The 31st DAME Award Winner, Category Winners, Special Mentions and Environmental Design Award winner for 2022 were announced at the Breakfast Briefing before the opening of the METSTRADE marine equipment exhibition this morning, with the Jury commenting that this year’s entries were a strong indicator that innovation is thriving in the industry
Ocean Signal took top honours this year as the overall DAME Award 2022 Winner for its RescueME PLB3 AIS Personal Locator Beacon. “Its harnessing of multiple technologies to save lives in such a small unit and obvious attention to design detail made Ocean Signal’s latest personal locator device the standout product in the Jury room and a worthy winner,” noted this year’s DAME Jury Report.
“Our overall DAME Award winner offers proof that you can never stop pushing to make a new improvement in a segment of the marketplace where products are already impressively advanced in what they achieve for the size and price,” added Andre Hoek, chair of the DAME Jury.
With the huge influx of new — and perhaps less experienced — boaters entering the industry’s customer base over the last two years, any products that bring added safety, ease of operation, and ease of maintenance at affordable price points will go along way towards keeping them in the fold.
The Jury Report commended Ocean Signal for packing just about every feature you can imagine into a device of this size to improve the chances of rescue for a person in distress — in a package that is easy to operate and which, when fitted within a waistcoat bladder-style lifejacket, will auto-activate if the jacket inflates.
RescueMe PLB3 AIS Personal Locator Beacon
“The headline news of the PLB3,” continued the Jury report, “is its combination of an AIS man overboard device and GPS with a Cospas-Sarsat personal locator beacon, Galileo Return Link Service, together with visible and infrared signal lights. In a rescue situation speed is always of the essence and this unit provides the very best chance for survival through this combination of long- and short-range detection.
The design detail goes even further though,” added the Jury, “in items like the well-illustrated instruction manual and in a Near Field Communication app that enables you to test the PLB3 using your mobile telephone.
In all, the DAME Jury inspected 104 entries from 14 countries. It nominated a total of 48 products for consideration in the final judging rounds.
The Jury identified a total of six winners among the seven DAME categories, selecting an overall DAME Award winner from this group.
The Jury also identified 13 Special Mentions (commended runner-up entries) and named an Environmental Design Award winner for the first time.
The DAME Awards are intended to examine all that is important about marine equipment design, from aesthetics, functionality, innovation, integration, price efficiency, lifecycle management and packaging. It offers opportunities for all METSTRADE Show exhibitors from around the world to submit their latest products. Entries are judged by a jury of highly experienced naval architects, boat and industrial designers and user experts.
Andre Hoek elaborated on the DAME Awards… , “The marine leisure equipment sector has been under severe pressure for the past two years. It has needed to satisfy a strong surge in market demand while dealing with significant supply chain challenges. Ordinarily, you might expect this to completely pull the focus away from R&D. Impressively though, many of this year’s very wide field of entries showed evidence of ongoing investment in better design, which is vital for longer-term future of the whole industry.
“As time passes the extremes of the entries we examine in the DAME Jury room get wider. This year, we found ourselves assessing everything from a tiny boat and outboard tracker to a 65-tonne travel hoist. The use of onboard automation and networking continues to add new design challenges for many products now. We also see welcome trends for manufacturers to continue to refine the design of equipment that we have used onboard boats for years or even decades.
“Whatever its size, price or complexity, the Jury remains very focused on examining the design of products in all aspects, from function, form, environment, innovation, and price to performance. All nominees are to be congratulated on meeting the scrutiny of this process.
“We are also announcing our first Environmental Design Award. The Jury is acutely aware of the difficulty of making life cycle impact assumptions in the Jury room and in the wider world. It also knows there is a risk of claimed gains in environmental performance being cancelled out by less visible impacts. Notable iterative design steps towards a sustainable future are those we hope to reward. For that reason, we commend our first Environmental Design Award winner for its obvious improvement on the unwelcome norm for whole products be disposed of when just one component is broken.”
