2012 FLIBS: AIM Media Announces Boat Show Awards at Gala

The 2012 (AIM) Active Interest Media Marine Group Editor’s Choice Awards were held at the W Hotel, with Madame Annette Beneteau-Roux taking home the Lifetime Achievement Award and Robert C. Arzbaecher, CEO of Actuant Corp., receiving the Good Samaritan Award.

The event, which had been scheduled for Nova Southeastern University’s Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystem Research but was moved because of the weather, was pulled off without a hitch as AIM honored the marine industry’s best of 2012.

“We came to the people at the W Hotel 24 hours ago and said, ‘Hey, we need to have an event 24 hours from now,’ and they made it all fine. They did an amazing job,” Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, chief executive of Active Interest Media,  told a crowd of about 300 at the dinner.

Zimbalist joked while presenting Beneteau-Roux her award that once in a while a resume takes 45 minutes to read, but that amount of time wouldn’t approach the icon’s influence on the industry.

Beneteau-Roux highlighted to guests the many positive changes that have occurred in the business of boating. “The boating industry has come a long way since the 1960s,” she said.

Arzbaecher’s award was for a rescue he and his crew made during the Chicago to Mackinac race in 2011.

A video of Nova Southeastern’s research and work was shown to help the audience better understand the coral reef research center’s mission.

The center has created 22 new academic jobs and 300 construction jobs and will employ 50 graduate students, as well as preserving 22 existing academic jobs. Nova Southeastern received a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce (using funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) to build the center, and the university funded the rest of the project.

Celebrity chef Steve Martorano catered the Editor’s Choice Awards and judged Galley Wars, a competition at the show that featured yacht chefs facing off against one another.

Read more about the event in the December issue of Soundings Trade Only.

The AIM Marine Group Editor’s Choice Awards recipients were:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Annette Beneteau-Roux

Good Samaritan Award: Robert C. Arzbaecher, CEO, Actuant Corp.

Best Overall Boat of the Year: Ocean Alexander 120

Most Innovative New Design: Wider 44

Best New Builder: Belize Yachts by Riviera

Most Innovative New Sailboat: Sig 45 catamaran

Most Innovative New technology: Twin Disc Express Joystick

AIM Green Award: Greenline 40

Best Center Console

• Less than 30 feet: Boston Whaler 210 Montauk

• 30-40 feet: Contender 30 ST

• 40-plus feet: Intrepid 400

Best Down East

• 25-35 feet: Hinckley T34

• 35-45 feet: Hunt 44

• 45-55 feet: Sabre 48

• 55-65 feet: Grand Banks 55 Eastbay

• 65-plus feet: Palm Beach 65

Best Passagemaker

• 30-40 feet: Beneteau Swift Trawler 34

• 40-50 feet: Magellano 43

• 50-60 feet: Krogen 52

• 60-70 feet: Nordhavn 63

• 70-80 feet: Outer Reef 70

• 80-100 feet: Marlow 97

Best Tender

• Under 20 feet: Rendova XT 15

• Over 20 feet: Protector 30

Best Sportfish

• 40-49 feet: Cabo 44

• 50-59 feet: Viking 55

• 60-plus feet: Viking 66

Best Import Motoryacht

• 20-30 feet: Riva 27 Iseo

• 30-40 feet: Princess V39

• 40-50 feet: Sealine SC42

• 50-60 feet: Maritimo M58

• 60-70 feet: Fairline 60 Squadron

• 70-80 feet: Monte Carlo 70

• 80-90 feet: Ferretti 870

• 90-100 feet: Sanlorenzo 94

• 100-110 feet: Horizon 105

Best Domestic Motoryacht

• 20-30 feet: Cutwater 28

• 30-40: Christ-Craft 36

• 40-50: Cruisers 45 Cantius

• 50-60 feet: Sea Ray 510

• 60-70 feet: Marquis 630

• 80-100 feet: Pacific Mariner 85

Source: Tradeonlytoday — Reagan Haynes