Meet the Winners of the 2025 Crew Creator Awards
For years, crew-launched businesses and charitable endeavors have been highlighted in these pages under taglines like “crew created” and “crew with a cause.” Now we’ve made it official with the first annual Crew Creator Awards.
The caliber of entries for the inaugural awards was outstanding, says Dockwalkeditor Erik Petersen, who chaired the judging process. This didn’t come as a big surprise; after all, crew are a pretty remarkable group. The top 0.1 percent don’t hire just anyone to maintain their favorite toys; yachting tends to recruit those with boundless talent and energy, toting more university degrees and specialist skills than one might think necessary to swab the deck. So it’s only natural that crew’s innate vivacity would spill over into business acumen, social-media influence and philanthropy.
The entries were whittled down to nine very worthy finalists in three categories, and from those emerged three exceptional winners. Here are those the judges deemed the best of the best.
Oceanform
Celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit, this category puts the spotlight on for-profit businesses started by crew or former crew in the last one to three years. The three finalists — Oceanform, Superyacht Nanny and Washdown — may operate in very different arenas (uniforms, crew coaching and placement, and cleaning products respectively), but they have all used lessons learned as yachting professionals to fill a void in the industry with a better product or service — which sparked much debate among the judges.
In the end, Oceanform edged out the competition, excelling in meeting the criteria of “growth demonstrated since the launch of the business,” with one judge remarking on just how impressive the company’s first-year turnover was.
The crew uniform company also received kudos for succeeding in a wildly competitive market and for its sustainability commitment and social media outreach. One judge had firsthand experience with crew trying on the clothing — “the feedback was amazing,” he said.
Oceanform was started by two crew who were frustrated with their uniforms, Julie Dahl Joergensen and William Nicholson, who last worked together on a 228-foot motor yacht. Calling their workwear “outdated and uncomfortable,” they also noted that the uniforms took too long to maintain, hence took time away from other duties. The premise was to create a new line of high-quality performance workwear with modern designs that would contribute to an ever-more responsible industry, reflecting superyachting’s evolving environmental values. “Starting a premium clothing company is tough, but starting a premium, responsible workwear company in one of the most demanding industries in the world is even tougher,” they said in their award application.
They rose to the challenge. The business launched in January 2024, and by the fourth quarter, sales were on a steep upward climb. No doubt contributing to this are partnerships with top brands like Musto and Henri-Lloyd and collaborations with influencers like Emery Wallerich (@thatyachtiegirl), who showed her nearly 800,000 followers on TikTok just how stretchy and comfy the kicky Wave Skort and Wave Dress (with integrated shorts!) were as she made beds to Dance Party with Beyoncé.
In addition, the business has committed to “a fully responsible supply chain,” producing the clothing in Europe using locally sourced fabrics made from recycled materials and eco-friendly finishes, all with an energy-efficient production process. And to top it all off, they donate one percent of revenue to ocean conservation initiatives.
Watch this space, Oceanform is only getting started and will likely be making more “waves” in seasons to come. ocean-form.com
The winner will receive a dedicated coaching class with judge and entrepreneur Edward Thomas, Founder and Director, Gym Marine Yachts & Interiors.
