Aleksandra Orescanin has been crowned the winner of the Young Designer of the Year Award 2025, in association with Feadship, after the judging panel singled out her yacht design ‘Zazi’ and praised it as "a very rounded concept."
The 2025 Young Designer of the Year competition challenged participants to stretch their creativity and technical skills. Entrants were asked to envision themselves as recent graduates working at Feadship, tasked with designing a yacht for an existing Feadship owner eager to explore beyond the Mediterranean.
The brief called for a seaworthy, long-range expedition vessel capable of navigating remote and high-latitude regions like the Northwest Passage. The yacht also needed to accommodate scientists for ocean conservation missions and include research facilities and helicopter-carrying capabilities, all while retaining the luxury and comfort synonymous with the Feadship brand.
This year, the submissions were of an exceptionally high caliber, making it a challenging task for the judges to select the six finalists and, ultimately, a winner. But, after many hours of studying the submissions, followed by a day-long meeting to discuss and share their views, Aleksandra Orescanin from South Africa was unanimously declared the winner.
According to the judges, her well-presented design included an "exterior design concept that was functional and rugged, suiting the role of the expedition yacht that the client required. She cleared the first hurdle where many others had failed by reading the question thoroughly and putting a great deal of thought into how best to achieve the client's wishes."
They added that Zazi's general arrangement was also "extremely well conceived and professionally drawn and both the digital and hand drawn renderings were very precise and detailed." The judges offer their sincere congratulations.
For more information about the Young Designer of the Year Award, contact the BOAT International events team.