The results are in for the 2025 DAME awards, Metstrade’s annual gear and technology competition. This year, 146 products were assessed and reviewed for eight category awards, plus an environmental impact award and special mentions.
“Several themes emerged during the intensive days that we spent looking at the entries,” says Patrick Hemp, Technical Director for the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) and Acting Chair of the jury. “There is welcome evidence that the industry is not satisfied with the status quo. The DAME Design Awards doesn’t solely reward altogether new and previously unseen concepts; encouraging and highlighting iterative design improvement is also at the core of its objectives and many of this year’s nominated products are improved designs of what has gone before. In some cases, we could see clear evidence of manufacturers taking higher technology, expensive solutions from sectors such as superyachting and extreme yacht racing and bringing them to a broader user base at appropriately sized and priced packages. That’s a very welcome trend.”
Another shift he highlights is towards power efficiency across the board. “With the increasingly heavier reliance on electricity onboard, squeezing the most efficiency from every amp is an imperative now.
This year, the overall win went to the LXNAV E360 Round Chartplotter, a four inch round touch screen that displays NMEA 2000 data and is preloaded with OpenSeaMap charts. The E360 is waterproof to IPX6 and includes built-in Wi-Fi and GPS. “The appeal of this entry included its easily integrated compact, cohesive design, matched by an intuitive user interface, broad range of functions and responsive screen,” reports the jury.
The winners for the eight design categories are as follows:
Personal Equipment: Ocean Scout Pro from FLIR
Onboard Facilities, Comfort, and Entertainment: Dometic CSX Refrigeration System
Navigation and Communication: LXNAV E360 Round Chartplotter
Electronics and Electrical Systems: Simarine SAC15R – NMEA 2000 Smart AC Distribution Unit
Propulsion and Dynamics: Dometic DG3 Gyro
Deck Equipment: Softstep by One Palma
Safety and Security Onboard: Garmin OnBoard™ System
Manufacturing, Support Products, and Materials: Supersede Marine Board
ONE Palma IFS Multi Tradewind Sail and Digital Yacht BILGE IQ jointly received the Environmental Design Award for downstream impacts of their technology, but the jury notes that there was no standout environment-first technology entered this year.
“We wish to commend every company that put their products forward in this record-breaking year, congratulate all who attained the very notable achievement of nomination against such a large field and salute those who have claimed the honours highlighted in this report,” says Hemp.
For a full list of the winners and the jury’s comments on them, click here.
