Trans RINA, Vol 153, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jul - Dec 2011
DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATION: A HIGH SPEED COASTAL CRUISER FOR THE CHINESE LUXURY MARKET
S McCartan, Coventry University, UK J Roy, BMT Nigel Gee Ltd, UK R Starkel, Studio Starkel, Trieste, Italy (DOI No: 10.3940/rina.ijmd.2011.c1.1)
SUMMARY
China is the new market for superyachts, it is a developing country with a recent and exponentially growing interest in the leisure boat market, due to the developing cultural association with boats and luxury. High net worth individuals in China are discovering the excitement of speed and boating, often beginning their experience by purchasing a small motoryacht as a prelude to chartering and the eventual purchase of a superyacht. This discovery of speed and freedom on the water is in stark contrast to the well established European market, which has a considerable heritage of marine leisure culture. The Chinese cultural interpretation of a superyacht in terms of luxury and functionality is fluid, it will eventually become more defined as leisure boating becomes more established as a high status luxury activity.
This paper reports on a design project engaging in design-driven innovation through the application of technologically advanced high speed platform combined with the implementation of a culturally specific emotional design framework developed as part of the EBDIG (European Boat Design Innovation Group
www.ebdig.eu) project. Resulting in a high speed superyacht coastal cruiser for the Chinese market, which changes the design meaning associated with superyachts.
1. INTRODUCTION
China is the new market for superyachts, it is a developing country with a
recent and exponentially
growing interest in the leisure boat market, due to the developing cultural association with boats and luxury. High net worth individuals in China are discovering the excitement of speed and boating, often beginning their experience by purchasing a small motoryacht as a prelude to chartering and the eventual purchase of a superyacht. This discovery of speed and freedom on the water is in stark contrast to the well established European market, which has a considerable heritage of marine leisure culture. Faced with
rising operating costs,
Europeans tend to go slower on the water and discuss environmental concerns. Due to this cultural heritage and a well established superyacht market, Europeans have predefined concept of what a superyacht should be and how it should operate.
The Chinese cultural interpretation of a superyacht terms of luxury and functionality is fluid, eventually become more defined as leisure
it in will boating
becomes more established as a high status luxury activity. Building on the emotional design aspects of high speed boating and contemporary Chinese luxury, this paper reports on an industrial collaborative project which proposes to change the design meaning associated with superyachts by developing a high speed superyacht coastal cruiser for the Chinese market, based on the BMT SeaConn
Pentamaran platform. Thus pushing the
boundaries of superyacht design, at 65.6m LOA and a maximum speed of 70Knots the SeaConn platform has more in common with a speedboat that a superyacht. It was designed as a short-range fast passenger ferry.
1.1 DESIGN SCENARIO AND INNOVATION The
process of design-driven development and is not the fast innovation is an
exploratory research project, which aims to create an entire breakthrough product family. It occurs before product
brainstorming sessions that are typical of concept generation but a design investigation similar to technological research.
development of a design scenario through engaging with a range
of interpreters in technology or
[1] In essence, it is the and cultural
production. Knowledge is generated from immersion with the design discourse of the interpreter's groups. The process can be structured
unstructured and Boat Design is
dependent upon the nature of the relationship of the client with the interpreters. In the design project reported here, Coventry University
students
collaborated with a design studio (Studio Starkel) and a naval
architect practice (BMT Nigel Gee) using a
cultural research case-study to produce a design scenario based on a large high speed technical hull providing the technological push, with the cultural insight into boating proving a link to the behaviour of high speed small craft to provide a direction for the emotional design approach in the way that Alessi developed their kitchenware related to childhood memories, this
relates to the exhilaration of their early boating experiences of high speed crafts.
Luxury yachts for the Chinese market need a culturally focussed design approach due to the fact that owners need special permits to travel on their yachts between provinces and are restricted to China's coastal waters. In terms of design this translates to a removal of large sun decks, and the inclusion of mah-jong salons, karaoke machines, and large galleys in the interior. In comparing the behaviour of operational usage of luxury yachts
©2011: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects C-1 creative
design scenario
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