Metstrade Connect 2020 opened today with the announcement of the R&D Excellence in Adversity Award — a one-time replacement of its annual Dame awards.
Organizers said that Covid-19 restrictions made holding its annual Dame Awards an impossibility, considering the comprehensive interactions its judging panel would normally undertake with product entries.
The R&D Excellence in Adversity Award is meant to show how companies kept R&D efforts at the forefront, despite the hurdles imposed by the pandemic.
Dame jury chair Andre Hoek presented the overall prize to the Temo 450 electric outboard, a 450-watt (about 0.60 hp) portable motor — the unit weighs 11 pounds — ideal for small craft.
According to the company’s website, a 220-volt charger will provide 80 minutes of usage at cruise speeds. It is listed for 1,450 euro ($1,750) and began to ship to customers earlier this month.
“The Temo 450 is definitely new and something that none of the jury members had never seen before. A lot of research and development work was involved, which was our focus for this year’s special award,” said Hoek in a statement. “The TEMO is modern yet hints at long-tail motors in Asia and sculling oars on the transoms of small dinghies. It’s very special and we wish the company a lot of success with this really unique product.”
From the field of 47 entries, the short list of runners-up included:
• Seakeeper 1 (Seakeeper)
• Oscar One 320 (BSB Artificial Intelligence)
• B&G Nemesis (Navico)
• Furuno SCX 20 (Furuno)
“It’s hard to imagine Metstrade without the Dame, so we were all very pleased to be able to conceive and run this special R&D focused edition,” said Metstrade exhibition manager Sarah Westdijk. “Our special thanks go to the Jury for being so adaptable at quite short notice and to all companies who entered.”
