The owner of KENSHŌ comments – “The construction of KENSHŌ has been an incredible personal journey for me. By my right hand, from the very start, has been Will Christie, someone I entrust in assisting me with all yachting related matters. Will and I worked together from original conceptual sketches made by ourselves to the incredible award-winning vessel we see on the water today. Helping to bring the right team together and handling the tender process and negotiations, Will has been an integral part in making my dream and vision a reality.”

Will Christie, CEO of Christie Yachts comments – “It was a great honour to have been involved in this project and see it all come together, not only to fulfil all the owner’s wishes, but also for the yacht to be recognized with the highest award in the Superyacht industry.  It has been the culmination of the huge enthusiasm and energy of a hands-on owner and the highly professional team that we brought together to make it happen.  On the path to designing this boat, the owner and I visited well over 100 yachts to see features that we felt would optimize living on board.  It was an incredible journey and a process involving the highest levels of attention to detail.  A huge congratulations must go to everyone involved as it was truly a great example of collaborative teamwork.”  

Boat International commented – “In selecting the winner of the coveted Motor Yacht of the Year award, our judges were faced with the unenviable task of choosing a single yacht from among the eight individual winners of the Semi-Displacement and Displacement Motor Yacht classes. Making this choice is not just a matter of choosing the largest yacht, nor the yacht that won its class by the greatest margin, as the judges are also required to consider how each of these vessels might have advanced the design, construction and appearance of future generations of yachts. After lengthy debate, the secret ballot revealed KENSHŌ – Japanese for “seeing one’s true nature” – to be the winner by a healthy margin, and while many factors influenced this decision, it was her owner-driven attributes that tipped the scales. In his bid to create a vessel that stood out from the crowd, the owner visited around 100 of the world’s landmark yachts, listing attributes that he particularly admired. High deckheads, calming room volumes, minimal side decks, and no main saloon were high on the resulting list presented to his designers, Netherlands-based Azure, and Germany-based archineers.berlin, who took on responsibility for naval architecture and exterior design. Parisian design studio Jouin Manku, meanwhile, created her stunning interior from a palette of soft natural tones in leather, teak, metal and glass. Added to her more visual attributes, Kenshō’s diesel-electric propulsion system with twin Veth azimuth drives, driven by Danfoss electric motors that draw their exact power needs from five variable-speed generators, was the icing on the cake for this splendid yacht, which certainly stands out from the crowd while reflecting the “true nature” of her owner.”