Meet the Judges
With a degree in Interior Architecture, Emily began her career in Hamburg, working across projects ranging from small production sailing yachts to large cruise ships and ferries. In 2006, she moved to London and started at Reymond Langton Design, where she spent 10 years specialising in fully custom interiors for sailing and motor yachts. In 2015, she joined Winch Design as the studio’s first female Interior Project Manager.
What Emily loves most about her role is seeing an idea become reality. After years of designing and building there is something incredibly exciting about walking through the spaces you once drew, seeing every detail come together and adding final touches to each room during the handover dressing.
Winning the competition in 2019 opened the door to some great opportunities after I finished my degree. The placements I was offered with Olesinski and Pendennis gave me the invaluable experience of working in the industry. I was able to complete a project focused on designing a tender for M/Y Marala, which, at the time, was undergoing a refit at Pendennis. Following my placements, I wanted to pursue a career in yacht design, and started working at Princess Yachts in 2020. As part of the Surfacing Design team, I have worked on a variety of projects across the Princess fleet. You'll be able to see some of these at the show, including wetbars on the V50 and S72, but my work also ranges to other projects, like the flybridge helms on the Y80 and Y95.
Brought up in Devon by the sea, Douglas graduated from Solent University after studying yacht design. The first job in industry being with the eminent yacht design studio of John Munford. Working on various classically inspired projects on both new builds and classic yacht restorations. Furthering his career, he moved to work with Bill Dixon Naval Architects. Leading the interior design on various projects both custom and production designs. During this time a collaborative project between Bill’s office the newly formed Redman Whiteley Design lead him back to an interior focus on larger custom projects when asked to join RWD. Now after 27 years, Douglas has seen RWD grow to be one of the leading design studios in the superyacht industry. He enjoys mentoring the younger members of the team and passing on the design ethos of RWD formed over so many years.
Raised on the Côte d’Azur in Antibes, France, Rob grew up surrounded by the world of yachting, an environment that shaped both his early career and his enduring passion for yacht design. He began working in the industry in 2006 as a deckhand on yachts ranging from 25 to 45 metres, gaining first-hand experience of life on board and developing a practical understanding of how yachts perform at sea.
That experience soon inspired Rob to pursue yacht design formally, and in 2011 he graduated from Solent University with a degree in Yacht and Powercraft Design. He went on to build broad industry experience across the commercial, defence, and private yacht sectors before joining Sunseeker in 2016 as a Naval Architect. Since then, Rob has progressed to the role of Principal Naval Architect, where he is responsible for Sunseeker’s new hull designs and vessel performance, combining practical seagoing insight with technical design expertise.
Henry is Design Director at Cockwells in Cornwall and a member of the company’s Management Board. He leads the design, sales and marketing departments, working closely with new clients and overseeing every stage of the bespoke yacht design process, from initial concept sketches through to detailed 3D CAD models.
What Henry enjoys most about his role is finding creative solutions to complex design challenges. He is passionate about combining traditional shipwright craftsmanship with the latest advances in engineering, electronics and build techniques to transform each client’s vision into a truly unique superyacht tender or motor yacht.