British innovation wins top prize at DAME Design Award 2018

by Annabel Wildey 13 Nov 2018 21:07 GMT 13 November 2018

Scanstrut's new products receive a special mention in the DAME Awards 2018 © Mark Jardine / YachtsandYachting.com

Winners of the prestigious DAME Design Award 2018 were announced today with British designed and manufactured products receiving over 40% of the accolades presented, including Overall Winner. At the leading global design competition for new marine equipment and accessories, creativity from UK companies beat off stiff competition with revolutionary design and ingenuity.

Overall, members of British Marine, the trade association for the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, dominated the list of UK companies to be honoured. The latest innovations from Garmin, Lumishore, Raymarine, Scanstrut and Landau UK all received Special Mentions, whilst Category Winners included products from Shakespeare Electronic Products Group, Harken and Triskel Marine, who went on to be awarded the Overall DAME Award Winner 2018.

The ground-breaking technology of the Shakespeare Marine GALAXY-INFL8 outshone its rivals to be named the winner of the Lifesaving and Safety Equipment category.

In the Clothing and Crew Accessories category, the Rooster Exofleece was honoured as Category Winner.

Whilst in the Deck Equipment, Sails and Rigging category, the Harken CLR Mooring Winch seized victory.

But it was Triskel Marine who had the most to celebrate. After receiving a category win for its product, the Triskel Marine Integrel, was crowned both the winner of the Machinery, Propulsion, Mechanical and Electrical Systems and Fittings category and Overall Winner of the DAME Design Award 2018.

Commenting on the win, Ken Wittamore, Managing Director at Triskel Marine, said: "We are delighted to be named Overall DAME Award Winner 2018. This is the end of a long road, starting with a European funded research project. It has been 10 years in the making, from concept to the final product. Our product, Integrel, has allowed us to leapfrog all existing technology and is a real game changer."

Lesley Robinson, Chief Executive Officer at British Marine, added: "With UK innovation continuously excelling at marine awards and competitions across the globe, the 2018 DAME Design Award are further confirmation of British excellence and heritage in cutting-edge design and revolutionary technology."

Receiving a nomination alone for these internationally renowned Awards highlights a business as a trendsetter for the next generation of product development. Here again, Britain led the field with more than a quarter of the products shortlisted for the Award produced by UK-based companies, more than any other country. Out of the 100+ entries, the latest innovations from 17 British Marine members sailed through this crucial elimination stage to be declared a finalist. This included products from the likes of Scanstrut, Raymarine UK, Landau UK, Lumishore, Garmin, Autonnic Research, Allen Brothers, Navico, Mercury Marine; a division of Brunswick and Yamaha.

Birgit Schnaase, Chair of the DAME Jury, remarked: "The entry field was once again strong and showed further signs of progress at individual company and industry level. The primary motive of the DAME Award is to promote good design practice in every aspect and the Jury was pleased to see so many examples where form and function were well balanced.

"One can grow very comfortable with long-standing solutions in our industry, but that does not mean that they cannot be improved for the experience of a boat owner, the efficiency of manufacture and the potential reduction in environmental footprint. Our final list of Winners, Special Mentions and Nominations include products that prove this point emphatically."

For the duration of the 2018 METSTRADE at Amsterdam RAI both the nominated and winning products will be on display to the visiting thousands of professionals from countries across the globe.