Vela e Motore Boat of the Year Award

The Vela e Motore awards recognize the best boats of the year in a selection of three accolades and take into consideration aspects such as safety, comfort, functionality and design. The awards are usually held in corroboration with the Venice Boat Show.

Vela e Motore is the oldest Italian nautical publication that was established in 1923. Hosting its first annual Boat of the Year award ceremony in 2001, there are three awards presented at the event which are;

Superyacht (boat or shipyard present at the fair)
Product or vessel (present at the fair)
Special mention (product not present at the fair)

Although performance and style do account for the presentation of awards, the Vela e Motore ceremony prides itself on commending the shipyards, and indeed the superyachts, that act as ambassadors in pushing forward the movement towards a greener yachting industry.

A superyacht berthed in the Giudecca canal in Venice

The philosophy of the Award is innovation, i.e. the ability to interpret the boat in a sustainable but concrete way.
Venice Boat Show

With nominations put to the general public through a voting system, a set of rigorous tests are completed by an independent panel of industry experts. who come from all aspects of yachting.

Often including leading designers, professors from leading Italian universities, and executives of industry publications, the judges hand-pick the winners based on the in-depth analysis of each finalist.

To find out more about the nominations, and indeed any past and present winners, of the Vela e Motore awards, browse our comprehensive listing of all yachts for sale.