Three promising young design talents from Staffordshire University have been handpicked from across Britain to compete live at the London Boat Show 2018 for the iconic title of Superyacht UK Young Designer 2018. Standing between them and the coveted title will be their imaginative transformation of an ex-military vessel into an exquisite, bespoke explorer superyacht.
Local students competing in this year’s competition are Christopher Mobley, Jack Oxford and James Round, who are studying courses, BA (Hons) Product Design and BA (Hons) Transport Design between them at Staffordshire University.
The prestigious annual Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition is run by industry representatives, Superyacht UK, an association of British Marine, and kicks off on the first day of the prestigious London Boat Show, taking place from 10-14 January 2018.
It is the only competition of its kind in the UK and is among a select few across the world to recognise future design talent and provide them the opportunity to truly grow such talent within the industry. In recent years, the competition has been a launch pad for some of today’s most ambitious superyacht designers and naval architects.
The three Staffordshire-based students will all be hoping to secure themselves the winning prize of a four-week internship at world leading custom superyacht builder and refit specialists and event sponsor, Pendennis Shipyard. There they will get the invaluable opportunity to develop their understanding of how to translate great design into practical production working on one of the shipyard’s high-profile projects.
The talented runner up will receive the prize of a unique two-week internship at world leading design and naval architecture studio and event sponsor, Olesinski based on the Isle of Wight.
For some of these students, previous university projects have already allowed them to dabble in the renowned world of superyacht design, giving them a good starting point for this competition. As Jack Oxford explains: “I have always been interested in yachts and loved seeing them on holiday. A future in yacht design would be amazing and I’m sure this opportunity would be an incredible stepping stone.”
James Round adds: “I would love to have the chance to design an iconic British yacht, being involved in this competition would be a great step towards that goal, having pervious projects in interior and exterior design would allow me to create the most luxurious and sleek design for any type of yacht.”
Peter Brown, Chairman of Superyacht UK, commented: “The UK remains a global hub for superyacht design and Superyacht UK is keen to help nurture the next generation of design talent. The core skill of hand sketching is increasingly rare and is often dismissed in favour of software generated design work and so the challenge for young designers becomes one of differentiating themselves from much of the competition by employing a more traditional skillset when the situation demands it.”
Stephen Hills, Projects Director at Pendennis Shipyard and judge of the Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition 2018, added: “The Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition is a unique platform for showcasing the range of design talent from British universities and colleges. Since being involved as a sponsor, Pendennis has always been impressed with the imagination, hard work and enthusiasm shown by the candidates during the Show, as well as the high calibre of each winner during their subsequent internship at the yard. We are very much looking forward to seeing the young designers at work during the London Boat Show once more – the range of responses to the brief and the calibre of drawings produced are always impressive.”
