Award Joy for Charter Yacht JOY

Superyacht JOY was bestowed with the award for Best Exterior Design & Styling - Motor Yacht above 48m. At 70m (229.7ft), JOY is the product of the renowned design duo Bannenberg and Rowell, and built by Dutch yard, Feadship – frequently on the podium for awards of this stature.

Dickie Bannenberg is the son of the most revered superyacht designer in history, Aussie Jon Bannenberg, responsible for the design of the Cunard ship, QEII, superyachts for high profile clients such as Larry Ellison, Malcolm Forbes, Alan Bond, Bennett S. LeBow, Adnan Khashoggi, and Robert Maxwell, and various hotels and private homes.

Simon Rowell, creative director at the firm, is a prodigious designer, credited with much of the firm's success in interiors of yachts for companies such as Heesen, Benetti, Trinity and Lurssen.

Described by the judges as "a study in surface shaping and radical elements", JOY is the first exterior project for the firm.

This is the owner's first superyacht and he took a radical approach to the yacht's exterior styling, with the brief "to create something totally different to every other yacht".

"It has been a great pleasure to work with an owner who was keen to bring something new to the superyacht world in the same way as my father did from the early 1980s onwards with Feadship and others," said Dickie Bannenberg at the launch of JOY.

"While our design studio has an excellent reputation for interiors, including 12 for Feadship owners, Joy is the first visible exterior design of a new era for us. The flow between the interior and exterior spaces, and her generous wide walkways, are without precedent on a motor yacht of this size, and the vast exterior spaces have been used to great effect."

JOY'S superstructure is characterized by chiselling and nipping into the traditional form, concave lines and extensive use of glass, creating the yacht's unique profile, "like a block of snow and ice that has been shaped by the wind", said one judge. The chamfered edges of the overhangs create an illusion of more space between decks.

Over five decks, JOY'S expansive outdoor space is impressive and adds to her appeal as a luxury charter vessel. There is seamless flow between the exterior and interior result in pockets of air conditioned indoor/outdoor zones known as 'winter gardens', enhancing the feeling of space and making her the ideal yacht for cruising in all climates. Designers have continued the inside-outside them in the link between the capacious foredeck and the owner's stateroom, reinforced by the panoramic effect of 270˚ wraparound windows.

Inside, JOY boasts eight suites for up to 12 guests, an elevator servicing three of the five decks plus a plethora of wellness: fully equipped gym, spa room and on board masseuse, with impeccable interior styling by Studio Indigo.

"Joy is a testimony to what can be achieved when you genuinely start a superyacht build with a blank sheet of paper," says Feadship director Jan-Bart Verkuyl. "The owner's wishes have been successfully combined with Feadship's experience, and the excellent teams from Studio Indigo and Bannenberg & Rowell to fashion a truly pioneering 70-metre yacht."

Luxury charter yacht JOY is available for charter in the West Mediterranean before heading east to the Aegean and then on to the shimmering atolls of the Indian Ocean.

Among the standout awards at this year's event was the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to highly-acclaimed naval architect Germán Frers, whose name is attached to some of the world's fastest racing yachts and most coveted sailing superyachts, including NEPHELE, INUKSHUK, CAPERCAILLIE and ARISTARCHOS.