some 38,000 SunPower cells will help to power the yacht.  Each of the new generation cells used has “an efficiency of at least 22 percent”, delivering 103.4kW (138.6HP) making them the highest-efficiency solar cells commercially available. If the day is overcast, batteries below deck store enough energy for several days without direct sunlight. Her design also enables her to easily carve through the water increasing her maximum speeds.   

Catamaran PlanetSolar measures 30m by 15m, is estimated to cost around $24 million, weighs in at 60 tonne and features a sleek eco friendly design likely to influence future trends in yachting. The yacht was constructed by the company PlanetSolar, who have declared “we want to show that we can change, that solutions exist and that it isn’t too late. Future generations are looking to us; our choices will mark the future of humanity.”  

The company PlanetSolar is committed to sustainable development and is particularly motivated by the necessity to develop alternatives to fossil fuels which are in limited supply and causing measurable negative environmental impact. Perhaps we will see further trends in Superyacht building and design leading to a greener approach. Other notable Eco-friendly designs beginning to surface include such designs as Alastair Callender’s Soliloquy.  

The first solar powered boat to cross the Atlantic was the Swiss, 15 meters Solar21 catamaran.  It made the journey between the Canary Islands and Martinique in 29 days at a top speed of 9 knots reaching Miami on March 29, 2007.  

Two crew will man the catamaran PlanetSolar during its world tour and the craft will be available for public displays – able to host up to 50 guests for an educational opportunity at each of its planned stops. Stop over ports under consideration (subject to change) include Monaco, Marseille, New York, Acapulco, San Francisco, Cairns and Darwin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.