Inspired by the strength of fish scales, University of Sussex final year Product Design student, Lucy Hughes has devised a potential alternative to single-use plastic, made mainly from by-products of the fishing industry. Named "Marina Tex", Lucy's final year university project could potentially, she hopes, replace the single-use plastic film sometimes used in sandwich and tissue boxes. Lucy's fishy innovation is edible, home compostable rather than having to be composted industrially, doesn't contaminate soil and bio-degrades in 4-6 weeks, winning her this year's International James Dyson award, awarding her the grand sum of £32,000 in prize money which she plans to use to further develop the product. With an estimated 50 million tonnes of f...

  With a focus on ocean conservation, Kiwi Olympic sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have established Live Ocean, a New Zealand registered charity with one mission, to be a world-leading champion in ocean health.  Not afraid of pushing themselves to the limit, these boys may have taken on their biggest challenge yet.  By concentrating their efforts on positive change for the ocean, the charity sets out to support and invest in promising marine science, innovation, technology and marine conservation projects.  Inspiring and educating New Zealanders to change behaviour.  Named Live Ocean because that's what we all want, Burling said "New Zealand should be a world leader in ocean health. We have over four million square kilometres of ocean so what...

Fire ripped through two luxury yachts on Saturday night, moored at Universal Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale.  More than 60 firefighters were dispatched to the fire at approximately 4.43am following the 911 call.  With flames and smoke visible for miles, firefighters boarded boats parked on the canal to try and tackle the flames. Both yachts were in the yard for interior work, painting and were fully wrapped at the time. Painting was nearly completed and both yachts were scheduled to leave the yards within 3 weeks. Luckily the crew had already left the yachts earlier the night before, so there was no one on board 161-foot Trinity Lohengrin and the 107-foot Christiansen Reflection.  The former estimated to be worth approximately $12 million and the latter approximately h...

Ranked in third place in the world, but still growing, the UK's superyacht industry has recently seen growth for its 6th year in a row, with Superyacht UK reporting that two thirds of businesses in the industry are confident that the future continues to look bright. That's pretty good going, given all the uncertainty around the UK's impending withdrawal from the EU.  It's great that international demand still looks mainly stable, in part due to the pound being weaker, but also due to a significant increase in turnover in 2017/18, with £520m in GVA (gross value added) contributing to the UK's GDP (gross domestic product).  With the UK a proud leader in superyacht design and manufacturing, it's no surprise we're curr...

We thought we'd show you what a typical day onboard a superyacht looks like, if you're in between charters. Obviously the way each yacht is run differs from one to the next, but just to give you an idea of what the day includes, how many hours you'll be working and the sort of thing you'll be doing, this is what the interior/ deck crew might typically be doing in between guests, to get the boat cleaned up and ready for the next charter. 7am – Rise and Shine Get up, wash, get your crew uniform on (Off-Guest Uniform in-between charter) and have breakfast in the crew mess. Drop your laundry in the laundry room, separate lights and whites from darks and pop your uniform in the laundry for the daily wash.  Fresh uniform will be delivered to your cabin later. 745am &ndash...

Back in June, EU Regulation 2019/880 became official, meaning the import of ancient art works, books, manuscripts and antiques within the EU just got harder.  Bad news for organised crime groups and terrorists trying to make money from the import and export of valuable ancient goods, but also for legitimate auction houses, small art galleries and bona fide traders. Brought in to combat looting, theft and the illegal trafficking of antiquities in war-torn countries and unstable regions, the regulation won't be fully effective until 2024–2026, but the industry is concerned that come 2026 it will become virtually impossible to import antiquities within the 28 EU nations for legitimate small and medium sized businesses? In practical terms, the regulation means a restricti...

You must have captured some amazing photos on your smartphone whilst at sea, but what about those films?  Do you have an inner Scorsese, Spielberg, Coppola or Campion just dying to break out and show the world your creative filmmaking prowess?  Perhaps you've already captured something beautiful, creative or downright amazing you think worthy of entering and maybe even winning the yachting industry's first ever annual yacht film festival? Well, now's your chance! The Adrift Film Festival, the only film festival for content creators on yachts, opens in Fort Lauderdale on October 23, showcasing video submissions from anyone (yes anyone!) involved in the yachting industry.  Your categories are:  Best Short Film: up to 3mins Best Long Film: 3 ...

  We had a fantastic day out this weekend at the 51st Southampton International Boat Show, powered by Borrow A Boat, with over 600 global marine brands on display and debuts from over 330 boats. Mayflower Park, Southampton annually turns into one of Europe's largest purpose-built marinas, impressively hosting one of the world's top 10 boat shows.  Open from 13th to 22nd September this year's Boat Show was opened by British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medal holder James Cracknell who admitted to only recently getting into a different kind of watersport. The boat show has many glorious and glamorous superyachts on display with visitors free to peruse the latest in breathtaking engineering, interior design and innovation.  Sunseeker ha...

Yotspot: So Shore Side Pursers, we would love to hear about your new business. Khara; Shore Side Pursers: Shore Side Pursers is a new business whereby we can achieve all admin related tasks remotely forany yacht. We can cover the period when captains/pursers are on their vacation time or take overthe full purser role remotely. We can tailor our services to each individual yacht programspecifically. Yotspot: So how did this business concept come about? Sophie; Shore Side Pursers: This idea materialized when we were both executing the purser position. From our own experienceas well as others, often, the purser would be inundated with overflow work whilst on their vacationtime. What we came to realise, was that we were able to complete all administrative tasks remotely whenhaving certa...

"She of the Sea" founder Jenny Matthews and partner, Natasha Ambrose are thrilled to be joining the 1851 Trust, a Portsmouth based education charity, on their Ineos sponsored America's Cup STEM Roadshow, visiting secondary schools around the UK from this month. Joining a panel of inspirational women, all leaders in their field, to engage with young women about the diversity of career opportunities in the maritime industry.  Not just the obvious interior jobs either, but exciting opportunities for women in technology, engineering, science and navigation. 1851 Trust, an innovative education charity, has developed the roadshow specifically to inspire young people.  Using the power of professional sport to challenge perceptions and excite them about the my...