THE JUDGES

In order to decide these awards in as fair a manner as possible, we have adopted the same completely transparent judging procedures that have distinguished the World Superyacht Awards and set them apart from others.

In this respect we have assembled a wholly independent jury comprised of yacht owners, senior yacht crew and acclaimed designers and stylists from within as well as outside the marine industry, all with expert knowledge in their specific fields.

Captain Magic Owner of Sea Force One
		Born in 1969 in Venice, Italy, this international financier is best known as the enigmatic “Captain Magic.” His yacht, Sea Force One, is a fusion of technology and contemporary art, intimate corners, and inviting social areas. The key to distilling the emotional and sensual impact of this 54 metre tour de force is understanding the yin and yang of her young owner and his alter ego. Captain Magic believes that we live in an emotional world, taking a philosophical view that we can all be whatever we want to be. He considers Sea Force One a realization of his dream. Raffaele, international financier based in London, is Founder and Chairman of Tyndaris LLP, a progressive financial institution.td>
Ron Holland Yacht Designer, Ron Holland Design
		Few have achieved the level, diversity or longevity of success in international yacht design that define Ron Holland. From modest beginnings as a young sailor and apprentice boat builder in Auckland, New Zealand, Ron went on to become a highly accomplished ocean racing sailor, the world’s leading racing yacht designer and the creator of a new generation of 100ft plus performance superyachts – going on to consolidate Ron Holland Design’s reputation as one of the most innovative and capable superyacht design teams in the world. With the accumulated experience and expertise of almost four decades of success, Ron Holland continues to look to the future, remaining extremely hands-on and relishing new challenges. In recent years he has extended his repertoire into award-winning motor yachts and opened an additional office in Vancouver to service the Canadian / US west coast and the Pacific Rim. In addition, he has been instrumental in developing part of the curriculum for a post graduate course in Master of Engineering Studies, Yacht Engineering, at the University of Auckland, where he features as a high profile guest lecturer. With recent projects as diverse as the classic 32.4m ketch Kestrel, the first 60m Perini, the 45m RMK motor yacht Karia, and a refit of the 75m sloop Mirabella V (now m5) Ron has lost none of his fascination with exceptional challenges to which he applies such a remarkable wealth of experience.
Fabrizio Giugiaro Styling director of Italdesign Giugiaro
		Fabrizio Giugiaro was born in Turin, Italy, the son of the legendary Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Fabrizio studied architecture at the Politecnico University of Turin and in 1990, was appointed to the Italdesign-Giugiaro Board of Directors. In 1991, he took up his first operating role as coordinator of all research vehicles and began working full time role for Italdesign-Giugiaro in 1994, having gained a Masters degree in Business Administration. ItalDesign Giugario, now part of Volkswagon Group, is best known for its automotive work and is based iin Moncalieri, Italy. Fabrizio was instrumental in the design of the Giugairo Ford Mustang which launched an innovative trend for the design of supercars in 2005/2006. Other prototype projects include the Alfa Romeo Scighera, the Volkswagen Syncro and Roadster, Bugatti EB118 and the Aston Martin Twenty Twenty.
Dan Jackson Manager of J-Class yacht Ranger and M/Y Vita
		Dan’s passion for sailing began at the age of 8 in the City boat basin youth club in Islington, London and continued to develop as he grew up in Hamble, Hampshire. Aged 16 he volunteered with the Ocean Youth Club, a registered charity, sailing as bosun on their 72ft ketches, taking youngsters aged 15 to 21 from many walks of life sailing in the Solent, English Channel and Bay of Biscay. In 1983 Dan joined The Royal Navy as an electrician and served until 1988. While serving in the Navy he continued to cruise and race sailing yachts. Upon completion of his Naval service Dan joined a 65ft sailing yacht refitting in Southampton and sailed the boat to the Caribbean. After sailing on a number of yachts as mate / engineer, at just 25 Dan was made Captain of the 32m Schooner, Vagrant by British entrepreneur Peter de Savary and went on to captain the 37m Dubois Ketch Taramber, also for de Savary. Dan then went on to Captain another Dubois yacht, the Alloy Yachts built Espada, (renamed Sea of Oz after an extensive refit) working for 3 years for a Media Mogul from LA. In 1997, 9 years after his entry into the professional superyacht business Dan got involved in his first new build project working for Perini Navi as Yard Captain to assist in the completion, commisioning and sea trials of the 52m Ketch Liberty. He followed this position through to Captain the yacht for its first season of cruising and charter over the winter of 1997 / 1998. In July 1998 Dan was employed by US businessman John Williams to assist in the construction and commissioning, at Alloy yachts, of the then largest sloop in the world, the 48m Georgia. Upon completion Dan Captained Georgia for 3 years before moving on to oversee the final year of construction of the owner’s new yacht, The J-Class Ranger. Ranger was completed in 2004 and after captaining the yacht for its first year of cruising and racing Dan stepped back and currently oversees the operation of the Ranger and the owner’s power yacht, the 46m Trinity, Vita.
