Moonrise and Istros shine at WSA
Feadship won two prestigious prizes at the 2021 BOAT International World Superyacht Awards on Sunday 5 September. The 99.95-metre Moonrise eclipsed all rivals in a fiercely competitive category to take home the award for best displacement motoryacht (3000 GT+) while the ingenious remake of the 1954 Feadship Istros was named Best Rebuild.
The gala ceremony to announce the winners of the 2021 Neptune trophies was held in front of a live audience in the Monte Carlo Sporting complex and completely sold out. As always, the winners were decided upon solely by a panel of superyacht owners, making the prizes all the more appreciated by their industry peers.
‘Every facility imaginable’
Moonrise was described by the jury as “a deserving winner” of her category. They praised the exterior design by Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects for having a “strong and attractive masculine character with a pleasingly clean line, which exhibits a wealth of attractive detailing. Her deck areas provide just about every facility imaginable – including a helicopter landing area on the foredeck that the owner had not specifically requested. This far-sighted decision was made on the basis that the lack of such a facility might impact on its future resale price, and was immediately justified when Covid-19 restrictions forced the owner to make his first arrival by helicopter.”
The interior for Moonrise is from the boards of Rémi Tessier and this too was considered an award-winning achievement by the judges. “Rémi has created an admirable modern style, incorporating the truly luxurious touches for which he is famed. The interior has been painstakingly engineered to deliver Feadship’s high quality and low levels of noise and vibration.”
'Classic with a modern heart’
The second coveted World Superyacht Award for Feadship came in the Rebuild class, reserved for boats that have been given a completely new interior, machinery and systems. The winner was the 42-metre Feadship Istros, which the Feadship Makkum yard simultaneously transformed into a glamorous gentlemen’s yacht of bygone days and a high-tech, eco-friendly superyacht. The comprehensive rebuild of this 1954 beauty is an inspiring tribute to circular thinking, as the WSA judges explained
“Istros lay neglected since 2001, until her new owner decided to completely discard her decayed steel superstructure and strip her to a bare hull and totally rebuild her. Despite this being more costly than building afresh, the decision was justified by the accepted philosophy that such a process preserved the original identity of the vessel.”
The jury comments also recognised the outstanding achievement of creating a new aluminium superstructure and replacing the interior and machinery in just eleven months. “This incredibly short duration was only made possible by six months of preparation before her arrival,” the judges wrote. “Today, guests on Istros experience the atmosphere of a 1950s yacht, with the period looks and elegant lines of yesteryear, but this is a classic with a modern heart that ensures the reliable functioning of every item of machinery and technology aboard.”
Last but not least, a warm mention for the awesome 75-metre Feadship Arrow, which was also a finalist at the World Superyacht Awards and narrowly missed out on winning the Displacement Motor Yachts category from 1,600GT TO 2,999GT.
Images by Boat International Media
