Jury announces nominated products for DAME DESIGN AWARDS 2023

Amsterdam, 25 October 2023 – METSTRADE is pleased to announce that 53 products from 19 countries across four continents have been nominated to enter the final rounds of judgement for the 32nd edition of the DAME Design Awards. 

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. The 53 entries selected for nomination will feature on the DAME exhibition as standout examples of holistic design effort within the marine equipment sector. 

The winners for each of this year’s eight completely 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 will be announced at the METSTRADE 2023 Breakfast Briefing in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre on 15 November, following a keynote speech by Sanlorenzo’s legendary CEO, Massimo Perotti.

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. New for this year, all nominees and winners will be featured on the DAME Awards website – damedesignawards.com – alongside a role of honour for past winners and details of the jury.

High ratio of impressive entries

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. 

“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.”

DAME Awards nominated products 2023

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

Category	Product name	Company name
Personal equipment	Zhik Seaboot 700	Alliance Marine
Personal equipment	Atlas 190 Pro Sensor Life Jacket	Mustang Survival
Personal equipment	sMRT ALERT DSC AIS MOB	WesCom Group
Personal equipment	Dan W3 Polar lifejacket light	Daniamant
Comfort & entertainment afloat	THOA portable wireless dim	prebit lighting
Comfort & entertainment afloat	Regal	ROCA Industry AB
Comfort & entertainment afloat	DC variable speed self-contained unit	Blue-Airco Srl
Comfort & entertainment afloat	ATMOS 12V Waterproof Built In Air Station	Scanstrut Ltd
Comfort & entertainment afloat	Lightweight liner	CAP doo
Comfort & entertainment afloat	MAKRA FLADE - Marine	Solvit3D GmbH
Comfort & entertainment afloat	MEMBRALOOP flexible water filter	Hansa Noord VOF
Comfort & entertainment afloat	Qplate®	Yachtica
Navigation & communication	Alpha Performance   Display System	Raymarine
Navigation & communication	TruEcho CHIRP Fish   Finder	Furuno Electrics Co   Ltd
Navigation & communication	GPSMAP® 9000 Series	Garmin
Navigation & communication	N2K Protect	Digital Yacht Ltd
Navigation & communication	HDS PRO	Navico Group EMEA BV
Electronic & electric systems	Linea XT platform	Vimar Spa
Electronic & electric systems	Scotty AI	Safiery Pty Ltd
Electronic & electric systems	Zeus High Energy Alternator Regulator	ARCO Marine
Electronic & electric systems	MURANO	Gussi Italia
Electronic & electric systems	Solid State Battery	EPTechnologies ApS
Electronic & electric systems	OceanBridge	Ocean LED Marine Ltd
Electronic & electric systems	Mastervolt Mac Plus 48V	Navico Group EMEA BV
Electronic & electric systems	DLC	Lone Star Marine
Propulsion & dynamics	TEMO 1000	TEMO
Propulsion & dynamics	HighPower ServoProp   25	Oceanvolt
Propulsion & dynamics	ARIES R50	Molabo GmbH
Propulsion & dynamics	Force® Kraken Trolling Motor	Garmin
Propulsion & dynamics	ZeroJet Electric Jet Propulsion System (ZJ Gen2)	ZeroJet Limited
Propulsion & dynamics	Fin5	FinX
Propulsion & dynamics	ePropulsion X20 electric outboard motor	Guangdong ePropulsion Technology Limited
Propulsion & dynamics	Travel XP	Torqeedo GmbH
Deck equipment	Orbit Winch	Ronstan International Pty. Ltd.
Deck equipment	Shelt'R	MARIN'R
Deck equipment	X Car	Rigging Projects BV
Deck equipment	Push/Pull Captive Winch	Harken Inc
Deck equipment	Magic deck hatches	Goiot Systems SAS
Deck equipment	SAILFORCE	Ewincher
Deck equipment	smartbatten system	Cyclops Marine
Deck equipment	Flush Air Vent	Rutgerson Marin AB
Deck equipment	Olli	easysea
Deck equipment	Pollock carbon boarding ladder	Exit Carbon
Deck equipment	Bure Swim Ladder	Carbinium Engineering Ltd
Deck equipment	ROCNA MK II Anchor	CMP Group Ltd
Deck equipment	Synapse integrated sensors	Southern Spars
Security & safety aboard	AnchorGuardian	Swiss Ocean Tech Ltd
Security & safety aboard	Bi-Tec® Alloy	Tecnoseal Foundry SRL.
Security & safety aboard	CO Alert	Digital Yacht Ltd
Security & safety aboard	LiMit Collar	Hall Spars
Security & safety aboard	U Safe Beach	USAFE Worldwide
Shoreside equipment & materials	Mobile Pro Mini Water Purifier	Spot Zero
Shoreside equipment & materials	ECOcube	Marservis doo

 

About the DAME Design Awards

The DAME Design Award 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.

The DAME Design Award stimulates design progression across all disciplines and product types within the marine equipment sector. Great end-to-end design is vital to improve manufacturing efficiency and product reliability. It plays a developing role in environmental responsibility. It also recognises that the marine industry must match the high customer expectations set by products in other sectors like automotive and consumer electronics.

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.

The DAME categories

The DAME Categories are all completely new for this year, with 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 a Environmental Design Award winner if it finds an exemplar product that is well designed and has clear and obvious merit.

About METSTRADE

METSTRADE 2023 will run from 15-17 November 2023 at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, celebrating its 35^th anniversary.

METSTRADE is the world’s largest trade exhibition for equipment, materials, and systems for the global leisure marine industry. Organised by RAI Amsterdam in cooperation with ICOMIA (International Council of Marine Industry Associations), METSTRADE’s target audience includes yacht builders, naval architects, refit yards, distributors, dealers, wholesalers, captains, marina owners and marine equipment manufacturers worldwide. METSTRADE 2023 will run from 15-17 November 2023 at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, celebrating its 35thanniversary.

In 2023, METSTRADE will be held from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 November. Since the existence of METSTRADE in 1988, the show has always been from Tuesday to Thursday. This one-off change in schedule is to ensure that there will be sufficient build-up time for all exhibitors, as the RAI halls have a very full calendar this autumn.