Twelve of the world’s leading superyacht design and naval architecture studios have formed a new international association, giving the creative side of an industry worth tens of billions of euros its first dedicated professional body.
The Superyacht Design and Naval Architecture Association — SYDNA — was launched at the Blue Design Summit in La Spezia on 19 May, with Norwegian designer Espen Øino, a familiar figure in Monaco’s maritime world, named as its president.
The superyacht design sector has grown significantly over four decades but has until now lacked coordinated representation. Where shipyards have long had the Superyacht Builders Association (SYBAss) to advocate on their behalf, designers and naval architects have operated without an equivalent body — leaving them without a collective voice when new rules and regulations are being drawn up.
“SYBAss has successfully got the industry’s voice heard before new rules and regulations become a fait accompli,” said Øino. “SYDNA allows us to have representation for elements specific to what we do as designers, whether that’s rules and regulations, how we deal with contracts, or other issues on which we will benefit from open discussion.”
Clair Rozemeijer, who serves as SYDNA’s executive director, said the association had been conceived to address challenges that individual studios cannot solve alone. “Together with SYDNA’s board members and founding members, we explored where meaningful collaboration could exist — not in the areas where companies compete, but in the areas where we can collectively strengthen the profession of yacht designers and naval architects.”
Four pillars
SYDNA will organise its work around four areas: professionalism, regulations, sustainability, and promotion. On professionalism, the association plans to develop standard contracts, ethical guidelines, and quality standards. On regulations, it intends to engage more actively with bodies including the IMO, ISO, and flag states. On sustainability, it will develop collective initiatives aligned with the Water Revolution Foundation’s Roadmap 2050. On promotion, it will work to confer credibility on members and function as an accreditation that clients can rely upon.
Luca Boldrini, managing partner of FM Architettura and SYDNA vice president, said the association would also improve how designers communicate with shipyards and brokers. “The process of building a yacht starts with the naval architect, exterior and interior designer, and increasingly that is happening without a shipyard involved. SYDNA means we can not only bring designers together better, but also enhance our communication, cross-fertilisation and collaboration with shipyards and brokers.”
Founding members
The 12 founding studios are Azure Yacht Design & Naval Architecture, Bannenberg & Rowell Design, Espen Øino International, FM Architettura, Hoek Design, Mulder Design, Nauta, Nuvolari Lenard, Philippe Briand Ltd, Van Oossanen Naval Architects, Winch Design, and Zuccon International Project. To qualify for full membership, studios must have been in operation for at least 10 years and have delivered at least five projects over 30 metres in the past decade.
Further information is available at sydna.org.
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