By the numbers, this year’s Monaco Yacht Show was a strong one: 120 superyachts, 50 world premieres and a lineup of spit-shined custom vessels valued at just north of $5 billion. The gaggle of 300-plus-foot gigayachts that have occupied center stage in past years (and have been forced to dock along the far quayside walls) were notably missing, with the largest vessel at the event being Benetti’s 351-foot Mar after the owner of the 390-foot Breakthrough decided to use the high-tech vessel for late-season cruising.
Despite a shortage of the big boys, there were highly anticipated yachts that did not disappoint. The late Giorgio Armani’s 256-foot Admiral 72 showcased the designer’s last project, while the interior of the 261-foot Feadship Valor proved to be a work of art. Benetti announced two new yachts—the 171-foot B.Now 52M and the 190-foot B.Loft 58M—that will push that builder’s design forward.
Oceanco also grabbed headlines by signing a contract with Lloyd’s Register during the show for the classification and certification of a 427-foot yacht, which will be the largest ever built the Dutch shipyard. It was one of multiple innovations announced by the yacht builder, whose new owner, Gabe Newell, made an appearance via video link to a group of journalists to affirm that the yard’s “ambitious next chapter” would include pushing forward on technology, innovation, and sustainability.
Other new launches, from Nautor Swan’s 128 to the Maoira Exuma 36, caught the eyes of our editors as we moved from yacht to yacht. Here, in no particular order, are our show favorites and those we can’t wait to see after they splash in the next year or two.
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Feadship ‘Valor’
Image Credit: Feadship It takes valor (pun intended) to build a yacht that holds its own in both design and sustainability, but that’s what American billionaire David MacNeil, founder and CEO of WeatherTech, pulled off with his zero-emission explorer, Valor. The 262-foot Feadship was the talk of Port Hercule, not least for its dreadnought bow and battleship-gray hull. Chatter also focused on the imposing vessel’s lighter footprint driven by Feadship’s hybrid diesel-electric, solar, and battery-powered propulsion system, which earned Valor a YCM Explorer Award for technological innovation. The closely guarded Bannenberg & Rowel interior features a heavy use of marble and brass, from floor inlays to door trims, and a substantial beach club with fold-down side platforms, a beauty salon that doubles as a sick bay with a separate HVAC system, and a dedicated battery-charging block (to mitigate the risk of fire from lithium batteries). Other key features include stainless-steel sun awnings on the owner’s and bridge deck aft, capable of holding a five-foot snow load, and a central staircase made from 48,001 individual pieces—the 1 isn’t a typo. That was final parts count.
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Lamborghini by Tecnomar 101
Image Credit: Tecnomar Arguably the most exciting announcement at Monaco, at least for sportscar lovers, was the Lamborghini by Tecnomar 101. The new 101-footer, expected to launch in 2027, builds on the success of the Lamborghini 63, with a very similar look but proportionately scaled to look like the world’s most stylish weekend cruiser. The boat will be powered by three MTU 16V 2000 M96L engines for a combined output of approximately 7,600 horsepower. With surface drives, the hull should reach 45 knots and deliver a friendly cruise of about 35 knots. The design cues come from Lambo’s supercar world, including sharp lines, hexagonal inlays, Y-shape lighting motifs, signature color palettes, and detailing reminiscent of the Fenomeno and the recently revealed Temerario. The interior can be customized to the owner’s wishes.
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Picchiotti Gentleman 24M
Image Credit: Picchiotti This 79-footer is the smallest in Picchiotti’s Gentleman Runabout series and could easily have been overshadowed in Monaco if it weren’t for its timeless design, courtesy of Italian maestro Luca Dini, spliced with a raft of modern technology, including hybrid propulsion. The use of polished mahogany against a navy-blue hull and the white superstructure gives the boat a refreshing nautical appeal. Inside, colonial wood paneling, stitched leather blinds, stainless-steel trim and a brown leather wheelhouse with a mahogany wheel serves 1960’s glamour, or what Dini describes as a “John F. Kennedy style.” A key feature is the double-height salon with floor-to-ceiling windows. The petite model was inspired by two owners who “have 50-meter [164-foot] yachts but want a smaller boat that they can drive with their family without having a lot of crew.” It remains to be seen which one of these yachtsmen will snap up the first hull.