Paul Sherrill Solis Betancourt
		Paul Morgan Sherrill, a native of North Carolina, was greatly influenced by his grandparents who were painters and weavers. These influences lead him to study art and design throughout his youth. He graduated with Honors from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Human and Environmental Sciences and a degree in Art. Mr. Sherrill serves as vice-president of Solís Betancourt & Sherrill, where he has worked since 1992. Solís Betancourt & Sherrill’s projects have been regularly featured in national and international shelter magazines such as Architectural Digest, House & Garden, House Beautiful, Southern Accents, The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post Magazine. The firm’s most recent book “Essential Elegance” was published in 2010 by Monacelli Press. The Solís Betancourt & Sherrill style resists definition. Their look is all about tactile luxury, yet it is a luxury that is always understated and refined. Their style embraces color, but the subdued palettes they build and layer within every interior do not alone distinguish the space. Their rooms contain careful arrangements of finely crafted antiques, yet the addition of modern elements contributes to a timeless aesthetic experience. In sum, the Solís Betancourt & Sherrill philosophy is about context: their design is meaningful because it relies on the full participation of the client, a complete understanding of how a family will live in and enjoy a given space, and an attention to detail that transforms the home into an ever-evolving reflection of the owner’s life.
Paola S. Trifiró Owner of 50m SY Zefira
		Born in Milan, Paola S. Trifiró is a lawyer, but at the same time she is also a passionate lover of design and art, and has always been a sailor at heart. In particular she is fond of adventurous sailing to far distant seas and has recently cruised the South Pacific Ocean, visiting Fiji and Samoa, and also to Norway and Alaska. With her husband, Salvatore, she has been involved with many sailing yacht building projects, from just 7-meters when a young student, to the largest and latest – Zefira, a 50-meter Dubois design, built from aluminium and carbon and constructed in New Zealand over a two year period under the personal supervision of Paola.
Jan-Eric Österlund Past owner of Adèle
		Jan-Eric Österlund is a sailor and an explorer at heart. His first adventures at sea were made at a very tender age in small sailing boats on the narrow inlets that break up the Swedish coastline. He later developed a keen interest in yachting, and after several years of sailing in Scandinavia, he built the eighty-foot sloop Swedish Caprice, which he sailed for three months a year, over a period of fifteen years. He voyaged in Alaskan and Canadian waters, the Far East, the South Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, but also in more familiar yachting waters such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and along the New England coast. For two years, Jan-Eric Österlund and his wife Jennifer lived on board Adèle, a 180-foot ketch with a sail area of 1,5550 square meters. They spent a considerable amount of time at sea, visiting Lofoten, Spitsbergen, southern Europe, the Caribbean, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, the South Pacific from French Polynesia to Vanuatu and New Zealand. They sailed back via Cape Horn, the Antarctic, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia before returning to the Caribbean by way of Brazil. Their voyage covered a distance corresponding to one Atlantic crossing each month. Jan-Eric is a keen photographer and author and accounts of his voyages on Adèle have been published in a number of yachting magazines and his own photographic book, Exploring the Adèle. He is also a businessman with business interests that include investments in a number of biotechnology and medical companies. Jan-Eric has 5 children and he and his wife Jennifer live in Devon, south-west England.
