The Awards

Having worked for a group of regional newspapers in the UK, Ed joined IBI in 1999, taking on the role of editor in 2005. Following an MBO of the magazine and its affiliate websites, IBI-Plus and IBInews.com, in April 2017, he became Editorial Director of IBI parent company Boating Communications.

James Grazebrook OBE was President of the British Marine Federation and of the European Marine Industries Group. He built his own marine engineering business, Halyard, over 30 years before selling this in 2011. Under his ownership the company became a world leader in reducing noise for large marine diesels and a key supplier to builders of pleasure and commercial craft internationally. James retired in 2015.

Sailing has been his passion since he was a teenager. He graduated in History at La Sorbonne in Paris, although he was more often found on the Channel between Saint-Malo and Cowes, competing in all races like the Fasnet race. After university, Michel worked as an assistant for a member of the French parliament for four years. He started his journalism career in 1997. For the duration of one year, he worked as a freelance journalist for Voile Magazine. He then joined Moteur Boat as an editor in 1998 before becoming deputy editor in chief two years later. Since 2003 he is the editor in chief of Neptune Yachting Magazine, a leading French high end boating magazine.

Lars-Åke Redéen is a Swedish boating journalist and editor-in-chief of Batliv Magazine since 1990. He has been working as responsible editor for both the Swedish Boating Union (consumer magazine) and Sweboat (B2B) for many years and has contributed to the IBI News since mid 90´ies. Lars-Åke studied journalism at the University of Gothenburg before starting his career as a daily newspaper journalist, later a car magazine editor and then he moved to the boating business. For several years he was chairman for the jury at the former Scandinavian Boat Show in Stockholm.

Klaus has started his career as a boat builder craftsman in southern Germany, completing his education with an education in "Yacht- and Powercraft Design" in Southampton. He is now actively both designing and surveying yachts. In his role as a consultant he serves the industry at levels of standardisation, administration and compliance.

Hugo Andreae is the editor of Motor Boat & Yachting magazine, Europe’s oldest and most respected motor boat magazine. After 15 years as a motoring journalist working on Autocar and the Daily Express, he moved from land to sea to become editor of Motor Boats Monthly magazine in 2002. Two years later he took the helm of Motor Boat & Yachting, pushing it to new heights with the launch of the Motor Boat of the Year Awards in 2006 and SuperYacht World magazine in 2007. As well as an experienced marine journalist and magazine editor he remains a passionate motor boat owner and windsurfer.

Craig Ritchie began writing about the leisure boating industry in the late 1980s. After three decades of magazine work, most recently as Director of Editorial at a major Canadian publishing firm, he took an early retirement package and established his own communications company. Craig joined IBI as its North America correspondent in 2012.

Davide Cipriani, president of yacht design engineering at Centrostiledesign srl, developed a love for boating in his childhood. He became passionate about the design world and soon began a career path in the 27-year-old family industrial design business focused on the marine industry, working with his father, Tiziano. Davide now manages the company, taking care of its customers and its 40 employees.