The Yacht Club de Monaco hosted the first edition of Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous

MONACO, March 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Yacht Club de Monaco hosted the first Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous. The event, organized by Monaco Marina Management (M3), a Monegasque company specializing in the management of marinas, promotes the meeting of start-ups, scale-ups and corporate companies with the aim of presenting innovative solutions adaptable to super-yachts. The two-day initiative kicked off with the visit of Prince Albert II of Monaco, who wanted to meet the various players at the event and to discover the ideas and projects displayed on the stands.

Among the large companies taking part to the rendezvous there were Sanlorenzo, Feadship, Oceanco, Lürssen but there was also room for internationally renowned designers such as Dan Lenard and Espen Oein. Though the main focus remains one for all: the evolution of the yachting industry. "The large presence of all these major yachting players demonstrates their willingness to provide a collective response to climate issues and thus encourage responsible innovation," said José Marco Casellini, M3 Ceo.

The Yacht Club de Monaco "leads sustainability in Yachting and does a phenomenal job by hosting such an event. I would like to pay tribute to its involvement in promoting environmental transition within the nautical community," added Olivier Wenden, Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

  
Among the topics addressed in this first edition figured the entire life cycle of a yacht: from research & development to its use, through maintenance and financing. New propulsion solutions or choices of more environmental friendly materials, optimization of energy consumption, water management, connectivity and safety were also discussed. During the panels and meetings held at the event, the urge to rethink the yacht of tomorrow emerged and, faced with the emergence of ecological concerns, many builders specialize in research and development. "The Italian yacht industry, therefore pleasure boats over 24 metres, covers 47.5% of world production," said Sanlorenzo Ceo, Massimo Perotti. "We participate in this event where we talk about sustainability because it is very important. It is true that Italian industry is very strong in this sector and we must be very careful because the world is growing in a direction that is a bit delicate for our productions. Boats in the future will have to be more sustainable if not 100% sustainable."

For its part, the world of design follows the evolution of the market: "The yacht today can be smart in itself, it can be implemented with technologies that guarantee low or zero emissions, or made of recycled or recyclable materials. All of this is part of the future of yachting. However, it must be remembered that yachting does not end with the product. There is a whole life after the delivery of the yacht and a little is said about it. Just as little is said about the 'education' in the use of these boats and the possibilities they offer as an alternative and transversal use," explained the designer Dan Lenard.

The event was also an opportunity to reward the actors who stood out for their innovative proposals. The winners were selected by an international jury of 44 members who examined -through 181 one-to-one meetings - the proposals of 50 start-ups, scale-ups and corporates selected by the team experts of Blumorpho, a specialist in innovation for a sustainable economy headed by Géraldine A. Gustin. This selection process makes the rendezvouz a 3 months long network event.
  

In the Start-up category, the Italian Northern Light Composites (Nlcomp) triumphed for its recyclable composite 'R-Composite' which solves the problems related to the end of life of fiberglass. "R-composite is the ideal candidate to replace fiberglass composite which is not easily recyclable, causing boat (and wind turbine) blades to go underground. With R-composite we are creating a completely circular economy," observed Fabio Bignolini, CEO of Northern Light Composites

Among the scale-ups, the British Lineat Composites was awarded for its plan to transform carbon fiber waste deriving from production, processing and the end of the life cycle into recycled carbon fiber to be used in products in the nautical sector but also in the automotive sector. In the corporate category, the award went to the French Wisamo with a device dedicated to wind power propulsion.

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