Henri Lloyd takes Category win and Most ECO-Friendly Product certificate: FLIR Systems wins DAME Award
Guy Pas, VP of FLIR Commercial Vision Systems (left) collects the DAME Award from jury chairman Bill Dixon
METS: Henri Lloyd’ s Blue Eco Jacket took the Clothing Category win and the Most Eco-Friendly Product certificate at METS; Musto got a Special Mention in the clothing category for its Active Base Layer and Kelvin Hughes got a Special Mention in Marine Related Software for its Wiley Nautical Amanac.
The judges were impressed by the unit’s sleek design, Ethernet capability and ease of installation by any OEM. The unit is operated with a remote joystick from anywhere on the vessel and, while the cost is relatively high, the jury felt the unit provides user satisfaction beyond anything currently on the market.
Even in total darkness the captain of a vessel can see channel markers, other boats, people in the water, and the shore line from greater distances than ever before.
‘Despite a difficult economic climate,’ said Bill Dixon, chairman of the DAME Jury, ‘we had 125 entries, which shows that marine businesses recognise the value of continuing to develop innovative products. This can only lead to better business opportunities when the market strengthens and boat buyers look to upgrade their yachts.’
Customers are becoming more appreciative of both innovation and good design, as well as of products that help to safeguard the environment, he added. The wide range of products entered in this year’s DAME Awards competition reflects these market trends.
Henri Lloyd's win
Henri Lloyd’s win in the Clothing Category was for its Blue Eco Jacket, which is recycled and recyclable, and is one of the showcase products in Henri Lloyd’s mission to become a greener manufacturing company.
‘I started thinking about how we should make the company greener some time ago,’ Paul Strzelecki, joint chief executive of Henri Lloyd told BB. ‘We have over 20 outlets now and we have to think abut managing energy.’
From there it was a short step to thinking about the company’s products. Partnering with the Japanese company Teijin, which specialises in developing environment friendly products and services, and using the company’s Eco Circle revolutionary recycling system, Henri Lloyd has been able to produce its first ever entirely sustainable sailing wear.
‘This is a our second consecutive Category win, which is a great testament to the outstanding work of our design and development team,’ Said Mr Strzelecki. ‘We are especially pleased to win the Eco Award as we believe the Blue Eco Jacket is positive first step on a long journey to become a more environmentally friendly company.’
Special Mentions
Musto was given the only Special Mention in the clothing category for its Active Base Layer, which is the company’s latest addition to its technical sailing collection.
And Kelvin Hughes received a Special Mention in the Marine Related Software category for its free to download Wiley Nautical Almanac that includes a directory of harbour, tidal and weather information for more than 150 harbours on the UK coast.
Breakfast Briefing
The DAME Awards are presented as part of the METS Breakfast Briefing which, this year, was due to have as its keynote speaker Michael Schmidt, founder of HanseYachts. Mr Schmidt, however, was taken ill and so Thom Dammrich, president of the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) and the US National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) stepped in to offer his thoughts on what was, he said, a very challenging time for the leisure marine industry.
But he assured the attentive audience the industry had seen bad times before and there were signs that this downturn is coming to an end.
‘There are 17 million boats in use in the USA,’ he said, ‘and over 70 million adults went boating – 72 million in the 1996, the best year for the industry.’
But the downturn had seen the US industry dropping in terms of turnover from last year’s $33.6bn to an expected less than $30bn in 2009.
The major problem remains lack of credit, both for the wholesalers and dealers and the consumers trying to buy. And those consumers had experienced a loss of wealth as their house values fell.
This, coupled with rising unemployment – currently 10.2% in the US – and the rising cost of boats had all played their part in the downturn.
‘But these downturns run in 30 month cycles,’ said Mr Dammrich. ‘And October marked the 27th month of this downturn.’
Boat sales follow consumer confidence, house values and RV sales. According to Mr Dammrich, house values rose in July, as did RV sales. So the confidence should follow.
Likening the leisure marine industry to the Mark Twain quote that ‘rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated’, Mr Dammrich confidently predicted: ‘We should see a turnaround in the first quarter of 2010.’
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