World’s coolest yachts

  • September 7, 2021

The coolest boat, for sure, is the Star, writes Enrico Chieffi. Clearly, on one side it’s for personal reasons, because I was World Champion, but it’s a 100-year-old design and…

  • September 6, 2021

Fast, shapely, elegant and still formidable on the race course, Mari-Cha III was and still is one of the world’s most impressive yachts, writes Yachting World’s ex-editor, Elaine Bunting. Created…

  • September 3, 2021

The round the world record breaking sailboat, MACIF was launched in 2016 for French solo sailor and Vendée Globe winner François Gabart. He set a solo round the world record…

  • September 2, 2021

“There are so many boats out there that have cool aspects and yet remain horribly compromised or are no longer relevant. After a ridiculous amount of consideration (and excluding our…

  • September 1, 2021

“Build me a beast. Don’t build me a sheep in wolf’s clothing. This has to be an edgy and innovative weapon, fast and furious.” This owner’s brief is well known…

  • August 31, 2021

“The Ultra 30s were the coolest boats, were way ahead of their time,” says Eddie Warden Owen, who skippered an Ultra 30 and also ran the circuit for several years.…

  • August 30, 2021

“Built in 1911 as a 19 Metre, Mariquita is one of the most beautiful yachts afloat, and I’ve had the privilege to be race navigator on board for most of…

  • August 27, 2021

“It’s 50 years since my wife and I were beating down the West Solent in our first tiny yacht and saw a cloud of sail running in from seaward,” say…

  • August 26, 2021

“I cannot think of a better example of a happy cruising family than that of the crew of Duen,” So says cruising legend, Jimmy Cornell. “Among the many cruising people…

  • August 25, 2021

The Mayflower is certainly the most unusual nomination to date for a world’s coolest yacht! It came to Yachting World from Pete Goss, on the 400th anniversary of the famous…

  • August 24, 2021

Hawaii-based photographer Tor Johnson, who has written for Yachting World on the challenges of cruising in British Columbia, has shot many different yachts, but he has a soft spot for…

  • August 20, 2021

“When you look at what the designers and engineers have put in place to get round quite restrictive IMOCA rules and balance on a single foil, I think that is…

  • August 19, 2021

Tracy Edwards says her heart will always belong to Maiden, the 58ft Bruce Farr-designed maxi she raced round the world in the 1989/90 Whitbread Race, now restored and being sailed…

  • August 5, 2021

The most innovative all-time classic is the S&S 34. As a class they appeared in 1967, a year before the first Golden Globe Race, and Ted Heath [then leader of…

  • June 15, 2021

“I picked the Mumm 30 partly out of respect for Bruce Farr,” says designer Mark Mills. “[Farr] was so competitive in IOR in my teens, then equally strong in IMS…

  • May 28, 2021

“Without question the SailGP F50 is the best boat that I have ever sailed. The headline top speeds of over 50 knots are impressive, but there is so much more…

  • May 24, 2021

“I’d have loved to sail on the America’s Cup AC72 cats in San Francisco in 2013, they were so invigorating. Those boats were when Larry Ellison just let free in…

  • May 10, 2021

“[The Wally 143 is] the most incredible yacht I have had the privilege to shoot and to witness… the length, the design, the power, the elegance. “Maybe meeting this beautiful…