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7 Bold New Superyacht Concepts We Want to See on the Water

From yachts that run on hydrogen fuel cells to a vessel with a bonkers new sailing rig, these designs may well be the future of yachting..

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With record demand for new yachts by ever-younger owners, designers have been busy with fresh concepts. These seven concepts go far beyond tweaking the beach club or adding a few windows. They flirt with hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion, glass-bottomed swimming pools to light lower decks, and even hidden pilothouses using augmented reality to navigate the yacht.

What’s more, they explore much larger concepts of the use of space, and how owners and guests actually use the superyachts. Three-deck glass atriums, huge piazzas and nature parks bring new opportunities for life on board—and free up the imagination to explore possibilities.

Kairos By Oceanco, Pininfarina and Lateral

Kairos , officially launched by Oceanco at September’s Monaco Yacht Show , is a new way of thinking about onboard life. The 295-foot design combines asymmetric shapes, transparent structures and few physical barriers, all culminating in its vast piazza, which is the most dramatic area of this forward-thinking concept. The Dutch yacht builder partnered with Italian design firm Pininfarina, with technical assistance from Lateral Naval Architects.

Beyond the beautiful spaces—including a number of suites on the lower decks, and a panoramic balcony on the top deck, the hull has an asymmetric shape, with no clear bow, so it can move in opposite directions. The design team choose to think of Kairos as a “living, floating island,” rather than a conventional superyacht. “A 360-degree approach to design at once connects you to the sea below, to the light above and to the spaces and people beside you,” said Paolo Pininfarina, regarding the concept. “It nourishes your curiosity on an instinctive level and encourages you to explore new experiences and perspectives.”

The yacht also has sustainability in mind, with all-electric propulsion in its diesel-hybrid configuration. The e-Hybrid architecture permits extensive operation with no noise, lower vibrations and zero local emissions.

Alice by Lürssen

German boatbuilder Lürssen has ventured down the rabbit hole with its first ever superyacht concept, the 321.5-foot Alice . Inspired by Alice in Wonderland , the five-deck climate-neutral yacht features a floating, pod-like superstructure, which houses the owner’s deck and bridge, and an open-air main deck. “The design takes inspiration from the small ferries in Amsterdam where the captain sits in a pilot deck above, and below is a passage way for people to pass through,” Jim Sluijter, lead exterior designer told Robb Report.

A full-sized Padel court sits aft, with a dance floor, bar and dining area amidships, and forward a Japanese-themed garden with ponds, greenery and a bridge. A floating glass-bottomed pool suspended across an opening in the sun deck adds wow factor. Powered by emission-free fuel cells that generate electrical energy based on hydrogen, Alice is also equipped with a methanol engine for higher speed and energy demands. A waste heat recovery system, organically farmed wood and eight lower deck guest suites complete the offering, with interior design by Dasha Moranova Designs.

Apache Concept by Tankoa

Tankoa Yachts introduces a new technical platform with its 249-foot T760 Apache concept. Key to the design is a 31-foot “flying” glass-bottomed pool suspended in the bow between the upper deck and main deck; it begins at the foot of the bed in the owner’s suite and filters light into the semi-open lounge and gym on the deck below.

The lower deck beach club with folding side terraces delivers over 1,300-square-feet of chic resort space and the yacht’s second pool. When the folding platforms are closed, one-way glass the same color as the hull creates a private lounge area with views out to sea. “We created a gym and wellness space on two levels for the guests to enjoy,” designer Alberto Mancini told Robb Report. “We also wanted to avoid the typical dark cave effect found on many beach clubs.”

But the best seat in the house is reserved for the cozy observation lounge or crow’s nest with panoramic vistas high above the water, ideal for enjoying the last rays at sunset.

