World’s coolest yachts

  • September 7, 2023

The Maxi 72 Ran II was a dominant force both inshore and offshore, sailing an intense programme after its launch in 2009, including taking back-to-back wins in the Rolex Fastnet…

  • August 8, 2023

Terry Hutchinson is tactician for the Quantum Racing TP52 and nominates the team’s Botin-designed USA 52018. “The most recent Quantum Racing and this entire generation of TP52s have been a…

  • July 4, 2023

“The J/105 revolutionised downwind sailing in the sport as the first boat over 20ft with a retractable bowsprit and asymmetric spinnaker,” explains J-Boats founder Bob Johnstone. “The system was pioneered…

  • June 5, 2023

“Watching the gracefulness of kitefoil racing had me mesmerised the first time I saw it,” explains Will Harris. “It is an example of pure efficiency and use of all and…

  • May 10, 2023

“A very modern boat for her times: very large stern (almost like today’s naval architecture) and semi-round bilge hull made her very fast in reaching – and with a flush…

  • May 4, 2023

“I’d like to be able to say the AC40 [Women’s and Youth America’s Cup foiler] because hopefully – fingers crossed! – I will be in it and it’s definitely the…

  • April 26, 2023

While hyper-luxury superyachts are clearly cool to look at (and would be very cool to own) there’s no denying that speed is cool and this collection of record breaking boats…

  • April 3, 2023

“I think the Cookson 50 is one of the coolest yachts on earth for several reasons. First, it’s designed by one of the most renowned yacht design firms on earth:…

  • March 23, 2023

“In terms of complexity for speed, there isn’t anything else which has such a good ratio as a MOD 70. We’ve been over 40 knots [boatspeed] on them, and with…

  • March 16, 2023

America True was a ground-breaking campaign for the 2000 America’s Cup. Created by Dawn Riley, it was the first America’s Cup syndicate to be headed up by a woman, and…

  • February 3, 2023

Biscuits Cantreau 2 was a Formula 40 trimaran designed for Jean Le Cam in 1987. “Formula 40 was a class born in France with a very simple rule for multihulls…

  • January 11, 2023

“The Ultimes to me are the most technologically advanced and fastest boats that you can still go offshore with, at incredible speeds and at the same time a robustness and…

  • December 1, 2022

“The late Mike Birch’s Olympus Photo, designed and built by Walter Greene, sits at the root of all modern multis,” says Verdier. “Mike and his boat began the legend of…

  • November 9, 2022

Legendary American yacht designer Nathaneal G Herreshoff is famed for his spectacular America’s Cup designs, drawing every Cup winner for nearly 40 years from 1893-1934. However, among ‘Capt Nat’s’ prolific…

  • October 7, 2022

The Cal40 has iconic status in the United States and was a game-changer in the 1960s as a true racer/cruiser. Designed by Bill Lapworth, it has a radical flat-bottomed hull…

  • September 6, 2022

The Cherub is a 12ft two-person dinghy with a single trapeze (twin in the UK), designed in 1951. It evolved into an international development class, with a wide range of…

  • August 3, 2022

My choice would be the yacht Reliance of 1903 designed by the famous Nat Herreshoff. I read the book Temple to the Wind a long time ago and could not…

  • July 6, 2022

Aquitaine Innovations was one of those breakthrough boats that precipitated a step change in sailing. Yves Parlier was, and continues to be, one of the sport’s great innovators and the…

  • June 6, 2022

I was so fortunate to be working with an owner in Jim Clark who had a vision of all speed/no compromise. He was dared by a couple of Australian 100-footer…