World’s coolest yachts

  • May 11, 2022

“I stepped on board Volvo 70 Puma for the first time in Southampton to start trials for Team SCA for the Volvo Ocean Race. I’d just come from the Olympics…

  • April 8, 2022

Westward was designed by the great Nathanael Herreshoff and launched in 1910 and at 96ft LWL (135ft LOA) the steel schooner was the largest yacht Herreshoff had built so far.…

  • March 31, 2022

“What I love about My Song is the fact that somebody has been brave and said OK, I want to go cruising, I want to have comfort, but let’s make…

  • March 25, 2022

“What sets Pride of Baltimore II above all the other boats I’ve encountered is the combination of the boat itself, her captain and crew, her history and what she represents.…

  • March 9, 2022

“Kuka Light is the most extreme keelboat I have ever sailed,” explains Mitch Booth. “At 42ft and built in an autoclave she is VERY light and stiff. But when you…

  • March 7, 2022

“I would take a complete crazy thing: a Snipe. I think it’s an excellent boat for kids to start sailing in, and even for grown-ups. I have a Snipe dinghy…

  • March 3, 2022

“I’ve been fortunate to race on board and race against a great many boats I could nominate for my Coolest Yacht, but for me it would have to be the…

  • February 7, 2022

“This choice is made out respect for the boat (and crew),” says Rick Tomlinson. “There is nothing new in sailing, it’s all been done before by someone. Jolie Brise is…

  • February 4, 2022

I’d choose the MOD70 without too much doubt because the boat is so beautifully thought out. It is a great combination of speed, safety (even though four of them have…

  • February 3, 2022

“I’ve climbed a lot of mountains so choosing the coolest is a tough one, but it has to be the J Class Topaz. I love what we are able to…

  • January 31, 2022

“I’d been intrigued by solo or short-handed sailing since the early days of the BOC Challenge (Around Alone 5 Oceans) and was blown away by the wide beam Finot-Conq designs…

  • January 21, 2022

“I thought Hydroptère was the most incredible boat for a long time,” says Vendée Globe solo sailor Pip Hare of the groundbreaking 60ft (18m) foiler. “It was the first flying…

  • January 4, 2022

“In 1983, at 16 years old, I dreamed of building my own keelboat. An IOR Half Tonner was the top of my list, but I soon realised this was far…

  • November 3, 2021

“For me ‘Moby’, as Ellen MacArthur’s trimaran was known, is one of the coolest yachts,” says top yachting photographer, Thierry Martinez of Ellen’s B&Q Castorama. “In this photograph Ellen is…

  • October 5, 2021

“For my most influential boat, my mind drifted to the story of Swallows and Amazons, which gripped me as a child,” Nikki Henderson recalls. Arthur Ransome’s much-loved tale of children…

  • September 14, 2021

“With no hesitation, my choice for the world’s coolest yacht is Vestas Sailrocket 2,” says Pascal Conq. The designer behind two-times Vendée Globe winning IMOCA 60 PRB and the new…

  • September 9, 2021

Eamon Conneely commissioned the original Reichel Pugh-designed TP52 Patches in 2005 to race under IRC in the Admirals Cup and within the original class box rule on the International circuit,…

  • September 8, 2021

The Maxi 72 is the biggest boat where you feel you’re doing things properly, writes Mike Sanderson. These boats don’t have a canting keel or daggerboards but they are incredibly…