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Nautor Swan Alloy 44
Image Credit: Nautor Swan At Monaco, Nautor Swan announced details about its new Alloy 44 sailing yacht, which signals a new chapter for the Finnish shipyard. At 144 feet, the sailing supermaxi is the first in the brand’s history to be built entirely from aluminum. Designed in collaboration with Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design, the Alloy 44 promises a rare balance of power and refinement, with a hull optimized for stiffness-to-weight efficiency and speed. The use of alloy also allows for deeper customization. McKeon’s design has kept the Alloy 44 unmistakably Swan—defined by a graceful sheerline, low deckhouse, and a sense of proportion. It promises to be a breakthrough design when it hits the water.
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Cantiere delle Marche ‘RJ’
Image Credit: Cantiere delle Marche If Björk designed a superyacht interior, it might look a bit like RJ. The Icelandic singer’s eccentric style wasn’t part of the owner’s brief, but RJ’s Japanese-inspired décor created by Italian designer Achille Salvagni brings a whimsical and subdued psychedelic touch: mushroom lamps that morph from resin sideboards, circular rippled ceilings with “water drop” lighting, a sculptural central staircase that feels like the inside of a whale, and a reading nook in the owner’s ensuite. Untreated wood surfaces, save for resin-infused parchment walls, are paired with marble ensuites where the basins and vanity units are sculpted from single blocks. “The owners wanted a cultural space to host their Asian art collection, so I came up with the idea of a wooden Japanese box to create a subtle, natural environment where organic elements occasionally break free,” Salvagni told Robb Report.
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Admiral Armani 72
Image Credit: Admiral Yachts The first superyacht from Admiral’s 236-foot Giorgio Armani-designed series, Admiral Armani 72m, was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated yachts at the show. The late fashion designer’s signature is evident across the interior and exterior, from door handles carved into the shape of his logo to the litany of loose furniture from the Armani Casa collection. “Ninety percent of this yacht was designed by Armani, with 10 percent input from us,” Mattia Sala, a yacht and interior designer with the Italian Sea Group, told Robb Report, on the collaboration. Dark wood flooring, gold coffee tables, white leather, and crystal chandeliers bring an opulent hotel vibe to the otherwise cavernous interior, including a 120-bottle wine cellar in the main salon.
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Custom Line Saetta 128
Image Credit: Custom Line Custom Line’s new Saetta 128 is another boat we can’t wait to see when it’s delivered next year. The 128 is the first of Custom Line’s reimagined “Saetta” (translating to lightning bolt) planing line and will be a striking design change for the Italian yard. SY Design did the exterior, and interiors are by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Its profile is uncharacteristic for Custom Line—lean, glass-rich, and muscular—which has skewed towards more conventional designs over the years.
A fully opening sky lounge will connect interior and exterior living spaces, while the dual-mode transom integrates a floodable garage and beach club into one seamless unit. The main deck houses the owner’s suite, with four guest cabins below and quarters for eight crew. The 128, powered by twin MTU 16V 2000 M96L engines, will have a projected cruise speed of 19 knots, with a range of 1,000 nautical miles at 11 knots. It should be an exciting departure for one of the Ferretti Group’s top-performing brands.
