We celebrate the well-deserved winners of the 2020 Motor Boat Awards, as chosen by our select group of judges
Judge’s Special Award
Sponsored by
Winner: Bernard Olesinski
Not many naval architects have made the transition from industry insider to household name, but Bernard Olesinski is undoubtedly one of them. Such is the extent of his back catalogue that you can flick through any issue of Motor Boat & Yachting from the last 45 years and almost guarantee to find a reference to the remarkable seakeeping of some or other “Olesinski-designed hull”.
Best known for his pioneering work on the medium vee hull, he has helped thousands of boat owners enjoy the benefits of craft that combine the sea-keeping and soft-ride of a deep vee design with the stability, volume and efficiency of a more easily-driven medium vee one.
It’s no exaggeration to say that his expertise in this area helped put both Fairline and Princess on the map in the 1970s and went on to seal their reputations for building boats with exceptional seakeeping.
From the iconic Fairline Turbo to the hugely popular Princess 45 and game-changing 25M, his back catalogue is littered with smash hits. Many of these older boats are now considered classics of their era but rather than resting on his laurels, he has kept Olesinski Design at the forefront of the industry. The company he founded still plays a key role designing the current and future range of Princess Yachts.
Its latest project, the Princess X95 Superfly, promises to push the boundaries of design just as boldly as his earlier concepts did 48 years ago. So although the Judges’ Special Award can be given for a single work of genius or a lifetime’s worth of hard graft, Bernard Olesinski merits it on both counts for a long and still flourishing career littered with examples of outstanding genius.
