Madame Gu Wins Two Awards
Madame Gu was the worthy winner of two awards at the ShowBoats Design Awards in Austria last night. The 99m metre Feadship motoryacht beat strong competition to win the Exterior and Styling Award and the Tender Design Award. This was a fabulous result for Andrew Winch and his team, who designed both the interior and exterior design, as well as the tenders. It is also of note to followers of new superyacht company Cecil Wright and Partners, set up last summer by Chris Cecil-Wright who himself had a key role in the development of this stunning yacht prior to starting the business.
Chris has a longstanding relationship with Feadship, having been responsible for the construction of some of the largest Feadships in recent years. Chris personally sold the concept of a new build yacht to the owner of Madame Gu, then assembled the build team, oversaw the writing of the specification, negotiated the build contract and managed the build. He even managed to extend the size of her from 88m to 99m after contracts were signed, but luckily before construction had started.
She has unquestionably the most comprehensive specification and the richest and most detailed interior of any yacht afloat today. Even some of her most famous features can be traced back to Chris – he made the suggestion of utilising the space left when the helicopter vacated its hanger for an onboard squash court. This advice was duly acted upon, and she is still the only superyacht with its very own squash court.
Having clocked up endless hours around the table with clients, designers, architects, joiners, and interior designers, Chris knows the level of work that goes into the negotiation of a new build project, in some cases years before hull construction starts. His role is to bring together a ‘dream team’ who will create a yacht which as unique and high –spec as budget will allow – and this is certainly the case with Madame Gu.