Published on: 18 November 2021
Volvo Penta has been announced as this year’s overall DAME Award winner for its Assisted Docking System, with Garmin claiming top honours in the heavily contested Marine Electronics and Marine Related Software category for its Surround View Camera System.
The DAME Award Jury recognised that Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking solution is the result of much research, development and extensive software and hardware design. The system is intuitive to use, even for novice users, with joystick control and a glass cockpit display to assist situational awareness. If the person at the helm needs more time to think, they can take their hand off the joystick and the boat holds its precise position, making it ideal for novice and nervous motor yacht drivers.
The Garmin Surround View Camera System continues the theme of making boating easier. It offers the same kind of 360° augmented reality picture of immediate surroundings that you get with birds-eye view cameras on newest generation cars.
Commenting on the result, Chair of the Jury, Andre Hoek stated: “The world has changed in so many ways since we last physically gathered as a Jury in 2019. “Pandemic restrictions have greatly heightened our appreciation of the environment. The lifestyle benefits of marine leisure are drawing in a whole new generation in a way that we could not have imagined just two years ago.
“Sustainable product lifecycle and making boating more accessible for novice users are critical design priorities as we move through this decade. It is appropriate therefore that the Jury selected the Volvo Penta Assisted Docking system as its DAME Award winner for 2021. This product is a brilliant example of how we can harness great design and evolving technology to safely remove barriers to entry.”
The winners were announced during the Breakfast Briefing on the opening day at METSTRADE. In a tribute to the DAME Awards’ 30th anniversary the ceremony featured all 29 previous winners, many of them British Marine members. It followed an engaging keynote from British circumnavigator, Dee Caffari, on the need to guard and improve the ocean environment.
Speaking at METSTRADE after the ceremony British Marine CEO, Lesley Robinson, said: “The DAME Awards is the most prestigious competition of its type globally. British Marine member companies have consistently featured among the winners throughout its 30-year history and it’s great to see Volvo Penta and Garmin continue that trend. Our congratulations to them both.
“The Breakfast Briefing set the scene for METSTRADE this year, with strong industry focus on making boating more accessible and sustainable, priorities that form two of our National Agenda pillars. We will continue to support our members as they research, develop and launch well designed products and services that meet these critical objectives.”