Five start-ups have shown their innovations at the Genoa Boat Show, which takes place between 19 and 24 September 2024. The event dedicated to boating start-ups and organised by Confindustria Nautica offered five start-ups, which were also present at the show with a stand in the ‘tech trade’ area, the chance to tell about their innovations.
The five are: Captayn, Easysea, Futur-E, Ehyfa and Novac. Captayn has developed an app that allows in a smart, digital and integrated way to keep track of vessels, thus optimising management time, making it easier to apply environmental impact reduction and monitor maintenance activities. The app is available in both a version for boat owners, as well as for professionals offering their services to those who own and manage boats. Easysea (which we have already mentioned as one of the most active start-ups in the sector) designs and produces innovative boating accessories, such as the first folding handle for winches, an object that has already attracted the attention of shipowners around the world for its extreme convenience and practicality. Then there is Futur-E, a zero-emission boat with an electric motor and solar panels that has been designed using the foil principle, i.e., the possibility of sailing in planing mode as well as displacement mode at low speeds, thus achieving excellent performance with very low consumption. The boat has small dimensions and is designed to be easy to steer. Ehyfa presents an innovation that could solve what is perhaps one of the biggest headaches for sea-goers: hull integrity in relation to the impact of organisms attacking hulls. The Seaprotector solution is proposed as an effective, environmentally friendly alternative that not only eliminates the need to use antifouling products, which have a polluting impact, but also promises to make hulls perform better by reducing friction and thus consumption. Novac, which we wrote about here, is not really dedicated to the nautical sector but to that of electric mobility in that it works on supercapacitors that significantly improve the life and efficiency of batteries and are designed to be light and mouldable and therefore adaptable to many applications, including the design of boats with electric propulsion.
Alessandro Gianneschi, vice-president of Confindustria Nautica, presenting the start-ups said, according to a note: “We are here again this year to dedicate an important space to the presentation of start-ups operating from boat maintenance to accessories and smart devices. I would like to thank ICE Agenzia for the valuable cooperation”.
Andrea Mattiello, head of the ICE Agenzia capital goods office, adds: ‘ICE Agenzia has implemented a major project to support the Boat Show with an incoming mission of foreign journalists and buyers who will be able to meet the companies exhibiting at the event. The start-up sector is very important for Made in Italy. We have more than 15 thousand active start-ups and the government pays a lot of attention to this sector. As ICE we support the participation of start-ups in the event and offer a training programme’.
Still on the subject of innovation with the addition of design, the Design Innovation Awards were also assigned, an initiative created five years ago at the behest of Confindustria Nautica and Saloni Nautici and decidedly oriented towards giving strength to the role of design in the sector, so much so that the award jury is chaired by Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, says: ‘Chairing the jury of the Design Innovation Award for the second time is an honour. It is not only the word ‘Salone’ that connects our two worlds, there are many common points. But at the same time there are many differences and specific needs of the two fields, furniture design and yacht design. And it is within these differences that we can grow together. That is why this friendship, between Salone del Mobile and Salone di Genova, is so important. I want to thank all the organisers and the president for this special occasion, and to remind you that quality, research, design, being selective, and innovation are the common goals of two industries that can work very well together’.
Joining Porro on the jury are: Andrea Ratti executive director MSc. Yacht Design Politecnico di Milano, Andrana Monk, founder of Monk Design, Carlo Cameli, president Yacht Club Italiano, Franco Michienzi director of Barche, Nabil Farhat director The World of Yacht, Robin Edman designer and former president of the Bureau of European Design Associations and Luisa Bocchietto architect, designer and member of the DIA steering committee chose the winners of the 2024 edition, who were: in the category sailing or motor boats Frauscher 1017GT 2nd Edition by Frauscher Italia for ‘superb execution, design refinement, functional aesthetics and balanced proportions’ for sailboats up to 14 metres Dufour 44 by Dufour Yachts for the ‘bold design with a spacious, revised interior, achieved by rebalancing the proportions’, for sailing yachts over 14 metres Y8 by Yyachts GMBH for the ‘refined elegance of the interior and exterior, with special attention to detail’, for motor yachts up to 14 metres Saxdor 340 GTWA by Saxdor Yachts for the ‘compact walk-around with many features and enjoyment of natural light’ for motor yachts over 14 metres Seadeck 7 by Azimut ‘hybrid yacht integrating sustainable solutions with a new collaborative vision’. Honourable mention to Nautor Swan Arrow by Nautor Swan ‘elegant mega tender that opens out into a generous terrace and offers elegant interiors’, for superyachts over 24 metres SP92 by Sanlorenzo for its ‘splendid external layout and grandiose interior spaces’. For inflatable units wins Scanner Envy 1500 by Seascan Marine because ‘unconventional dinghy that reveals an unexpectedly spacious cabin’, for multihulls Lagoon 60 ‘catamaran of character, with a fluid layout, conveying calm and confidence’ and then again for the nautical accessories and equipment category Mercury Avator 75 110 by Mercury Marine ‘elegantly designed product, indicating the future vision for propulsion’, honourable mention to Ride by Seakeeper for ‘optimal navigation adjustment using revolutionary software and a sensor-guided stabilisation system’, for the electronics and on-board software category Alpha Performance from Raymarine Italy for the ‘extremely intuitive graphic display in an elegant form’. The Innovation Award went to MPX Impact by Musto for its ‘unique and revolutionary design that looks beyond conventional solutions, using innovative materials and methods to protect against impacts typical of ocean navigation’. Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Solaris Yachts, which the jury honoured to celebrate the shipyard’s 50th anniversary for its continued commitment to design and innovation.
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