Special 'virtual' edition of Boat Builder Awards announced for 2020

Boat Builder Awards, National Maritime Museum © METSTRADE

IBI and METSTRADE have announced a special one-off virtual edition of the Boat Builder Awards for Business Achievement in 2020. It will acknowledge the challenges, ingenuity and resolve of our industry in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

Headline sponsored once again by Raymarine, this year's Awards will be held virtually on December 10, from 4pm-5pm (CET) with five key awards - two of which will be entirely new categories spotlighting the industry's response to the Covid-19 crisis. The online Boat Builder Awards ceremony will be available to watch via the METSTRADE Connect web based interactive platform, which will be released shortly. To gain access to this online platform, a free of charge registration is required. More details are available on METSTRADE.com from November 12.

The two new special awards for 2020 will be:

Exceptional Commercial Achievement In An Unprecedented Year, sponsored by Kohler

This award is for boatbuilders or shipyards that have implemented strategies or protocols that not only protected their business and team but also enabled them to emerge strongly from lockdown.

Community Support Initiative, sponsored by Fusion

This award is for a boatbuilder or shipyard and its employees who showed great social awareness by channelling resources, expertise or manufacturing capabilities to aid wider community Covid-19 crisis support.

The organisers have also retained the three regular awards that focus very specifically on the industry's priorities of people, skills and the environment.

Environmental Initiative, sponsored by Confindustria Nautica

This award recognises boatbuilders that have maintained their focus on sustainability, even in the midst of other challenges. Examples include reducing the environmental impact of production processes or of boats and yachts, recycling initiatives and support of environmental campaigns.

Rising Star Award, sponsored by Lumishore

Individuals nominated in this category will be aged 35 or under, working for a boatbuilder or shipyard and will have been making a growing impact on any aspect of their business, from design and production, to management, buying and any other boatbuilding discipline. Nominees should be no older than age 35 on December 10, 2020. Top honours in this category last year went to Dominator Yachts' Angela Pernsteiner and Riviera's Kyle Davison.

Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Side-Power

Nominees will have made a significant impact on the boatbuilding or shipyard businesses that they have been associated with in their careers. Past winners have included Azimut's Paolo Vitelli, Sunseeker founder Robert Braithwaite CBE, David King, the founder of Princess Yachts, Groupe Beneteau's Annette Roux and the Healy brothers, Robert and William, who founded Viking Yachts.

"In light of the ongoing disruption across the globe, we felt this year's Awards was the perfect opportunity to highlight the heroic work undertaken by many of our boatbuilders and their employees in keeping the industry moving forward in these uncertain times," said IBI Editor and Chair of the BBA judging panel, Ed Slack.

The virtual session will kick off at 4pm with a 30-minute online awards ceremony with winners in each category announced live. An Award Winners Meet & Greet online networking reception, sponsored by Sunbrella, will follow from 4.30pm-5pm.

"The 2020 Boat Builder Awards, in association with Raymarine, will necessarily be in a different format," said METSTRADE'S Director Niels Klarenbeek, "but given the situation we all find ourselves in, we think its role, to mark the unique efforts of our industry in these challenging times, is more important than ever."

Call for Nominations

The nominations portal is now open at bbaentry.co.uk. Those wishing to nominate can send a 'tip' or suggestion to the judges explaining which category they are nominating for and why. Deadline for nominations is November 3 so there's no time to lose in making sure that in this uniquely challenging year, we come together to recognise and celebrate the industry's positive achievements.