Winner of the Superyacht UK Young Designer Competition on Placement at Pendennis Shipyard

Following his win at the Superyacht UK (SYUK) Young Designer Competition in January at the London Boat Show 2016, Dastinas Steponenas has now joined the team at Pendennis Shipyard to undertake his four-week work placement prize at the Falmouth-based yard.

Dastinas recently graduated with a First in Transport Design at Coventry University, which has launched the career of several esteemed yachts designers including Michael Leach and Mark Smith from Michael Leach Design.

Whilst at Pendennis Shipyard, he will be based within the technical drawing team, supporting them in preparing materials for several yachts that will be relaunched from the yard this month. He will also be working on the design of concept 70m Explorer Motor Yacht.

Although superyacht design was a portion of Dastinas’ degree course and has long been an interest of his, working at Pendennis Shipyard will provide more him with valuable insight into the reality of commercial yacht design. He explains the benefits of this experience, commenting: “At college we focus on aesthetics, the function of the yacht and the layout, but working alongside experienced technicians and engineers will enable me to understand more about the technical considerations of design. They have been advising me on considerations for complying with coding and regulations, as well as features that make a yacht more marketable. It is a bit like a chef inventing a new recipe – although he may have some great ideas, he needs to review the technical methods behind making it to ensure the flavours and textures actually work and customers like it!”

Dastinas has already completed a placement with Feadship and earned several accolades, including third place at the Yacht Design Talent Award at Monaco in 2015. He is also currently awaiting the results of the Steve Olney Awards, in which he is a finalist. Following his placement at Pendennis Shipyard, he is looking forward to exploring opportunities for a future career in the superyacht industry.