Japec Jakopin

Japec Jakopin
Born 19 April 1951
Brežice, Slovenia
Residence Ljubljana, Slovenia
Occupation Senior founder of Seaway
Years active 1974 - present
Spouse(s) Nataša Jordan (m. 1974–92) (divorced)
Maruša Mohorč (m. 1998)
Children Tilen, Eva, Jakob, Gitica and Jadran

Japec Jakopin (pron. Yapets Yacopeen), born 19 April 1951, is the senior founder of Seaway, a pleasure boat design and development company based in Slovenia. He is most known as a yacht concept designer.[1] [2]

Early life and education

Jakopin was born in 1951 in Brežice, Slovenia. The family lived in the nearby village of Leskovec pri Krškem.[3]

Japec began diving at the age of six and learned to sail by the age of 13.[4] After graduating from the Medical school at the University of Ljubljana in 1974 he pursued an academic career at that school's Institute of Physiology and at the University Medical Centre, Department of Intensive Internal Medicine. In 1977 he obtained a Master's degree in cardiology, of problems connected to cardiac arrest, also during freediving, in 1980 a PhD and in 1981 the title academic specialist in cardiology.[5][2] In 1983 he resigned from his academic (and medical) career because of political issues.[4]

Yacht design

During his academic years Jakopin spent his weekends in the Croatian seaside town of Punat building do-it-yourself boats, and later learned the charter yacht business.[4] After leaving the medical profession in 1983 Japec, together with his younger brother Jernej, founded J&J Design, a yacht design studio.[6]

In 1983 they designed the Elan 31 sailing boat for the Elan sporting goods factory of Begunje, Slovenia, followed by Elan 33. Between 1983 and 1987 Elan sold 940 units of the Elan 31, Elan 33 and Elan 43, increasing its marine sales from DEM 2 million to DEM 32 million.[4] In 1987, Japec took a marketing and sales manager job at the French sailboat and powerboat builder Jeanneau where he stayed until 1990. In the meantime J&J Design continued designing boats for Jeanneau and several other European boatyards.[4]

Seaway

In 1989 the two brothers founded Seaway to expand J&J Design activities to engineering, tooling and prototyping for boat manufacturers. By January 2014 they designed and tooled 270 different models of sailing boats and powerboats, of which 65,000 units were produced by diverse boatbuilders including Beneteau, Jeanneau and Bavaria.[1][7] Over 60 of these designs have earned 'Boat of the Year', as well as Design and Environmental awards.[1]

Seaway also produced a limited number of high-class yachts and powerboats, the Shipman carbon sailboat line from 2002 and Skagen powerboat line from 2004.[7][8] The Shipman 50 and Shipman 63 won the 2003 and 2006 European Boat of the Year Award at the Boot Düsseldorf boat show.

Greenline Hybrid 33, stern view with photovoltaic cells on the roof

In 2009 a hybrid powerboat with diesel, electric and solar propulsion was developed and produced,[9] the 33 feet (10 m) long Greenline Hybrid 33. It also won the 2010 European Boat of the Year Award at the Boot Düsseldorf boat show. Its main appeal besides the hybrid propulsion with zero-emission and no-noise sailing was the constant availability of 110/230 VAC power for appliances.[10] It sold 300 units by 2013, claimed to be the best-selling 10 m boat in 2010 and 2011,[11] and was followed by larger models, GL 40 in 2011 and Greenline Ocean Class 70 in 2012.[12]

Hybrid technology was also applied to a Seaway's sailing boat, to the Shipman 59 Carbon, designed together with Doug Peterson and the French naval architect Guillaume Verdier.[13][14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Worldclass Enterprise Software and Design Firms in Eastern and Balkans Europe". Stanford Engineering's 'European Innovation & Entrepreneurship' (ME421). Stanford, CA, USA. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Culture, the greenest segment of tourism, Working session 4". Academy for Young Travel Journalists. Maribor, Slovenia. 1–7 June 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Japec & Jernej Jakopin: The Seaway Brothers". SPIRIT Slovenija, Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development, Investment and Tourism. Ljubljana, Slovenia. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Golob, Tadej (March 2006), "Japec Jakopin", Playboy (Slovenia): 39–47, retrieved 10 January 2014
  5. ↑ "Japec Jakopin (03359) Personal bibliography for the period 1977-2014". Co-operative Online Bibliographic System & Services. Maribor, Slovenia. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "J&J Design, 1983-". Phoenix, Arizona. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bryant, Chris (12 November 2010), "Japec Jakopin: Green machine keeps boat builder afloat", Financial Times, retrieved 10 January 2014
  8. ↑ "The company that sailed over Catch-22", Evolution / Business and Technology Magazine from SKF (Stockholm, Sweden), 18 June 2010, retrieved 10 January 2014
  9. ↑ Kaiser, Tom (6 September 2013), "Russo Marine dives in with innovative Greenline Hybrid yachts", Boating Industry, retrieved 10 January 2014
  10. ↑ Reich, Gary (January 2011), "Dreamboat - A Shockingly Good Hybrid", PropTalk - Chesapeake Bay Boating (St. Annapolis, MD): 22–25, retrieved 10 January 2014
  11. ↑ Strang, Jeff (4 April 2012), "Boat Tests - Greenline 40 Hybrid", TradeaBoat (Oakleigh, Australia), retrieved 10 January 2014
  12. ↑ Marsh, Dave (March 2012), "Boat report - Greenline 70", Motor Boat & Yachting (London, England): 52–59
  13. ↑ "International team designs Shipman 59". MySailing. Surry Hills NSW, Australia. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  14. ↑ "Why MACIF won the Vendee Globe". The Daily Sail. London, UK. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.

External References