The victorious winners of the World Superyacht Awards 2015 were announced on 9 May at the 10th edition of the event in Amsterdam. The host city, with its rich maritime history, provided a fitting backdrop as a distinguished audience of superyacht owners and industry specialists took their seats at the Westergasfabriek.
The World Superyacht Awards ceremony, which celebrates excellence in superyacht build and design, is the most anticipated event in the superyacht calendar.
Throughout the evening, international broadcaster, Natasha Kaplinsky, presented a selection of prized awards to the owners of the finest sail and motor yachts delivered in 2014. A total of twenty-two coveted Neptunes and Judges’ Commendation prizes, custom made for the occasion by Baccarat, were presented throughout the ceremony.
The Motor Yacht of the Year Award honours the very best motor yacht delivered to its owners in 2014, chosen from amongst the winners of the motor yacht classes. Grace E, the Picchiotti branded motor yacht created by the Perini Navi Group with interiors designed by Remi Tessier – and the distinctive lines – born from Vitruvius Ltd and Philippe Briand was a clear winner to the judges.
Sailing Yacht of the Year was presented to the 33m WinWin
After much consideration between Wisp and WinWin – the judges voted almost unanimously to select WinWin, a 33-metre yacht built by Baltic Yachts in Finland, as the winner of this prestigious award. Built from pre-preg carbon fibre and boasting a remarkably light displacement of 77-tonnes, this lifting-keel yacht combines an attractive appearance with efficient yet extremely stylish on-deck working areas, a particularly agile performance, and a level of technology that allows the yacht to be readily manageable by a crew of four.
Voyager’s Award
The Voyager’s Award credits superyacht owners who have undertaken a passage of an unusual or exploratory nature. One standout entry was a lengthy action-packed cruise on a roundabout route from New Zealand to New Orleans, USA by the sport fisherman Mea Culpa, sailing via French Polynesia, Hawaii and Alaska. In most years this would have been enough to secure the trophy, but not this year, due to strong competition from the converted tug, Arctic P, who’s cruise was as daring as it was adventurous.
Having visited the Antarctic Peninsula the previous year, the owners of Arctic P had caught the ‘Arctic Bug’ and yearned to go back for an even more audacious cruise. Headed for the inhospitable Ross Sea, they first called in on Macquarie Island, and the Balleny Islands, where they crossed into the Antarctic Circle.
The highlight of their voyage came when they grabbed the opportunity to take Arctic P to the most southerly location ever reached by any vessel, be it commercial, military or a yacht – a remarkable achievement that is now logged in the Guinness Book of Records. This was not a spur-of-the-moment cruise, but an immaculately planned expedition in every respect, equipped with the gear possible, with safety and exit plans to cover every contingency. This incredibly record-breaking voyage is a most worthy winner of this year’s Voyager’s Award.
Legacy Award
There cannot be many yachtsmen out there who have achieved so much in the dual fields of sail-boat racing and motor yachting over the past 40 years as that of this year’s Legacy Award winner, Lord Irvine Laidlaw. The winner of this year’s Legacy Award very nearly didn’t progress beyond his first taste of yachting, aboard a sailing school yacht in the English Channel in an Autumn gale. It was an experience that, in his own words was ‘Rough, cold and a bit scary!’ But it did show him that sailing was sufficiently demanding to be of interest and, at the same time, forced him to relax and take his mind away from business pressures. So he stuck with it. And just as he has done in business – he succeeded.
The 2015 edition of the World Superyacht Awards took place once again in one of Europe’s foremost hubs of yacht design with the support of leading Dutch yacht builders; Amels, Feadship, Heesen Yachts, Holland Jachtbouw and Royal Huisman. Boat International Media would also like to thank Gold Sponsors, Embraer Executive Jets and Mercedes-Benz; Silver Sponsors, Esenyacht, Gassan and Admiral; Award Sponsors, Clyde&Co, Tansu, Baccarat and Sabrina Monte-Carlo and Contributing Sponsors, Think Yachts Think Holland, Maybach-Icons of Luxury, Silver Arrows Marine and Hugo Boss for helping to create a wonderful evening and for making the World Superyacht Awards a resounding success.
