METSTRADE has revealed the 53 products nominated to enter the final rounds of judgement for the 32nd edition of the DAME Design Awards. The 53 products hail from 19 countries across four continents.

The winners for each of this year’s eight new DAME categories will be selected from this group of 53 nominations. One of those winners will go on to be named as the recipient of the overall DAME Award. The jury also confirmed it will name a discretionary Environmental Design Award winner for the second year in succession.

Winners of the DAME Design Awards 2023 will be announced at the METSTRADE breakfast briefing in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre on 15 November, following a keynote speech by Sanlorenzo’s legendary CEO, Massimo Perotti.

New DAME categories

The DAME categories are all completely new for this year, with a revised focus on a product’s purpose and application to assist judging. The category headings are followed by a brief explanation illustrating where a boat user or marine industry professional might encounter the products being entered:

1. Personal equipment
If I was going on a charter, had a boat share arrangement, went boating with a friend or have my own boat, what would my personal kit be?

2. Comfort & entertainment afloat
If I don’t want to go boating in a bare hull, what kinds of equipment am I likely to need to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of all afloat?

3. Navigation & communication
If I was on the helm of a boat or bridge of a superyacht, what electronics and other equipment would I use to control and safely navigate it?

4. Electronic & electrical systems
If I need electrical power anywhere in the boat or to make networkable devices speak to each other, what systems and equipment would I use?

5. Propulsion & dynamics
If I want to move, steer, stabilise and trim the boat, what machinery and systems will I use?

6. Deck equipment
If I am sailing, mooring, anchoring and using the outdoor spaces on my boat, what hardware and equipment will I use?

7. Security & safety aboard
What is the equipment aboard that serves specifically to keep my boat secure, safe and capable of dealing with emergencies afloat?

8. Shoreside equipment & materials
What are all the items of off-vessel equipment, hardware, materials and software that help to construct and then support my boat from cradle to grave?

The jury will additionally name a product from among the field of DAME nominations as an Environmental Design Award winner if it finds an exemplar product that is well designed and has clear and obvious merit.

An international jury of eight leading design and user experts assembled in the DAME Award’s specially created assessment room at RAI Amsterdam to spend two intensive hands-on days examining 100 submissions.

DAME Awards nominated products 2023

To view this year’s nominated products please visit damedesignawards.com/nominees

The DAME Design Award 2023 celebrates everything that is important about marine equipment design, from aesthetics to functionality, integration to packaging and price efficiency to lifecycle management. It offers opportunities for all METSTRADE show exhibitors from around the world to submit their latest products and have them judged by experts spanning all areas of design. Because of this wider focus, the DAME encourages the whole marine industry to continuously improve its design efforts, to the last detail. Entrants are not just judged against their global peers, but the DAME jury recognises improvements from year-to-year within individual companies too.

Dame award exhibitionDAME Award exhibition 2022

DAME jury 2023

This year’s DAME jury is made up of eight leading industry experts:

• Andre Hoek (chair), naval architect and yacht designer, founder of Hoek Design and Hoek Brokerage, The Netherlands

• Elaine Bunting, independent marine journalist, qualified yacht instructor and former editor Yachting World, UK (judged remotely)

• Davide Cipriani, boat and industrial designer, president of yacht design at Centrostiledesign, Italy

• Rory Coase, yacht designer, Coase Design, Norway

• Ben Ellison, freelance marine technical journalist, Panbo marine electronics hub, USA (attended remotely)

• Patrick Hemp, technical manager and trained designer, ICOMIA, South Africa

• Arjen Jansen, senior lecturer, school for Industrial Design Engineering at TUDelft, The Netherlands

• Olivier Racoupeau, naval architect and boat designer, founder and owner of Berret Racoupeau Yachts, France

The DAME jury is supported by a non-voting secretary, Kim Hollamby of Hollamby Partnership, UK.

METSTRADE & DAME Awards

All DAME-nominated products will feature on a special display at METSTRADE located at the heart of the show in hall 13 (Elicium). Alongside, the METSTRADE Theatre will host a session on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 November on this year’s DAME Awards category winners and outright winner.

METSTRADE 2022

Andre Hoek, chair of the DAME jury, says: “We knew right from the start of the judging process that many of this year’s entries had notable design qualities and that was subsequently reflected in the high ratio of nominations. A good number of these are in close contention to win their categories.

“I am grateful as always for the significant efforts and expertise of our jury members who have great experience of different areas in the marine industry. We were pleased to welcome a talented young designer, Rory Coase, onto the team this year. Rory replaced David Marsh, who made a valued contribution to the redefinition of this year’s categories before he completed his term of service.”

Hoek continues: “The complexity of many products continues to grow, and the rise of electrification and digital control is providing obvious impetus for many new developments. However, the DAME Awards continues to remind the global marine equipment sector that applying all facets of good design practice will benefit any product, large or small, simple or intricate. We look forward to naming our winners from this strong field of nominations at the Breakfast Briefing in November.”

METSTRADE director Niels Klarenbeek adds: “The DAME Awards has continually evolved to reflect the onward progress of the leisure marine equipment sector. For 2023 we completely reconfigured the categories to better reflect the changing world around us. These updates were well received when we announced them earlier in the year and I’m pleased to see the new categories have worked well in practice too.

“We know from feedback that to be nominated in the DAME Awards can be a game changer for many entrants, while winning products are undeniably placed at pinnacle of the marine equipment industry. We look forward to celebrating those who have achieved those accolades this year at the METSTRADE Breakfast Briefing on 15 November.”

METSTRADE is the world’s largest trade exhibition for equipment, materials and systems for the global leisure marine industry and will run from 15-17 November 2023 at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, celebrating its 35th anniversary.

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