Page content
“Best of Boats Award”: Europe's biggest motorboat award is growing
The Best of Boats Award (BOB Award) will enter its 12th year in 2025: The partnership between the largest motorboat award in Europe and BOOT & FUN BERLIN, as premium partner and host of the prestigious awards ceremony on 27 November in Germany's capital, has just been confirmed again.
At the same time, there are news about the prestigious BOB Award jury, which, since its inception in 2014, has been made up of the best motorboat journalists from the most important European boat magazines. In hundreds of boat tests over the course of the test year, they work together to find the best motorboats, each of which goes into series production.
Now the BOB-jury is growing for the new testing season: Chiara Riveruzzi (Italy), Geoffroy Langlade (France) and BOB founding member Gerasimos Gerolimatos (Greece), who has returned after a long break, will join the international team of experts for the 2025 watersports season. This means that the renowned Best of Boats Awards jury now has 15 members, representing more countries than ever before – from Spain to Poland, from Finland to Greece.
Three boat specialists – one shared idea
What unites the three very different new BOB boat writers is that they all share their expertise working for the most prestigious boat magazines in their countries. Chiara Riveruzzi from Rome has been writing for the Italian high-class magazine ‘Mondo Barca Market’ for over a decade. In her free time, she is also an active scuba diver.
In his 30-year career as a boat journalist between Paris and Nice, Geoffroy Langlade has founded boat magazines, headed up editorial teams and presented maritime topics as a TV host. Today, he is the editor in chief of ‘Boat Heroes’, one of the most successful new French boat magazines. Being part of the Best of Boats Award is perfect match for Geoffroy Langlade – because of the ‘high quality of the jury, the friendly atmosphere and the diversity of the journalists and countries represented’.
And with the new test year, a man from the first hour of BOB is also back on board: Gerasimos Gerolimatos was part of the founding generation of the Best of Boats Award in 2014. The Greek water sports journalist, publisher of the magazine ‘Skipper On Deck’ and organiser of the Olympic Yacht Show in Athens is once again a BOB jury member. One reason for this is the new category ‘Best Big Boats’, because large motor yachts over 45 feet for ‘GG’ are the best-known segment.
Hundreds of tests all over Europa, public voting is back
The three female and twelve male jurors from all over Europe and the USA will once again take the most interesting new boats of the 2025 model year out for test drives during the upcoming boating season – and have a thorough look on them. What the BOB sets apart from other awards: Without exception, the new products are tested by at least five jurors representing all the major European boat-building nations and cruising areas.
The best powerboats of the year are then ranked and selected in a neutral, standardised evaluation from the several hundred boat tests under real conditions. Shipyards can make the jury members’ tightly scheduled programme until the summer even tighter with an application of their own newly launched boats.
The best boats of the year in six categories then go on to the final round of the Best of Boats Award 2025. This year’s finalists will be announced in late summer, just in time for the in-water boat shows in Werder – BOOT & FUN INWATER (29-30 August) – and in Cannes, where many of the boats will once again be seen in their element.
Following the Europe-wide public voting by boat fans on bestofboats.com, which celebrated its successful premiere last year, and the top-secret jury voting, the winning boats will be officially selected on the opening day of BOOT & FUN BERLIN 2025. Representatives of all boatyards, the jury and numerous guests are expected again this year.
The timing of the Best of Boats Awards 2025 at a glance
Announcement of the finalists: 1 September 2025
Start of public voting: 1 October 2025
Announcement of the winners: 27 November 2025
Save the date: BOOT & FUN INWATER and BOOT & FUN BERLIN 2025
From 29 to 31 August 2025, water tourists and water sports enthusiasts will meet at BOOT & FUN INWATER in Werder an der Havel, when boats will be presented for the eighth time on the Großer Zernsee. From 27 to 30 November 2025, BOOT & FUN BERLIN will return to the halls of the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, traditionally opening with the GALA-NACHT DER BOOTE.
Print-quality images of BOOT & FUN BERLIN for editorial use are available in our media database.
You can find logos for your own use in the press section of BOOT & FUN.
Further information about BOOT & FUN BERLIN can be found online at www.boot-berlin.de, on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
About BOOT & FUN BERLIN
Water sports, outdoor adventures, camping fun – in the heart of Europe's largest region for water sports, BOOT & FUN offers event highlights covering all aspects of leisure and adventure in, on and around water. BOOT & FUN INWATER invites water sports enthusiasts to Werder an der Havel every year in late summer. The open-air boat show offers an atmospheric mix of the latest boats, test drives and sales pagodas along the picturesque promenade of Marina Havelauen. BOOT & FUN BERLIN traditionally invites visitors to the Berlin Exhibition Grounds at the end of November for the huge end-of-season event. The halls under Funkturm Berlin are organised according to theme worlds and offer a wide range of water sports and outdoor trends. From summer lifestyle- and test event in the Havelauen of Werder (Havel) to the huge end-of-season event for the water sports scene in the exhibition halls under Funkturm Berlin – BOOT & FUN is not just the “place-to-be” for fans of water sports and water tourism – fishing enthusiasts, campers and outdoor fans also get their money's worth here. Together with Europe's largest trade show on the trend topic of angling – ANGLING WORLD BERLIN –, AUTO CAMPING CARAVAN and Transporter Tage Berlin, BOOT & FUN BERLIN is Germany's largest boat and leisure trade show for water sports, angling, outdoor and camping. www.boot-berlin.com
About Messe Berlin
Berlin has been a trade fair destination for 200 years, and has been one of the most important such hubs for many decades. Messe Berlin – the state’s own trade fair company – conceives, markets and organizes hundreds of live events every year. It strives to be an outstanding host for visitors at all events, generate optimal business stimuli, and provide fair conditions for everyone. This concept is reflected in the company slogan: Messe Berlin – Hosting the World.