Our Team & partners
Benoit Marie
Obsessed with boat design, Benoit is the engineer and designer behind SKAW. He started his sailing career offshore but his interest is on fast crafts. Speed freak from his childhood, he loves just about as much drawing lines of a disruptive concept or throwing around a foiling boat at full speed. Winning races, flying offshore, surrounded by teams of excellence, Benoit has always been happy to share his knowledge and experience. So now he wants to bring the technology develloped on such crazy and complicated sailing machines to much simpler and safer cruising boats. Fast, fun and disruptive, just like his SKAW concepts.
Maxime laroque
Maxime is our Junior Naval Architect at SKAW. Maxime holds a double degree in Engineering from Arts et Métiers ParisTech - and Naval Architecture from ENSA Nantes. He is passionate about ship design and construction and has gained expertise in the field through his studies and previous professional experiences. Maxime joined as an intern and stayed in the company, fitting perfectly in the team, bringing his joy, passion, technical skills and dedication to every project he works on, on a daily basis !
Clément bercault
The SKAW Paradise adventure really started the day Clément met Benoit. Both felt there were huge room for improvements in cruising boats. so they started drawing lines of what has now become the Model [A]. Naval architect and product designer, Clément worked 7 years at Beneteau's design office, as project manager of 4 "boat of the year" winning award products. He brings his expertise in designing series compatible products as well as its huge talent for finding harmony both in and outside the boat. Hands in hands we work on bringing our disruptive ideas to the water. And it is only the beginning ! Together we created a strong team ready top bring novelty to yacht design. And we just can’t wait to show you our next projects…
sam manuard
Another pure talent in the team. Sam knows how to draw harmonic lines, and we believe that beautiful lines sails fast. He went from being a successful sailor to a renowned naval architect. Everything he designs goes on to win. You can check yourself his Mini 6.50, Class 40 and Imoca pedigree ! We just can't wait to see Alinghi America's Cup flying AC75, but we are convinced he is a strong asset in that team. Working with Sam is such a pleasure ! Together we successfully designed the foiling Mini Nicomatic and we seriously hope to partner again for other winning projects !
Knd Marine
Having participated in all kind of high level sailboat racing such as the America's Cup and the top level offshore racing, the team at KND, including Dimitri Nicolopoulos, Roland Kleiter and Valentin Le Pivert is our partner of choice when it comes to knowing how fast a boat can be sailed. They can predict it while the boat is still being designed and optimized via their high fidelity Velocity Prediction Program and Computerized Fluid Dynamics setup, and replay the training sessions to extract the valuable datas collected, to ensure our polars are up to dates and boats used in the fastest ways.
pierre-yves tinel
Pierre-Yves is a rock that help us manage the business side of SKAW. From managing the team to successfully present our projects to clients and investors, via setting up a viable business that matches our vision, he brings a wealth of experience to our team. Until 2022 Pierre-Yves was in the industry as the Regional Director for OTIS Construction Elevator. Since then he joined us as an independent business consultant. In addition to his impressive professional background, Pierre-Yves is also an avid sailor : he participated in the 2005 Transquadra transatlantic sailing race but also was a member of the French Sailing Team for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games preparation. We are thrilled to have Pierre-Yves on our team, as he brings a wealth of expertise and diverse experiences that enrich our approach to every project we undertake.
JEAN-MARC PIATON
Jean-Marc Piaton, is a renowned Design Consultant. With extensive experience in design, Jean-Marc has worked with various clients including Total, Repsol, Atos Euronext, and L'Oréal, to name a few. He is the founder of Piaton & Associés, a design agency specializing in brand image consulting, design, and packaging. Jean-Marc helped us refine the disruptives lines, style and values of our first SKAW, bringing his expertise and its unique creative vision to our team. His keen eye for details has resulted in cutting-edge designs that have helped us stand out from the market.
MAGDALENA FEDEROWICZ BOULE
Owner of TREMEND, award winning Architecture company in Poland, with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture & planning industry. Skilled in Construction, Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Green Building, and Architectural Design. Strong business development professional with a Architect Engineer focused in Architecture from Warsaw University of Technology. Magdalena has notably created an interior rendering on the early on 32-foot version of the SKAW. The brief was « create something that no longer looks like a yacht interior, but rather a cosy « bistrot » or a place with a young, stylish and strong personality ». And the result is eye catching ! She helps us in our quest of being unique and we are very proud of partnering with such a talented successful architect.
Philippe presti
Philippe is renown for being the most successful coach in the world of sailing. Coaching America's Cup and SailGP winning teams, he is a shining diamond in a team. His experience is endless, having participated as a driver and skipper in all major sailing events such as the Olympic Games, the America's Cup and all the highest level competitions one can imagine. Philippe is always keen to help Benoit sail faster on the water via his technological advanced equipment. When there is a question, there is a solution. And our sailing guru Philippe knows it better.
christian dumard
Meteorologist and routing specialist of many offshore winning teams, Christian is our key partner when it comes to analyzing weather data. We use his statistic benchmarks across the ocean to ensure the vessels we design can win races in the most efficient way. Christian and Benoit have been working together since 2013 on the racing projects. His recognized expertise in his field makes him a strong asset in the team.
boris horel
Boris is a pure scientist. He did his PHD modelizing the behavior of a ship in waves, and is one of the very few in the world who can actually recreate the motion and behavior of yachts pushed by waves. He is so good he has been hired by INEOS Britannia America’s Cup to ensure their new boat will be up to speed. Boris has been in the team from day one, when he met Benoit in the wind Tunnel of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Together they set up the eco-friendly Vini Lab which has been a key to understanding what foil designs better suits the offshore Mini and thet led to the idea of the SKAW line. His passion for physics, sailing and his ability to think out of the box makes him a most valuable reference when it comes to ensuring our boats sails well. And we can’t be more thanksfull for all he has done with us, since it all started with him. We definitely look forward to working again with him in other state of the art projects !
Bruno Dauvier
A professor and researcher in Applied Mathematics to psychology, Bruno is also passionate about sailing. He has been assisting Benoit for years in analyzing on-board data, in order to find physical pairings parameters, winning strategies and trajectories, both on open waters and during training. He notably helped the French team for the 2017 America's Cup, Groupama Team France, and French SailGP team with their performance data analysis. Having a statistical expert on the team is always a valuable resource to turn to!