Scintilla by Tillberg Design

At 393 feet, Scintilla is a modern voyager conceived for world cruising. We recently reported on her sister concept, Mimer . A collaboration between DreamLiner Yachting, IYC, Tillberg Design of Sweden and Laurent Giles Naval Architects, the concept is designed to welcome 36 guests and 44 crew and puts fuel-efficiency at the fore. Scintilla can accommodate hybrid engines, as well as a combination battery and alternative fuel system, and eco-conscious materials have been used on the interior and exterior spaces. However, all eyes are on the smorgasbord of explorative toys and tenders, which blows the standard wakeboard and paddle board offering out the water. The dedicated toy area has room for a seaplane, submarine, foldable catamaran, expedition RIBS, amphibious and land vehicles, jet skis, quads and a helicopter. At the end of a long day, a multi-level owners’ suite, comprising the aft portion of the bridge and heli-decks, opens onto a private deck complete with Jacuzzi and infinity pool to rejuvenate aching muscles.

Merveille 253W by Merveille Yachting

The 253-foot Merveille 253W is a sailing yacht with a difference. With a focus on reducing fuel consumption and increasing efficiency, the explorer concept, produced in partnership with Feadship, features a new wind-assisted propulsion system that doesn’t require rigging. Designed by AYRO, the fully automated Oceanwings can rotate 360 degrees, have an adjustable camber and twist and can retract when furled. When under sail using the Oceanwings, underwater turbines regenerate the kinetic energy to recharge the battery packs. The yacht is also equipped with wind turbines and solar panels for additional sources of renewable energy. A large, uncluttered deck space combined with a 63-foot beam creates a sense of calm. A sunken swimming pool on the bow is the matching Zen detail.

One 50 by Meyer Yachts

Startup brand Meyer Yachts recently announced a new concept called One 50, which is a 150-meter (492-foot) six-deck superyacht that will have accommodations for 44 guests, a two-level spa, a real movie theater with adjoining billiard room, an entertainment area with a stage, an art gallery and a huge infinity pool. Oh, and it will be powered by fuel cells and battery banks, so will generate zero carbon emissions. The system will generate 25,000 kilowatts giving this gigayacht a maximum speed of 23 knots.

Pure by Feadship

Feadship’s 268-foot Pure , also unveiled at the Monaco Yacht Show, has at least one revolutionary feature—it places the traditional pilothouse below-decks, in a cabin that uses augmented-reality visualization that connects with radar, AIS, maps, depth sounders and cameras. That will allow the captain to see everything virtually—perhaps more than looking through the windshields of the pilothouse—with all necessary navigation information at hand. This kind of helm has been used on naval vessels like submarines, but never on a superyacht. Feadship said that the concept was embraced by many captains, particularly younger ones who are comfortable with technology.

Pure also has other breakthrough designs like a three-deck elliptical glass atrium, retractable glass-bottomed Jacuzzi amidships, and a large beach club with three fold-down balconies aft and both sides. Located half inside, half out, the atrium incorporates large slabs of glass to provide a clear line of sight across three of the five decks. Filling the interior with natural light, the vast central space means guests must look to private balconies for privacy.

Pure was also designed with flexible “energy-hybrid” propulsion that would evolve over time. From diesel electric in 2024, to hydrogen in 2027, to all-methanol fuel cells in 2030, the concept is designed to respond to advancing technology, depending on which sustainable fuels become most viable.

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Superyachts of the Future Will Include This Shocking Design

A “gaping hole” in the middle of your boat might sound like a major structural issue, but it’s actually the design focus of Shape, Lazzarini Design’s new 226-foot superyacht concept.

Accessible through a door in the bow, the customizable “void” is fitted with portside steps to take passengers down to the ocean for a dip. If you’re not that adventurous, though, there’s also a glass-bottom infinity pool on the upper deck that dips down into the hole and allows swimmers to observe those below.

Another view of The Shape by Lazzarini Design.

A sun lounge and diving platform are situated on the stern, while the living area at the bow offers 115 feet spread across three decks—six luxury suites on the first level, shared crew living quarters on the second, and a command center, helipad, and private Jacuzzi on the third.

