2017 DAME Award winners announced

DAME Award Winners 2017 © METStrade

Birgit Schnaase, Chairwoman of the Jury, presented the prestigious DAME Award 2017 at the commencement of the METSTRADE show this morning to Scanstrut for its RS Venture Connect Conversion Kit. A further six products were named as Category Winners and 16 received Special Mentions.

The Scanstrut Venture Connect Conversion Kit retrospectively adapts an RS Venture, a dinghy designed for able-bodied sailors that is already in common use in many training and sailing centres. The plug and play kit includes a combined battery and control pack, a powered mainsheet winch, joystick control and sip-puff headset option. Fully self-contained, it enables a sailing instructor to convert the boat to one suitable for use by those with a wide range of disabilities, including paraplegia, in only 30 minutes.

The Jury praised Scanstrut for delivering a well-designed and fully integrated solution with attention to every detail that will allow a broader range of disabled people to get on the water and enjoy the same benefits as others.

Commenting on the result, Chairwoman of the Jury, Birgit Schnaase stated: "I work a lot in the superyacht sector and saw good entries that apply there, but I was also pleased to see products with personal applications that you can touch, see, feel and understand. Our overall winner is a very good example of that."

"The marine sector's end users are changing – the younger generations often do not have their own boat and need highly accessible products; the industry's wealthier customers have individual and often very different ideas of what they demand of a boat and its equipment. We also need to be much more aware of the need to address diversity. We saw welcome evidence that products are being developed to address these market changes."

"Our strong team of new and existing Jury members are highly qualified across many disciplines, including interior, engineering, systems and industrial design and naval architecture, as well as user application. They each saw entries this year of particular interest in their own fields and applied their own considerable knowledge and experience to the debate. There were many detailed discussions throughout our time together about the products themselves and the effect they will have within the marine industry in future days."

This year's Category winners:

MARINE ELECTRONICS AND MARINE RELATED SOFTWARE
SIMARINE NEREIDE Smart Marine Power Panel
Stand 05.263

INTERIOR EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS, MATERIALS AND ELECTRICAL FITTINGS USED IN CABINS
Besenzoni P400 Matrix
Stand 01.565, 10.708

MARINA EQUIPMENT, BOATYARD EQUIPMENT AND BOAT CONSTRUCTION TOOLS AND MATERIALS
Seabin
Stand 05.506

DECK EQUIPMENT, SAILS AND RIGGING
Scanstrut RS Venture Connect Conversion Kit
Stand 03.510

CLOTHING AND CREW ACCESSORIES
Zhik Isotak X Extreme Ocean Sailing Apparel
Stand 07.382

LIFESAVING AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT
CrewWatcher submitted by Weems & Plath
Stand 01.121

MACHINERY, PROPULSION, MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS AND FITTINGS
Oceanvolt Servoprop
Stand 12.833

DAME 2017 winner
Scanstrut RS Venture Connect Conversion Kit
Stand 03.510

Special mentions:

MARINE ELECTRONICS AND MARINE RELATED SOFTWARE
C Designs DecklincGP
Stand 07.316

Digital Yacht Nomad Portable Class B AIS Transponder
Stand 01.434

FLIR M232 Marine Thermal Camera
submitted by Raymarine UK Ltd.
Stand 01.111

INTERIOR EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS, MATERIALS AND ELECTRICAL FITTINGS USED IN CABINS
B.C.M. Illuminazione Surf Plate R
Stand 11.203

MARINA EQUIPMENT, BOATYARD EQUIPMENT AND BOAT CONSTRUCTION TOOLS AND MATERIALS
3D|CORE XPS DELTA
Stand CMP.07

CarenEcolo mobile antifouling wastewater filtration system
Stand MYP.05.510

Tessilmare Bino-X RubRail
Stand 01.671

DECK EQUIPMENT, SAILS AND RIGGING
Ropeye U-Block
Stand 12.435

SNA Dodger & Cover Designs Bimini KanvasLight
Stand 05.448

Boatasy GHOOK submitted by SPINAKER d.o.o.
Stand 05.361

SUREFAS CAF-COMPO screw-stud
Stand 12.106

CLOTHING AND CREW ACCESSORIES
Blood Red INTEGRA
Stand 03.122

Ocean Rodeo Sports Ignite Drysuit
Stand 03.133

CLOTHING AND CREW ACCESSORIES
McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS
Stand 03.411

MACHINERY, PROPULSION, MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS AND FITTINGS
Jefa Electric Steering System
Stand 12.340

Kabola KB-Ecoline Hybrid
Stand 07.420