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Damen ‘After You’
Image Credit: Damen Yachting The owner of Damen Yachting’s first Xplorer 60 clearly has a sense of humor. Anyone who asks about the yacht’s name will be told “I named it After You.” The clever name may be a novelty, but the yacht itself is a serious design that centers around exploration, as evidenced by its Ice Class D hull classification (for light-ice conditions) and a crow’s nest observation deck for spotting wildlife. Based on the same Azure Yacht Design platform as the Xplorer 58 Pink Shadow and Xplorer 77 La Datcha, the 197-foot After You has an interior by H2 Yacht Design with closed-bridge wings that give the captain full visibility from the forward bridge through to the aft. “From an operational point of view, this feature is only typically seen on larger polar explorer vessels,” Damen’s senior design and proposal engineer, Massimiliano D’Ottavo, told Robb Report during a tour. Swinging nest chairs on the exterior decks, an abundance of mirrors, and a multitude of marble in the six guest suites bring style to the substance.
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Damen Support Vessel ‘Emotional’
Image Credit: Damen Commissioned by the same owner as the Xplorer 60 After You, and sharing a similar playful take on its name, the 175-foot Emotional is the ultimate shadow vessel. It’s also a non-negotiable add-on to the After You charter package. The fourth hull in Damen Yachting’s YS53 series is built to cater for toys, crew, and equipment that the owner “doesn’t want” aboard his more than capable mothership. The 15-ton crane (with a total reach of 262 feet) can lift a 44-foot Wajer tender and comes as standard, as do the vessel’s two anchors. Flexibility is the key to the design, with an aft deck that can hold a submersible, seaplane, containerized pool, as well as serve as a touch-and-go helideck.
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Benetti ‘Lady Estey’
Image Credit: Benetti Yachts Lady Estey, the first hull in Benetti’s new B.Now 67M with Oasis Deck series, is a delicious recipe of custom interior design served up on a proven platform. Key features include the lower deck gym with sea views, a spa pool (one of three) on the hidden observation deck atop the yacht, and a dedicated owner’s deck with a forward suite, office, and private aft salon. Bold, blue-veined marble and soft velvet furnishings bring pops of color to an otherwise all-wood “beach chic” interior and exterior—including sycamore, ebony, wenge, ziricote, and macassar—echoing the owner’s original request for a Gatsby-like design.
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Bilgin ‘Al Reem’
Image Credit: Bilgin Yachts Al Reem, the third and final of the Bilgin 263 series, is a great example of how breathtaking a yacht’s interior can be when stepping aboard in real life, as opposed to just shuffling through online images. The interior by H2 Yacht Design is subdued, with a neutral color pallate, matte timbers and cream-leather wall panels, but other features like bespoke glass and veined marbles add to its sense of elegance. The designers get high marks for the full-beam owner’s suite with its own terrace and Jacuzzi, as well as features like the movie theater, beach club, and elevator. But this writer’s favorite was the circular staircase that extends from the top deck down. It has a glass centerpiece with whimsical looking glass “leaves,” and is capped by a plunge pool at the top that sends dappled light downwards. A very impressive way to wrap up the series.
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Benetti B.Now 52M
Image Credit: Benetti Yachts When Benetti showed off its upcoming B.Now 52M at Monaco, it didn’t just announce a new design. It went into great detail about how that 170-footer was very different than the B.Now 50M it was replacing. It even took journalists aboard a 50M with charts that highlight the differences. The 52M delivers not just six extra feet, but a reimagined blueprint of space, light, and flow. Foremost among its innovations is the Oasis Deck, which has grown by roughly 30 percent in footprint compared to the 50M. The deck measures about 1,100 square feet, featuring a larger pool with a retractable cover—a design twist that allows it to transform into a platform over the water. But inside is where the big differences lie. The 52M has a continuous 157-foot sightline from stern to bow terrace, via an interior that has done away with an external starboard corridor and created what Benetti calls a glass-walled “flow.” The owner’s suite on the upper deck has also been reimagined. By removing an external staircase, the upper deck now hosts an exclusive 1,180-square-foot zone divided between private terrace and master cabin. If the 50M was the first chapter, the 52M is the highly anticipated sequel.