Sally Storey Lighting designer and owner of Lighting Design International
		Sally Storey, Design Director of Lighting Design International and John Cullen Lighting, is one of the UK’s leading lighting experts. Much of her time is spent travelling all over the world to design lighting schemes for individual and corporate clients. She has written three very successful, well-received books on the subject of lighting and often contributes to national and international press and is regularly asked to speak at top interior design and architectural events. Recent projects include lighting for the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the Hotel du Paris in Monaco, the Sandy Lane in Barbados, Grande Bretagne and King George in Athens, The Savoy, The Four Seasons Hotels in Hampshire, Nice, Geneva, Amman, Prague and Marrakech, the spas at Gleneagles and Loch Lomond, offices for Hammerson, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Goldman Sachs, casinos such as private members club Fifty in St James’s, London and Manchester235, plus the church made famous by The Da Vinci Code, Temple Church in London and numerous residential properties around the world. Sally has worked on a number of yacht projects including the award winning Northern Star and MY and SY Twizzle, where she has bought her residential lighting experience to create outstanding lighting schemes. Sally and her team are currently also working on a 220ft and a 246ft superyacht.
Hugh Welbourn Naval Architect
		Headed by Hugh Welbourn and specialising in international racing yacht design the Welbourn Design group has been on the leading edge of innovation and yacht design for 30 years. With its long history of involvement at the top end of yacht racing, the Welbourn Design office if recognised as one of the leading lights in foil development as well as performance optimisation. Creator of a new design concept, the Dynamic Stability System, a way of increasing the stability of a yacht (and therefore the speed) without the risks associated with canting keels through the use of a retractable foil which generates stability and progressive dynamic lift on the leeward side of the vessel.
Nick Jeffery Yacht Publicist & Editor
		Nick Jeffery is a yachting publicist and editor based in Monaco. He is devoted to the world of yacht design. Having qualified as a naval architect he developed an eco-friendly research vessel before working in the studio of Ed Dubois designing sailing yachts. After a master’s in industrial design at the Royal College of Art, where he designed a marina services unit, he joined Martin Francis designing the 74-metre motor yacht ‘Eco’. In London he became editor of ‘Boat International’ then launch editor of Europe’s largest marine web site, before heading up the marketing of an international superyacht brokerage house for six years, moving to the Cote d’Azur. Nick Jeffery Yacht Publicity clients include top names in the industry, from private superyacht owners to builders, suppliers, project managers and designers. A member of the Yacht Club de Monaco and Royal Ocean Racing Club, he pursues his love of sailing that includes transatlantic and South Pacific passages. Author of ‘Design’, chapter one of ‘The Superyachts’, volume one, as well as the book ‘Luxury Toys: Mega Yachts’, he writes for lifestyle and yachting media from Macau to Moscow and Monaco.
Mark Boddington Designer, Silver Lining
		Mark Boddington followed his passion by training as furniture maker and then setting up bespoke furniture maker Silverlining at the age of 21 in 1985. The company combines traditional skills with advanced technology and materials achieving groundbreaking furniture found in yachts and residences worldwide. Silverlining recent superyacht projects include the award-winning 2011 Showboats Award Winner M.Y. Palladium and other yachts such as M.Y. Anna, M.Y. Baton Rouge, M.Y. Pacific, M.Y. Tango, M.Y. Lady Britt, M.Y. Titan, M.Y. Solemar and many more. The company vision is to bring the very best of British craftsmanship, design and engineering under one roof and become the most inspirational luxury furniture brand of the 21st century. As a Freeman of the City of London, Mark is passionate about continuing furniture making skills by encouraging young people into the trade through the London Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and his own company Silverlining. Mark lives in Cheshire with his wife Tara, 2 children and a vicious and very fast dachshund called Enzo!
Andre Hoek Hoek Design
Roger Lean-Vercoe Chairman of the Jury
		Formerly a commissioned officer in the British Army, Roger first specialised in armoured operations and later served with the Commando Brigade. Retiring at the age of 38, he turned his two passions – photography and sailing – into a successful second career during which his work has appeared in both yachting and news titles around the world. Initially specialising in racing yachts, he became involved in superyachts just as the industry began to expand. He developed the concept of The Superyachts book, an annual that is recognised as one of the industry’s most authoritative publications and served as editor for 24 volumes before handing over that responsibility last year. He is currently the Chairman of the World Superyacht Awards, the ShowBoats Design Awards, and the Young Designer of the Year Award, and also remains a regular contributor to Boat International, the leading magazine of the superyacht industry. An avid racing sailor, Roger also cruises extensively in sail and power yachts for both work and pleasure.