KEVIN KOENIG HAS PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED THOUSANDS OF YACHTS IN HIS 16 YEARS AS A JOURNALIST. THESE ARE THE ONES WHOSE DESIGN CAPTIVATED HIM…
01
Bravissima.
I’m biased toward Benetti since I literally wrote the book on them (available at your nearest Assouline store). But the 200- foot Bravissima that I got aboard at the 2025 Palm Beach boat show really impressed me. I was able to finagle a private tour of this top-secret build with her designer, Giorgio Cassetta. While I was impressed particularly with the interplay of light and space throughout the yacht, what really got me was the creamy travertine that seemed to pop up in some of the most unexpected places. In the yachting industry, we tend to get immune to what would otherwise be completely jawdropping. But not so with this gorgeous limestone. When I left the boat, I texted a friend who is also an industry vet. “Have you seen Bravissima yet?” I wrote. He responded immediately, “How about that travertine?!”
02
Kismet.
This ship is a lot. This 400-foot, estimated $450 million Lurssen was built for Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, and he held nothing back. The best way to describe this boat is to borrow a metaphor from Disney’s Aladdin. (Yes, I have young children.) Remember when Aladdin enters the Cave of Wonders and there are invaluable treasures strewn all over the place? That’s what boarding Kismet feels like. Here are a few of the things you would see: staterooms done by Dior, Hermès, Lalique, and Chanel; an engine room styled after the movie Tron, an underwater theater that peers out through 5-inch-thick glass into the sea, a spa complete with a steam room, plunge pool, and cryogenic freezer; and a golden bust designed by AI to look like Khan’s mother, wife, and daughter all at the same time. The list goes on and on.
03
Gene Chaser.
The 182-foot Damen Gene Chaser is singular. She is a support vessel for the 180-foot Amels Gene Machine, built for Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, who pioneered next-generation DNA sequencing. When the pandemic began, Rothberg— like many yacht owners—took to his boat. He and his family camped out off the coast of the Bahamas, where Rothberg’s frustration with the response to the disease boiled over into something productive. He installed equipment on Gene Chaser to help develop rapid athome test kits, in the process creating a proper science lab. I am sure this is the only such thing on a yacht in existence. Rothberg even plopped a shipping container onto one of the decks to create more room for scientists to sleep onboard. And, yes, they were successful in creating the test kits.
04
Venus Speedster.
The Venus Speedster by the Greek shipyard Seven Seas is one of the prettiest boats I have ever seen. In fact, I’d actually go as far as to say she is one of the prettiest machines I have ever seen on sea, air, or land. She takes her design cues from the iconic Porsche 356, and her exterior is all flowing lines and tumble home accentuated by bright and gorgeous paint jobs. Her interior has automotive details like a rearview mirror and analog gauges that are rarely seen on boats. With a powerful Rotax engine, she can go 45 knots, and is tons of fun to drive.
05
Jubilee.
Jubilee, now named Kaos, is a 361-foot Oceanco that was one of the first truly large yachts I ever got aboard—this was at the 2018 Monaco Yacht Show. At the time, the yacht was owned by the emir of Qatar. I toured her with one of the designers, and as we breezed past the 40-foot-long pool on the aft deck and into the salon, the designer mentioned that this particular room was for important meetings, and as is Qatari custom, only for men. “You’ll see there’s lots of seating,” the designer said. Then he waved his hand at a large chair in the center of the room. “And there’s the throne,” he continued, almost as an afterthought. And just like that we were off to examine the fullservice hospital on the next deck. When Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie bought the yacht in 2018, the first thing she did was gut it.
06
Pink Shadow.
One of my favorite boats of all time is the 191-foot Damen Pink Shadow. This expedition yacht has a Polynesian-themed interior complete with a tiki bar and totem poles by Mark Tucker of Design Unlimited. As I toured the yacht, cigar smoke wafted from the indooroutdoor smoking lounge at the tip of the bar. The owner, a European prosthetics magnate, was onboard having a puff. The yacht also had a white baby grand piano signed by Madonna. It’s her favorite yacht too. She has chartered it in the past.
07
Nero.
Nero gets a lot of attention for her retro exterior, which is an imitation of J. P. Morgan Jr.’s legendary yacht Corsair IV, built in 1930. But that’s only because most people have never actually been aboard, where treasures abound. The interior is in conversation with itself, with Easter eggs harkening to a nautical past hidden all over the boat. There are odes to Lord Byron, who wrote the poem "Corsair," as well as a handcrafted Burmese teak skylight inspired by Errol Flynn’s schooner, Zaca. To step aboard the yacht is to be transported back to another time altogether, a truly unforgettable experience.
