The 2016 Motor Boat Awards, sponsored by Pantaenius and hosted by Motor Boat & Yachting and YBW.com, are the industry's ultimate definition of excellence. Known informally as the Oscars of the motor boat world, the nine awarded honours are amongst the most coveted.
For its 10th anniversary, the Motor Boat Award ceremony was held on January 11 at the Rosewood hotel in London, a restored Edwardian mansion that now serves as one of the city’s paramount luxury hotels.
Competition was particularly fierce this year across all categories, but it was an exciting and triumphant evening for Group Beneteau—Monte Carlo Yachts’ parent company— which saw it take home the Flybridge Up To 60ft award for the Monte Carlo 6 as well as a special mention for Monte Carlo Yachts new flagship, the MCY 105, as “Highly recommended” in the Custom Yachts category.
Furthermore, we’ll proudly remember the British awards for a very special celebration of Monte Carlo Yacht’s president Carla Demaria whose thirty year career in the boating business was recognised with the Judge’s Special Award for her work with both Monte Carlo Yachts and UCINA (the Italian Marine Industry Association) that Carla also serves as president.
In the words of the Motor Boat Awards panel:
“It takes a person of extraordinary vision and bravery to launch a new luxury motor yacht brand into the teeth of a global recession but Carla Demaria has never been afraid of a challenge. After a distinguished 20-year career working her way up through the ranks of the Azimut Group to head up the Atlantis brand, she took the bold decision to quit her job in 2008 and launch Monte Carlo Yachts with the personal backing of Bénéteau’s leading lady Annette Roux.
The first fruit of her labour, the MCY 76, emerged just two years later, winning our Motor Boat of the Year award for flybridges over 55ft in its first year on sale in one of the most hotly contested areas of the market.
Carla’s focus on innovation and her personal passion for both design and technology has been the driving factor behind Monte Carlo Yachts’ success ever since. In the intervening years she has overseen four more successful MCY model launches, helped turnaround the Bénéteau Group’s fortunes as its general manager, and taken on her most challenging role yet as president of the board of UCINA, the Italian marine industry association. We don’t even need to mention that she is one of the few women to have made it to the very top of an industry still dominated by men, her achievements would speak for themselves whatever her gender. “
“As long as I keep learning I will not get old” were Carla Demaria’s warm and inspiring words upon accepting the award on this night to remember. Words that in many ways speak to what Monte Carlo Yachts is truly about: constant innovation and a ceaseless drive to address every challenge and exceed every objective.