Another successful edition of the DAME Award at METSTRADE

The 27th edition of the DAME Award competition drew to a close yesterday as the 2017 METSTRADE opened its doors in Amsterdam. A total of 122 products from 22 countries entered this year, with 64 shortlisted for final consideration. The Jury selected Overall DAME Winners, together with seven outright Category Winners; a total of 16 further entries were commended with Special Mentions.

Birgit Schnaase, Chairwoman of the Jury, presented the DAME Award 2017 to Scanstrut for its RS Venture Connect Conversion Kit, which 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, 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 generation 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," Schnaase continues. "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.”

This year’s category winners are all present at METSTRADE this week. Below is the full list of winners and where you can find them this week in the RAI in Amsterdam: 

Dame 2017 winner

Scanstrut rs venture connect conversion kit - Stand 03.510

Marine electronics and marine related software

Simarinenereide 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