In Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here are nine great yachts that topped our 2024 list
Best Gigayacht: Kismet
The latest and largest Kismet is the third yacht of the same name for Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. At 400ft, it’s 88ft longer than its predecessor, though it shares flash features such as a basketball court on the helipad, video walls, wild chandeliers and a silver jaguar inlaid into the bowsprit. The interior by Reymond Langton is tastefully flamboyant. The full-beam, two-level owner’s apartment is accented in gold, tempered by the fireplace, marbled bathrooms, dressing rooms and an enormous skylight above the bed. Other over-the-top features include a cryotherapy chamber, a Bogányi grand piano on the upper deck, and a Tron Corridor with a dance floor that flashes pink and blue. The cinema may claim the Khan prize for coolest feature. Under the 150-inch television is a Nemo Lounge, a window to whatever is swimming outside.
Best Megayacht: Ultra G
This Heesen, one of the fastest yachts in its class, is powered by MTU diesels with a total of 22,000hp, connected to four water jets, that deliver a top speed of 37 knots. Speed is essential for the angling-obsessed owner to reach cruising grounds 161km offshore. But even with a fishing platform and an angler’s lounge (with screens showing live underwater feeds), the owner refers to Ultra G as a fast superyacht rather than a sportfisherman. That’s one reason why we chose this 197-footer—its speed doesn’t compromise comfort. The other is the Harrison Eidsgaard interior, which features a full owner’s bridge deck with an aft-facing suite, private terrace and whirlpool. The yacht’s media room includes a cinema and games table, and in addition to the requisite sauna and steam room, the wellness area boasts a snow room. A surprising architectural highlight: the central staircase that winds through a glass-topped atrium.
Best Sailing Yacht: Nilaya
The owner of 154ft Nilaya is a sailor who owned a previous yacht with the same name, but some 39ft shorter. The prime directive this time around: comparable performance but without the noise of the other boat’s carbon-fibre hull. “He wanted to explore the world, but in a lightweight yacht that wins regattas,” says designer Mario Pedol of Nauta. The new Nilaya was builder Royal Huisman’s first Featherlight racing yacht in lightweight aluminium. Its engineers used a computer-modelling tool based on technology from the European Space Agency for designing the structure, saving weight and abating noise wherever possible. The build was a gamble, but the result is a fast, stylish superyacht for racing and cruising. In the latter mode, three deck areas and a beach club accommodate gatherings, while below-decks are dining and social areas, guest staterooms and the full-beam main suite. The owner has already crossed the Atlantic twice aboard Nilaya and also claimed a win in the St Barths Bucket, fulfilling both missions.
Best Dayboat: Azimut Verve 48 Outboard
Packing 1,800hp with three 600hp Mercury V12 outboards, Verve 48 has an invigorating top end of 92km/h. That speed, along with its open exterior and stepped hull, predestine Verve 48 for hot, sunny waters. Features such as the foldout rear deck that lifts to become an al fresco dining area and the large asymmetrical social area in the bow cement Verve 48’s status as a dayboat. Its carbon-fibre construction, smart helm and full exterior galley are major distinguishers among its competitors. The two-stateroom cabin also has a head, separate shower and dinette for cruising potential, but at heart Verve 48 is a fast, fun, high-end entertainment platform for family and friends.
Best Innovation: Bluegame BGM75
Bluegame’s decision to create a power catamaran with a narrower beam had multiple knock-on effects. Aesthetically, BGM75 has a svelte profile, unlike the typical boxy look of most in the category. There’s also excellent space for the main salon, measuring 27 ft across, while the designers extended the guest staterooms into the boat’s mid-section rather than squeezing them into the multihulls. The full-beam main suite is perhaps the best argument for the approach, incorporating a sizable bedroom and large en suite across the front of the boat. The twin hulls also multiply the BGM75’s efficiency, with the Italian builder claiming it burns 30 pe rcent less fuel than a 90ft monohull with a similar volume. A minimalist helm, spacious flybridge and full-beam tender garage put it in a category of one. The subtle luxury of the interior only increases the distance between this breakthrough design and other yachts its size. Expect copycats.
Best Weekender: Bolide 80
In this current era of sustainability, Bolide 80 is almost defiantly petrolicious, a water rocket powered by triple 2,000hp MAN engines that hits 138km/h. But speed is just one facet of a vessel that is equal parts art and engineering, all wrapped in an 81ft, 7-inch carbon-fibre hull. Victory Marine’s Hyper Muscle Yacht looks fast even sitting still, the lean profile noteworthy thanks to its unusually long forefoot and curved, swept-back stern with side wind scoops. The cockpit is stylishly functional, and the helm has the requisite space-age look with large displays. And the interior is different from anything else on the water. The burnt-sienna leather walls, with light strips set into the ceiling, are combined with notable features such as a leather Pullman-style dresser and carbon-fibre arches. Bolide 80 isn’t an everyman vessel, but its build quality, design and performance make it one of the most interesting we’ve seen in years.
Beach Club: Leona
The Red Bullet, as Bilgin’s 263ft Leona was nicknamed by one of its designers, has an interior dripping in exotic custom materials. But H2 Yacht Design saved the most outrageous features for the inimitable beach club—once you see it, you can’t forget it. The 28ft, blue-tiled swimming pool is surrounded by Aphrodite-style statues along with marble fountains and backlit wall panels. Natural light floods through three shell doors when open, creating a faux-Grecian sea terrace. When closed, a starry night sky comes into view, courtesy of the glittering fibre-optic ceiling. Of course, any beach club of this calibre would have to include a shisha smoking lounge, a wellness area with gold- coloured furniture, and a gym with a mirrored, leather-trimmed ceiling. Treatment rooms and a sauna are also part of the lower-deck complex, while a post-swim movie can be enjoyed in the adjacent cinema lounge covered, naturally, in ruby-red velvet.
Best Comeback: H3
Returning to Oceanco for a rebirth 22 years after its delivery, the 345ft H3 received a 33ft hull extension— 26ft at the stern and 7ft to the forward deck line—plus a remodelled superstructure and an entirely reimagined interior. The yacht was originally launched in 2000 as Al Mirqab and later renamed Indian Empress before the current owner enlisted UK firm Reymond Langton to transform the formerly boxy boat into a sleek and modern gigayacht. The extra length now holds a large pool aft, with a waterfall and a bottom that raises to become a dance floor. H3 also has more accommodations for the 32 crew, and a full-beam VIP suite that doubles as a second primary. The interior includes a 33ft-long video corridor and an LED ‘tech window’, both of which are softened by custom leather wall panels, bronze and nickel detailing, and backlit infinity mirrors. Perhaps the most impressive statistic? Sixty per cent emissions reduction following the refit.
