From a total of 115 products entered into this year’s prestigious DAME Design Award METS competition, 39 have now been nominated to go forward for final judging by the DAME Jury who will eventually choose a maximum of seven Category Winners and one Overall Winner.
 
The DAME Design Award competition is held every year in conjunction with METS incorporating the SuperYacht Pavilion and this year it received entries from all around the world, with the successful nominations coming from 13 nations.
 
The Overall Winner and Category Winners will be announced at a special Breakfast Briefing on Tuesday November 13th at 8 a.m. prior to the start of the METS show that same day. During METS, all of the short-listed products will be put on display in a special DAME presentation located in the RAI Elicium.
 
Chairman of the DAME Award’s Jury, Bill Dixon, says that the competition this year has been as strong as ever.
 
“The excellent quality of the 2012 DAME Design Award entry list is clear evidence that the marine industry is continuing to invest confidently in a broad range of innovative and well-designed new products, despite the difficult economic climate,” he said. “And, as always, it has been very difficult for the DAME Jury judges to reduce such an impressive number of excellent entries down to a list of just 39 Nominations. We were particularly pleased that all seven categories were very well represented ¬- especially in the important areas of deck equipment, rigging, safety and navigational software.”
 
The Overall Winner of the DAME Awards will be announced at the ICOMIA-METS Breakfast Briefing held in the Forum of Amsterdam RAI before the official opening of the show. The Award presented to the Overall Winner has been designed by Naval Architect Tony Castro, former chairman of the DAME Jury, and is intended to reflect the international nature of the competition.
 
DAME categories
Each entry is carefully assessed by the DAME Jury who consider several important criteria, including overall design, build quality, functionality, and use of materials. Other factors taken into account are originality, ergonomics and price/quality ratio. The short listed products are divided into seven categories:
 
1.         Marine electronics and related software
2.         Interior equipment, furnishings, materials, and electrical fittings used in cabins
3.         Marina equipment, boatyard equipment, and boat construction tools and materials
4.         Deck equipment, sails, and rigging
5.         Clothing and crew accessories
6.         Lifesaving and safety equipment
7.         Machinery, propulsion, mechanical and electrical systems, and fittings
 
Products that the Jury consider to be exceptional, but which do not win the award in their category, may be given a Special Mention.