“Shape stands out from the rest by avoiding an unnecessarily elaborate design and by instead having a striking silhouette,” the studio says of the sleek silver craft. 

“Because we placed a void inside the concept’s superstructure, there is a real luxury quality about the living space.”

Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini, 39, is known for playful and futuristic concepts for watercrafts, most notably his “jet capsules” and a 450-foot swan-inspired yacht concept, Avanguardia .

But Shape was also crafted with an eye toward sustainability: It will run entirely on clean energy, with a hydrogen-powered propulsion system and a large solar panel on the sundeck that provides electricity for all onboard systems.

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Japanese woman, 116, to be named world's oldest person

A 116-year-old Japanese woman who used to be a mountaineer is set to be named the world's oldest person by Guinness World Records, a research group said on Wednesday, following the death of a 117-year-old Spanish woman earlier this week.

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The mysterious appeal of the superyacht summer

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I wonder if the Beckhams suffer from the pruney, shrivelled fingers that come from bathing in briny waters? How Kevin Costner keeps his white shorts so sparkly. And whether Beyoncé experiences that unique discomfort that develops while sitting in one’s soggy bikini bottoms for too long? 

These are just some of the questions I ask while admiring the 0.1 per cent aboard their boats each summer. For many, the season is initiated by the lengthening of hours in a day, or the beginning of the school recess. For me, the start of summer is marked by the first paparazzi images to emerge of the actor and climate activist Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in the sun.

No one enjoys, nor lives the superyacht summer so completely as DiCaprio: the usually reclusive 49-year-old seems to come alive the moment he sets foot aboard the deck. At a time when the news cycle is ordinarily sluggish, I am endlessly entertained by DiCaprio’s life of leisure, whose chief entertainments include gambolling through the waves astride a jet ski (no carbon footprint there eh, Leo?) and keeping in proximity to whichever supermodel’s derrière he has deigned to squire this year. 

His current squeeze appears to be the brunette Italian model Vittoria Ceretti (keep up, guys) who, at 26 years old, is thought to be the first girlfriend he has engaged beyond the quarter-century mark. I don’t begrudge DiCaprio his instincts. He represents the person — like a young Jack Nicholson — we all aspire to be. He sates every tiny appetite. And embodies the essential creed of not seeming to have a single care. Not for him the petty vanities of six-packs or full body tanning: he just wants to let it all hang out, unleash his inner five-year-old, and plunge gleefully into the sea. 

This summer has found DiCaprio holidaying aboard the yacht Koru, with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, to whom Bezos became engaged last year. The world’s second-richest man has afforded DiCaprio some downtime as one of the cluster of celebrities sucked into Bezos’s orbit. Singer Katy Perry and her little Legolas Orlando Bloom have made up the odd sextuplet seen bobbing about Sardinia this past week. 

The Koru took four years to build at the cost of an estimated $500mn. It’s just one of the post-divorce assets Bezos has acquired — along with celebrity acquaintances and ferocious biceps — following his split from MacKenzie Scott in 2019. The 417-foot schooner is said to be an homage to his new beloved, with a busty figurehead at its bow that bears an uncanny likeness to Sánchez. As with his US Vogue shoot, and his too-tight cream trousers, Bezos’ mid-life era acquires another cliché every month.

But whatever. Every billionaire should have a big boat: it’s what being a billionaire is all about. Bernard Arnault’s Symphony boasts interiors by Zuretti, a cinema and grand piano, while the Octopus, built for Microsoft’s Paul Allen, has a large pool, a hangar for two copters and two helipads. Big yachts are, as pointed out by the FT’s unofficial boat correspondent Brendan Greeley, “a terrible asset”. And yet, they remain an almost irresistible indulgence for the super-rich. After all, what better way to boast your superpower credentials than to round up flocks of famous people, get them to take their clothes off, and hold them captive for your sport?

