The DAME Award Winner and Category Winners for 2014 were announced this morning at the Breakfast Briefing ahead of METS – the Marine Equipment Trade Show.

The DAME Awards brings together many of the important global marine product launches of the year with world recognised experts in boat and industrial design and construction.

The DAME Jury inspected 116 entries from 23 countries. It nominated a total of 45 products from this field for consideration in the final judging rounds.

The Jury decided that six products were of high enough quality to win in their respective categories when moderated across the whole field of DAME Award entries.

Seabung, as featured in Practical Boat Owner‘s November issue New Gear pages, was credited as being this year’s stand out example of a simple idea to address a known issue.

Designed to enable a seacock to be replaced with a boat still in the water, the Seabung device uses a flexible dome mounted on a post with integrated safety lanyard eyelet.

This enables a boat owner to push the Seabung through a skin fitting to seal the dome against its outside flange.

Seabung director John Ford said: ‘I was very surprised to win a Dame Award. We only entered last minute. I’m amazed.’

Exposure Marine’s revolutionary new MOB (man over board) light achieved top honours in the Life Saving and Safety Equipment category.

Glomex weBBoat 4, as featured in the PBO’s December 2014 New Gear pages, won the Electronics and Marine Related Software category.

Marinco by BEP’s Pro-Installer EZ-Mount Battery Switches scooped the Machinery, Propulsion, Mechanical and Electrical Systems and Fittings award. The Jury really appreciated the simplicity
and ease of installation of this product; instead of working from the rear of the switch, you install the base, connect the cables and then attach the actuator and cover.

From the six category winners, an ultimate DAME Award winner was chosen: the Jefa Steering Traveller, which removes the need for bulky steering quadrants and improves rudder feedback at the helm for twin rudder, twin wheel sailing yachts.

The Jury also identified 12 Special Mentions (non-winning products that nevertheless merit commendation).

Chairman of the DAME Awards Jury, Bill Dixon said: ‘Developing new, well designed and innovative products is very difficult for relatively low manufacturing volumes.

‘Nevertheless many of the companies that we recognised in this year’s nominations have looked at a problem, found a new and interesting way to solve it and come up with a confident solution.’

Pictures: Seabung director John Ford and designer Sam Ford; Exposure Marine’s Tom Harrop with their award