_Superyacht designer Andrew Winch on building some of the world's most expensive luxury boats
When Andrew Winch first founded Winch Design with his wife Jane in 1986, his ambition was simple – if perhaps a little unexpected: “It wasn’t to build the biggest thing, nor to be the best – but just to enjoy doing it.”
It’s a humble admission from the superyacht designer – but certainly a sincere one. Born and raised in the picturesque village of Bosham, Winch got his sea legs sailing in Chichester Harbour. “My father was not a yacht designer,” he tells us in the video above. “My mother was an artist and my father was an engineer [...] and those things came together in me.”
“They gave me [...] a passion for the sea and the freedom to go and do it. [They said] I could drift around and look at boats but I could do something better than this,” he adds.
He decided to pursue a career in the arts, initially studying Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, in London, with the intention of becoming a sculptor, before switching to 3D design. After setting his sights on yacht design, the college encouraged him to find a mentor in that field. “I was lucky and found myself talking to a man called Jon Bannenberg,” he says.
“His studio was like a toy shop,” says Winch, ruminating on his time with the icon of modern yacht design. The designer adds that “I fell in love with how he did business and he agreed, out of the blue, to be my tutor, which was a moment in life that changed everything for me.”
The late Bannenberg took Winch under his wing, encouraging him to work as a skipper and travel the world in order to learn more about yachting. After returning to shore, Winch would spend six years at Bannenberg’s pioneering studio before venturing out on his own, with full support from Bannenberg. Naturally, as with any business, it’s not always plain sailing.
“The mission statement when you start any business is survival.” He said. “You are trying to pay the bills, you are trying to pay the mortgage, you are trying to look after your family and children. Jane and I started the business with one daughter, Jessica and, on Sunday, she is due to have our first grandchild. That’s the evolution we’ve gone through.”
Today, Winch Design is not only recognised for designing some of the largest superyachts in the world, but also for its work in the worlds of architecture and aviation – including the design of Roman Abramovich’s Boeing 767.
But even at such dizzying heights, it’s Winch’s passion for design that endures and keeps him grounded. “I love it because it’s an environment that everyone lives in. To me, design is about space, comfort, environment and imagination – [creating that] ‘wow’ special moment,” he says.
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