Each year the marine industry awards the most innovative new products with the DAME awards, which are announced on the first day of METS. This year’s top award went to Italian manufacturers SCM for their Revolving Portlight. Sleek and smooth in its operation, the Jury’s report said the portlight “delivered an outstanding combination of inspired practicality, delightful aesthetics and first-class engineering.” The window frame of the Revolving Portlight opens and closes along the same plane as its fixed frame, eliminating the inherent problem in traditional portlight design - intrusion into the cabin space. A single rotation pin allows the window frame to be easily swung and safely secured at any position up to 110 degrees to the left or right of its closing station. The Jury added: ‘This exceptional design-led innovation will offer new and welcome options for designers looking to maximise internal volume, most notably in relation to curtain positioning, as well as for boat owners who will undoubtedly benefit from the Revolving Portlight’s ability to provide highly flexible ventilation management.”Revolving portlight

The DAME Jury, made up of well-respected industry professionals, inspected an initial 133 entries from 21 countries and then nominated 43 products to advance to the second round of judging. In determining the winners in eight categories, as well as the Overall Winner, the Jury took into account a number of factors, including design, styling, quality of construction, overall impact on the marine industry, suitability for its intended purpose, level of innovation, cost effectiveness, and favourable environmental impact.

The Jury's chairman, Bill Dixon, said he was delighted with the quality of this year’s entries. “The 2011 DAME Design Award entry list was one of the best we’ve seen in years and it was a real challenge trying to decide which nominated products should become the eventual winners. Each category had its fair share of diverse and well-executed ideas, and the judges’ favourites ranged from simple gadgets to highly engineered machinery. Although manufacturers are clearly very conscious of their price points during these difficult economic times, it was great to see that the marine industry is still as inspired and creative as ever.”