2022 CATEGORY WINNERS
The DAME Jury identified a total of six winners in the seven DAME categories and granted one Environmental Design Award and 13 Special Mentions.
Marine Electronics and Marine Related Software
Raymarine YachtSense Link 4G Marine Router
- Networking is hot news in the marine leisure world with more products entering the market to deal with increasingly interconnected levels of equipment onboard a boat. It takes a special product to standout, but Raymarine has achieved that with this innovative, well made and highly useful unified communications router system. It automatically switches between dual SIM 4G and WiFi for internet traffic, features a five-into-one high gain antenna and offers a generous number of wired connections for network connectivity, NMEA2000 data, and digital input/outputs. Good design detail is also evident in the case design which is reassuringly protected to IPx6.
Interior Equipment, Furnishing, Materials and Electrical Fittings used in Cabins
In accordance with the rules of the competition, the Jury did not award a winner in the Interior Equipment, Furnishing, Materials and Electrical Fittings used in Cabins category this year after carefully considering the standards presented against the level of other categories.
Marina Equipment, Boatyard Equipment and Boat Construction Tools and Materials
MarineShift360 Lifecycle Assessment Tool
- Following four years of research and development, this web-based Life Cycle Assessment tool has been released as a not-for-profit industry collaboration to place hitherto expensive environmental impact benchmarking within realistic reach of the marine leisure industry. It is one thing to provide the complex logic that sits behind a product of this kind, but MarineShift360 has also spent obvious time on the user interface design. Intuitive assessment templates guide you through the assessment – these templates are well designed, mobile responsive, easy to read and load very quickly with low overhead on the user’s browser.
Deck Equipment, Sails and Rigging
Amare Arya
- The Arya is a telescopic passerelle that converts into an ascending or descending boarding ladder via push button control. This product is elegantly styled and pleasing to look at thanks to a fully disguised operating mechanism which sits within its 316 stainless steel spine. Well finished, deep teak treads add the finishing touch. A welcome first product of this type from a relatively new manufacturer.
Clothing and Crew Accessories
Rooster Aquafleece Robe
- The Aquafleece Robe is one of those products best appreciated when worn, an over-sized comfort blanket for watersports lovers who want something very cosy to cuddle into at the end of the day. Look again though and there’s more design effort than meets the eye with features such as a fluffy liner made from recycled material that can be removed from the water and wind proof outer shell. In a world of escalating marine clothing prices, the Aquafleece is priced sensibly too.
Lifesaving and Safety Equipment
Ocean Signal RescueME PLB3 AIS Personal Locator Beacon – OVERALL DAME WINNER
Machinery, Propulsion, Mechanical and Electrical Systems and Fittings
Integrel, The Next Generation
- Integrel has expanded the capabilities of the original DAME Award-winning technology by increasing generation capacity and catering for larger boats. The company has also added an e-drive module to deliver all-electric propulsion capability and a torque boost option similar in concept to mild hybrid in automotive that provides short boosts of additional power to lift powerboats onto the plane, potentially reducing the installed internal combustion horsepower needs. Aside from the blend of electronic and mechanical design required to achieve the required performance, the Jury specifically noted the excellence of the engineering on display.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AWARD WINNER
Aceleron Essential
- For its first ever citation in this category, the Jury selected a product that addresses a rapidly growing concern about end-of-life disposal in a world heading for batteries with everything. The Essential is a cobalt-free lithium iron phosphate battery with replaceable and upgradeable parts using compression rather than welded assembly to enable servicing in the field. A faulty cell no longer requires the replacement of the whole battery. Returned parts are redistributed for use in other products or re-manufactured for second life use. Advanced features include Bluetooth and CanBus connectivity. Aceleron’s Essential is a very welcome introduction in the power storage field. It reminds the whole marine sector of the need for better serviceability on all equipment to reduce needless waste and loss of resources.
