Elliot Maitland, a design student from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, has been selected from a long list of British-based applicants to compete live at the annual Super yacht UK Young Designer Competition, sponsored by Marine Resources 2019. To secure the iconic title of ‘Super yacht UK Young Designer 2019’, Elliot will need to design a super yacht concept to be featured in the next James Bond film.
Currently studying for a BA Transport Design at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Elliot will be up against nine fellow strong contenders in this year’s competition.
The prestigious annual Super yacht UK Young Designer Competition is run by industry representative, Super yacht UK, an association of British Marine. This year the competition is taking place at an exciting new location, The Super yacht Design Forum in London’s Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour, next week (25-26 June 2019).
It is the only competition of its kind in the UK and is among a select few across the world to recognize future design talent and provide them the opportunity to truly grow such talent within the industry. In recent years, the competition has been a launch pad for some of today’s most ambitious super yacht designers and naval architects.
Elliot will be hoping to secure himself the winning prize of a four-week internship at world leading custom super yacht builder and refit specialists, Pendennis Shipyard. There they will get the invaluable opportunity to develop their understanding of how to translate great design into practical production working on one of the shipyard’s high-profile projects.
The talented runner up will receive the prize of a unique two-week internship at world leading design and naval architecture studio and event sponsor, Olesinski based on the Isle of Wight.
Ahead of the competition, Elliot remarked: “I find yachts fascinating and a real challenge to be able to create such an exclusive design for a client’s specification and find a solution to everything to please the customer. I have always found the exterior designs of yachts beautiful and the thought of designing something so elegant and creating a unique styling tailored to the customer to form an experience would be a great achievement. The interior opportunities are endless and enable open-minded and innovative thinking to create a luxurious comfortable living environment that maximizes use of space. I like a challenge and this competition would test my innovative thinking, putting me out of my comfort zone in a new area of design.”
Jeff Houlgrave, Chairman of Super yacht UK, commented: “Super yacht UK is keen to help nurture Britain’s next generation of design talent to ensure the industry continues to thrive. The Super yacht Design Forum and its co-host, the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, will provide a truly visionary location to inspire, immerse and develop our young designers. We look forward to welcoming Elliot at the competition and hope he finds this unique opportunity beneficial for his future career.”
