DAME Design Awards 2024: lifejacket innovation commended

TUDelft School for Industrial Design Engineering senior lecturer, Arjen Jansen, presented the globally recognised DAME Design Awards 2024 to the TeamO Offshore 150N Hi-Lift Lifejacket & Harness in front of a large audience of leading marine professionals at the METSTRADE Breakfast Briefing this morning. The Jury also identified eight category winners, nine Special Mentions and named two Environmental DAME Design Awards winners.

TeamO has dared to think different with its Hi-Lift 150N lifejacket. It has a twisted bladder design that moves most of the wasted buoyancy above the waterline of a conventional design to an inflated pillow on the users back. This directly lifts the upper torso out of the water and keeps the nose and mouth higher. The wide set front of the jacket provides stability in the water and controls the orientation of the face and body in line with ISO Standards. The performance increase of the 150N Hi-Lift now outperforms the ISO standard for a 275N lifejacket. The re-distribution of the bladder volume also allows the product to be slimmer when packed, making it much more likely to be worn when on, and near, the water. The Jury also noted a significant number of other excellent design features in this product and commended it for being such a strong step forward in a vital long-standing element of leisure marine equipment.

Andre Hoek, chair of the DAME Design Awards jury, stated: “It was very encouraging to see such a strong field of entries spanning the whole of the leisure marine sector, with products for people and the smallest boats right up to high-end superyacht equipment. In addition to genuine breakthrough launches, the Jury was equally pleased to see many products where designers have iteratively improved the user experience and exploited latest technologies to meet emerging demands. Smart design unlocks the door to a fully sustainable approach, in manufacturing, recyclability, longevity, usability and serviceability.

“Our focus was inevitably drawn towards the high number of entries driven by developing technologies that will serve the marine industry’s future needs in areas such as electrification and networking. But in a close-run finish, it was an excellent new development in safety that was unanimously named outright winner of this year’s awards. A perfect reminder of how we can never stop improving product categories that have been an essential part of boating for decades.

New perspectives for the DAME Design Awards Jury

“I was once again grateful for the significant efforts and expertise of our jury members,” Hoek continued. “There were several changes in the team for 2024. In seeking to add to our sustainability expertise we couldn’t have wished for a better assessor of 114 environmental statements than Amy Munro. We also welcomed electronics expert Ben Stein, to replace the invaluable input of Ben Ellison who retired from the Jury last year. Olaf Bouwens provided welcome fresh insights as a passionate sailor and second year TU Delft Master’s student in Integrated Product Design. We’ll announce further details over the next year about a new student guest jury member programme that will add younger generational perspectives to balance the older heads in our team.

“On behalf of the Jury I congratulate all companies who participated this year – we never take the efforts of the DAME Design Awards participants for granted.”

€17,100 raised by DAME Design Awards entrants for worthy causes

Each year the organisers of the METSTRADE Show donate the combined registration fees for the DAME Design Awards to selected charities as a way of giving back to society. For 2024 the METSTRADE Exhibition Committee selected SailWise, a Dutch organisation providing active multi-day water sports activities for those with disabilities. Each year, more than 1,500 people aged between 10-90 participate at Robinson Crusoe Island, its watersports centre in the Loosdrechtse Plassen, located to the south of Amsterdam. The charity owns specialist equipment to accommodate a wide range of disabilities including wheelchair users and guests visit with their families and carers from all over Europe. The 2024 DAME Design Awards donation will be applied directly to provision of a completely new, low maintenance and long-term sustainable jetty and terrace on Robinson Crusoe Island, to be built in time for the April-November 2025 season.