Sadly, the charms of superyachts evade me: I see them only as prisons on the sea. The thought of being moored for days with only bare acquaintances — while wearing a bikini, for God’s sake — strikes me as one of the more appalling ways to spend one’s down time. And that’s before the nagging nausea of all that floating, the persistent threat of drowning or being whacked across the head. All those bloody ropes, all that tack and jibing. And while, yes, I know that superyachts aren’t really boats as I might recognise them, there’s still no escaping that fact that, you know, it’s all quite wet. 

Add to that the bougie cocktail parties, the endless peacocking, plus the dilemma of how to pull off a cocktail dress while having to pad around in deck shoes, or worse, bare feet. I hope Bezos retains a podiatrist aboard the Koru: DiCaprio may be unkempt but he is by no means gnarly, and I need to know someone is attending to his toes.

I envy not these people on their superyacht adventure: examining Bezos’s onshore excursions I feel not one jot of jealousy. I’m just thrilled he’s ponied up for more DiCaprio content. “The king of the world”, forever: our prince of the vacation seas. 

Email Jo at [email protected]

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6 industry insiders predict the future of yachting

3d printed yachts will become a reality.

In honour of Boat International Media's new bookazine Futureyachts , which is on sale now, we asked some of the most influential people in the yachting industry to predict the key trends of the future to look out for. Here’s what they had to say…

For Canadian yacht designer Gregory C Marshall , the future of yachting lies in new technology: “We are deep into the possibility that we could print an entire yacht using 3D additive printing,” he argues.

“Simply put, this technology will disrupt virtually every aspect of the industry. It’s a lot closer than you think — I’d say 2050 — and we will see large component parts before that.”

Young owners will drive change

Charlie Birkett, co-founder of brokerage firm Y.CO , believes that a new generation of yacht buyers will force the industry to rethink some its approach. “Young Europeans and Americans are driving market change today,” says Birkett (pictured, above right with co-founder Gary Wright). “They have different pastimes to their parents. Even the super-wealthy are living simpler lives, and tech is woven into everything.”

Multihulls will become the norm

Some of the oldest seagoing vessels in the world are multihulls but within the superyacht industry trimarans and catamarans remain something of an anomaly. This won’t always be the case according to French naval architect Jean-Jacques Coste .

“Think about the first jet aircraft. When it was compared to the propeller plane, people said it was noisy, that it consumed too much fuel, but today it is the standard. In the future, the standard will be multihull because it is more efficient,” he predicts. “Tomorrow’s customer is going to enjoy yachting in a much more autonomous way. Today, each time we have a discussion with an owner, we talk about hybrid propulsion, how to have an eco-friendly boat and less environmental impact.”

Yachts will need to transform

French designer Thierry Gaugain believes that the contradictory desire to show off and yet remain invisible will lead to a rise of transforming yachts that can perform many different functions.

“I believe future yachts will be influenced by the eternal need for luxury, increasing concerns over safety and security , the merging of social life and business competition and astonishing new expressions of luxury made possible by technology,” he explains. “But owners’ contradictions — showing off for prestige versus the need or desire to be invisible — must be resolved. I believe the answer is the birth of luxurious yachts able to perform successive metamorphoses. I am working on this solution.”

The cost of glass integration will come down

Large expanses of glazing are becoming increasingly popular — not just in yachting but in architecture as well — and Pascale Reymond of Reymond Langton Design  (above, centre) sees this trend continuing: “Large panels of glass are expensive, however, as they are becoming more common in yacht building I believe the costs for class approval will come down,” she says. “It is well worth the additional costs as glass transforms spaces and connects the interior to the outside environment.”

Remote exploration will lead to bigger tenders

Serial yacht owner Neville Crichton is no stranger to exploring the world by boat, and he believes that owners will continue to seek out new destinations in future.

