The Superyacht UK Young Designer (SYUK) competition, sponsored by Marine Resources, revealed the winner at the Southampton International Boat Show on Thursday 21 September. Read on to find out what happened and who won!

Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition
Image sourced from: Southampton Boat Show

What Happened?

The brief gave competitors a day and a half to present their designs to the judges.

The task was to produce a profile illustration drawing of the vessel –  a block General Arrangement (GA). They had to define the general space allocation and detail sketch developments (including 3D illustrations as appropriate), illustrating at least three unique selling points of their proposal.

Chairman of Superyacht UK and one of the judges, Stephen Hills, remarked:

“These young designers have produced a really impressive body of work; from a blank piece of paper to these fantastic outputs on display is incredible. The judges have been really impressed by the diversity of the designs and commend everyone for using their imagination and for the quality of their designs in such a short space of time.

“It was incredibly hard to pick a winner, but the top three really stood out for the judges. The judges loved the profile drawings presented by Oliver. His designs quickly caught the judges’ eyes and stood out, with exceptional quality of line. Fantastic.”


Who Won?

Oliver Rommelrath from Staffordshire University was crowned the winner. Second place went to Ben Kenward from Coventry University, and third place to Dhruv Raajput, also from Coventry University.

Oliver stated:

‘This is fantastic, I really didn’t expect it.  This is the first time doing a Superyacht design and winning feels like a great achievement. It has really been heads down right from the start and although the process is exactly the same as my other design work, there have been challenges such as working out how to fit the exterior design around the interior design. I knew from the start I wanted to do a motor yacht and once I had the brief, I had a vision in my head of how it would look. As for the prize, I’m going to sleep on it before I decide, but I am definitely going to have a smile on my face on my drive home.’

Now with the winners’ title, he has the option to choose from two incredible opportunities. He can either embark on an internship with Olesinski or one at Sunseeker. The runner-up takes the other internship.


The Importance Of Seeking Talent

Founder and CEO of Marine Resources and sponsors of the Superyacht UK Young Designer competition, James Ward concluded:

“We are absolutely thrilled to support this event. It is vital for the industry and showcases the talent that is out there outside of the industry and it is key that we seek to attract this talent to the sector.  None of these designers come from a marine background, these amazing designs have come purely from talent.  It is important to keep supporting events of this nature and providing these opportunities, so we are delighted to be involved.”


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