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The Honours 2025: Three extraordinary women redefining what yachting can do for the world
By Tempus | 29 October 2025 | Cars & Yachts
The Superyacht Life Foundation held its 2025 Honours at Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (Flibs) hosted The Honours 2025 – presented by The Superyacht Life Foundation – on 29 October to celebrate three remarkable women who are steering the superyacht industry toward a greater purpose, to drive progress and create positive change.
The world’s largest in water boat show saw guests gather for cocktails on the marina’s Pier Sixty-Six, before the foundation’s honourees were revealed. Angela Abshier, founder of Sail to Shelter, Francisca Cortés Solari, founder of Fundación MERI, and Rosie O’Donnell, project lead for Yachts for Science, were each presented with The Bowspirit Award from the Superyacht Life Foundation.
British sailor and rigger Rosie leads the UK-based Yachts for Science, which connects superyachts with scientists seeking research platforms, thereby enabling expeditions that have uncovered new species, expanded marine sanctuaries, and advanced our understanding of ocean health.
“It’s about unlocking potential,” she said. “Every yacht has the ability to become a vessel of discovery – and when owners, crew and scientists come together, what we can achieve is extraordinary. The ocean still holds so many secrets, and I’m proud to be part of a movement helping to reveal them.”
Angela Abshier founded Sail to Shelter in 2020 after realising that the enormous, high-performance sails retired from superyachts were often destined for landfill. The California non-profit gives these materials a second life as shelters and shade solutions for communities in need around the world – with the first donation by M5, the largest single-masted sailing yacht on the planet.
“The sails that once harnessed the power of the wind are now providing protection from it,” she said. “It’s proof that even the materials of this industry have the potential to serve a higher purpose. I’m deeply honoured that Sail to Shelter has found a home within the heart of the yachting community.”
Finally, Chilean philanthropist and entrepreneur Francisca Cortés Solari created Fundación MERI (Chile) in 2012 to protect fragile marine ecosystems through pioneering research and community engagement. 
“The sea connects us all,” she said. “Through Fundación MERI, we’ve seen how science, when combined with education and respect for nature, can inspire entire communities to become guardians of the ocean. This recognition honors not just one project, but a collective effort – from the Global South – to protect life on Earth.”
Francesca is also executive president of Philanthropy Cortés Solari and a Patron of Nature with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), building one of Latin America’s most comprehensive philanthropic ecosystems to advance climate action, biodiversity conservation and sustainability education.
Dilan Sarac, executive director of The Superyacht Life Foundation, said: “Tonight we celebrated not only three extraordinary women but also the boundless capacity of this industry to do good. Angela, Francisca, and Rosie are proof that passion and purpose can coexist beautifully. Their stories remind us all why The Honours exists – to show that yachting can make an impact far beyond the water.”