“I believe future owners will use their yachts for more remote exploration,” he says, “and to meet those demands boats will carry considerably more toys, as shown on the latest explorer yachts. Personally, I love easy and quick access to the water, as this is our playground. Therefore, a good-sized superyacht beach club and stern platform are essential. My next yacht will be a powerboat around the 500GT size with tenders that are as large as it will be possible to accommodate.”

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• Lurssen Yachts

Developed by German shipyard Lürssen, construction of Project Luminance is underway at their facilities near Lemwerder. Due to enter the esteemed list of the Top 10 largest superyachts in the world, information about the 145m superyacht is limited at this moment in time. Lürssen are world-famous for their incredible innovations and their capacity to build extremely large mega yachts filled with numerous features. Photos that have been captured of the boat indicate that she will have considerable deck space with plenty of room left over indoors to be packed out with luxury.

KORU is a 125m sailing yacht delivered in 2023. She is a classically elegant three-mastered schooner with a rich blue hull and canoe stern. She has ample deck space for guests to enjoy and features three jacuzzis and a swimming pool. Her interior decor is timeless, with natural wood tones complemented by a palette of warm neutrals and patterned textiles.

Project JAG, launched in 2023, was sold in 2019 at the Monaco Yacht Show and was first seen 2021, in which her hull and superstructure were revealed. Since then, she has been a highly anticipated launch from Lürssen. She is an impressive build with a LOA of 122m, with exterior design by Nuvolari Lenard and interiors penned by Reymond Langton. She has a sleek and sophisticated profile, with monochromatic black and white tones accented with splashes of red; an eye-catching launch at the Schacht-Audorf facility. Project JAG can accomodate up to 20 guests across 11 staterooms, taken care by a crew of 40, ensuring the ultimate luxury experience. She has a beam of 17.8m, boasting exceptional space on board, so guests can have the most comfortable experience possible.

RENAISSANCE

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Previously known as NB-724, Freire Shipyard's RENAISSANCE was successfully delivered in 2023. She is a 112m superyacht, able to accommodate 36 guests across six decks. She marks an historical milestone for Freire Shipyard, as she is the largest and highest tonnage yacht built in Spain to date, weighing 7,200 GT.

Sold in 2018 by Moran Yacht & Ship, SHACKLETON, previously known as Project ICECAP, is a 107m motor yacht who is said to be equipped with state-of-the-art technology in particular reference to energy saving and diesel electric propulsion. Icecap boasts a rugged explorer profile, a far cry from Lürssen’s typically streamlined recent launches and suggesting a new venture for the yard in design and build. Icecap will weigh in at over 6500 GRT and come with extra energy efficiency, power storage and heating systems throughout in line with an advanced sustainable ethos from the German yard.

Project 1050H is undoubtedly one of the superyacht industry’s most closely-guarded secrets. Launched on the 10th January 2023 from Oceanco’s construction facilities in The Netherlands, 1050H could be considered neither a newbuild, refit, nor conversion, but a fundamental rebuild of unprecedented scale, involving a complete transformation of a heritage superyacht. Oceanco dared to go further than the usual conversion project with 1050H. It is the first time a superyacht has been comprehensively recreated to deliver a complete future-proof vessel where no single element has remained the same. 1050H displays a modern exterior aesthetic, including a completely new superstructure, penned by Reymond Langton Design. The design studio also worked with the owner to conceive a fresh new interior. The A Group’s Richard Hein, who was at Oceanco during the original superyacht build, acted as the Owner’s independent representative for the project.

Delivered in 2023, NORN is a 90m yacht which boast the highest standards of craftsmanship and innovation. Espen Oeino's exterior design features precise geometry with flat surfaces, straight lines and angular corners. Comfort and entertainment have been equally considered in NORN's design, with zero-speed stabilisers ensuring the most comfortable ride possible and stand-out amenities such as an outdoor cinema annd a liftable pool floor with dance floor illumination.

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