superyachts

Cutting edge electronics and state-of-the-art technical systems make many yachts as interesting as the destinations they frequent. Onboard pools and hot tubs are more than a place for two or three people to relax. The fun never stops, with toys by the dozen that were unimaginable even a decade ago. And luxury yacht charter is, quite simply, the best-kept secret in travel.

Yacht dealership and brokerage firm HMY Yacht Sales has partnered with Ward Setzer of Setzer Yacht Architects, an award-winning yacht design and naval architecture firm, to build a new client-oriented platform within the U.S. superyacht industry.

Engineered by Pure Composite in New Zealand and designed by Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design, Missy was designed to fulfill the needs of performance cruising.

See how the owner of Benetti's 11.11 raised the bar for superyacht interior design.

New facility will have the capacity to build Feadships up to 160 meters in length.

Stella Maris represents a dramatic evolution of VSY’s two previous launches, Candyscape II and Roma. An updated version of these 62-meter (203-foot) platforms, the 2,114-gross-ton, 72-meter (237-foot) Stella Maris, designed by Espen Øino, offers more than twice the volume, along with some unconventional exterior styling and interior layout solutions.

“Yar: Easy to handle and moves along smoothly.” This witty archaic word to describe a “proper yacht” in “The Philadelphia Story”—the memorable Hollywood film from 1940—is a fitting one-word designation for the 123-foot (37.3-meter) cutter-rigged sloop Pumula from Royal Huisman.

Yachts International presents the 10 largest yachts launched in the past year.

Topaz, which spent time in Barcelona this past April, is another yacht cloaked in secrecy. While Terence Disdale created her interior, there are no details on her décor.

Twenty years ago, Boston Whalers and RIBs were as popular with large-yacht buyers as they were with boaters who owned just these craft. They served as occasional toys or were used for utilitarian purposes by the mothership’s crew, and sometimes both. The more yachts grew in size, though, the more time they started spending at anchor. Suddenly, owners found themselves needing a better way of getting to and from shore.

VSY launched its largest yacht so far, Stella Maris, in July 2012. She anchored off Port Hercule in Monaco for invitation-only visits during the Monaco Yacht Show with the owner’s blessing, even though not everything was fully in place yet.

Part of a multi-yacht contract signed by the former HDW shipyard in Germany, the public saw Odessa II on sea trials in April of this year. Some reports suggest the deal stipulated that the yard build upward of six yachts under that contract.

By now, the world knows that the late Steve Jobs commissioned Venus and died before her completion. That much was revealed in his biography and verified by designer Philippe Starck.

The largest yacht built by Italy-based CRN splashed in January, to great fanfare. The owner’s family attended along with 3,000 others, including every craftsperson who worked on her and their families, residents of CRN’s home base of Ancona and even the Chinese ambassador to Italy.

While under construction, Oceanco referred to St. Princess Olga simply as Y708, her hull number. The late designer Alberto Pinto took her on as one of his last projects.

Madame Gu, built under the project name Dream, is the largest Feadship thus far and the largest yacht built in Holland. You’ll have no trouble picking her out on the horizon due to her striking turquoise hull.

Azzam officially launched in April of this year, but Lürssen first floated her out of the build shed in late May of 2012 and towed her to another, longer shed to complete her bow section and uppermost superstructure.

Oceanco’s 290-foot (88.5-meter) Nirvana is a superyacht tour de force. Her distinctive profile cuts an imposing figure whether at anchor in Saint-Tropez or alongside the dock in Monaco. With her dark-blue hull, her flared bow, the swooping notch in her sheerline, and her bright caprails and transom, she is a standout anywhere she goes.

On-the-job experience isn’t the only thing you need to get ahead in this ever more competitive industry. Training and certifications can give you that extra edge over the rest of the field, and in the past few years multiple schools have begun offering courses geared toward superyacht service.

The Antibes Yacht Show runs Apr. 18-21 and it promises to be an event to remember. Event coordinators have been working hard to draw yachts over 65 feet (20 meters), Alter Ego, the 111-foot (34-meter) tug converted by CMN in 2001, will be just one of the big boats on display.

Four years in the making, Feadship’s 324-foot-10-inch (99-meter) yacht, project name Dream, recently was launched in Makkum in the Netherlands. The Andrew Winch–designed Dream is the largest yacht built to date by Feadship.

A boat lover from a young age, this superstar and prolific designer usually lives on a boat or near the water where he can easily hop onto one of seven craft of all persuasions that he owns. Surprisingly, though the ocean is central to his life, he has only designed a handful of boats and yachts to date.