Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes, and nowhere is this more true than in a debate going on at Superyacht World’s forum. The magazine staff spent the past few months asking the megayacht industry’s top designers to name the five most beautiful yachts ever built. Only two rules applied: The boats had to be more than 30 meters (98 feet) LOA, and the designers couldn’t have had a hand in creating them.
The result is a list of 50 finalists, many of which certainly belong on the list. Personally, I agree with the selection of yachts like Haida G (#42), Scheherezade (#47), Velsheda (#26), Leander (#19), Savarona (#37), and definitely the classic Corsair IV (#16). But some of the others have me shaking my head–and judging from some of the comments on Superyacht World’s Web site, I see I’m in good company. People are taking issue with Lady Moura (#50), A (#12), the Wallypower 118 (#11), and especially The One as number one. “Lady Moura looks like a cross between a car ferry and one of the Fat Greek’s sleazy cruise ships (although its recent blue hull paint job tarts it up a bit),” according to a commenter. While I wouldn’t go that far, I do feel that Lady Moura is just big, not beautiful. (The two factors aren’t mutually exclusive: I find Reverie a better example of a yacht with a towering presence that is far more pleasing to the eye.)
As for the choice of The One as the best of them all, one person wrote, “Wow – that is one ugly boat!” Another: “Jeeze. Quite a boat but hardly as special or beautiful as many others on the list. And very not beautiful when her uber smokey knackered old engines start up.”
You can read the debate here. In the meantime, here’s the top 10. Have at it: Are they crazy, or on the mark?
1. The One
2. Pelorus
3. Endeavour
4. Enigma
5. Maltese Falcon
6. Carinthia VII
7. Aviva
8. Alfa Nero
9. Skat
10. Limitless
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