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Marine Electronics and Marine Related Software
IC-M510E (with AIS receiver)
- A predictably competent and well-designed Class-D DSC VHF from this radio specialist that adds smart phone remote control inter-connectivity via iOS and Android apps
Sailmon Max Mini
- Beautifully designed, very portable sailing performance tracker with a price point making it accessible to many sailors and an operation that should take the hard work out of analysis. It floats too if you are unfortunate enough to drop it over the side.
Marina Equipment, Boatyard Equipment and Boat Construction Tools and Materials
Aqua superPower marina fast charging system
- Not so much a product as a neatly designed package, Aqua superpower has been making significant strides in addressing a concern for the growing number of electric boats – how to charge them quickly on a pontoon.
Deck Equipment, Sails and Rigging
Facnor FXe 4500 Electric Code Sail furler
- A surprisingly compact and neatly designed electric furler capable of handling a 140m2 code zero sail.
Karver Sharing Center
- Karver’s online platform enables free access to share designs and download 3D print files of yacht fittings.
KJSK – Karver Jammer Staysail Kit
- The KJSK kit facilitates the installation and use of a staysail on a flying furler that is easy to set up and able to be used from the cockpit. A design-led solution to improve current conventions for staysail use.
Seaview Progress Rollable Boat Hook
- A 2m boathook that emerges from a 10cm roll of material? It’s magic certainly but no illusion as the extended boathook curls in the other direction when extended to become surprisingly rigid. Clever use of material design and a sure talking point around the marina.
Clothing and Crew Accessories
Forward WIP X-Over Eco Cork
- The growing speeds of wind-powered watersports makes personal protective gear often essential now. This is a nicely designed helmet that protects your head and the environment by using cork, cotton, and recycled PET.
Lifesaving and Safety Equipment
ACR Electronics GlobalFix V5 AIS EPIRB
- Well-designed very fully featured EPIRB offering AIS, Near Field Communication technology, GNSS positioning, 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat distress signals with Return Link service and 121.5 MHz local homing.
Regatta Safelock
- Brilliantly conceived clip to prevent lifejacket cylinders rotating loose. An excellent example of how clever design thinking can resolve long-standing problems – and in this case improve safety.
Secumar Furio
- A very fully featured and stylish 50N buoyancy aid for fast sailing and kite surfing that features a back protection panel and a manually triggered 110N inflatable chamber in the eventuality additional assistance is needed.
Machinery, Propulsion, Mechanical and Electrical Systems and Fittings
Seakeeper Ride
- Auto attitude trimming system that reacts quickly to vessel movements to smooth the ride in motorboats up to 35ft. Employs rapid rotary transom blades coupled to control software and hardware actuated by one button press.
ZF POD 4600
- Capable of handling up to 1700hp the beautifully crafted POD 4600 brings the advantages of POD drives to the small superyacht segment. Many of the components are engineered to last for the full lifecycle of the unit.
DAME Jury
This year’s DAME Jury is made up of eight leading industry experts:
- Andre Hoek (chair), naval architect and yacht designer, founder and CEO of Hoek Design and Hoek Brokerage, The Netherlands
- Elaine Bunting, independent marine journalist, qualified yacht instructor and former editor Yachting World, UK
- Davide Cipriani, boat and industrial designer, president of yacht design at Centrostiledesign, Italy
- 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
- David Marsh, independent technical marine journalist and naval architect, UK
- 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 Award donates to a charity nominated by the METSTRADE Exhibition Committee. The beneficiary of this year’s proceeds will be the World Sailing Trust, the official charity affiliated to World Sailing, the global governing body of the sport.
World Sailing Trust was established in 2018 and works on projects within two focus areas – People and Planet, promoting participation and access to sailing and safeguarding the world’s waters for future generations. Current projects include greater gender diversity in sailing, carbon fibre circularity, boat and component recycling and the development of social responsibility and sustainability awareness among young sailors.
