Sailing Yacht A at anchor below green mountains, sun low over the bay — Sailing Yacht A

The Hyperyachts

Yachts that did something on the water first, or still have no equal. Chosen one by one, not ranked by length.

A hyperyacht is not the size class after the gigayacht: it is a yacht that stands apart from every other vessel through one technical or design achievement, so length does not decide who belongs. That is why this list is chosen rather than sorted by length: each yacht is here for the one thing she did first or still does best, with the year and a source. Some of them are among the largest yachts afloat, but size is not why they are listed.

It's not another rung on the size ladder. It's a different level entirely, where size stops being the point… A hyperyacht has to make a statement, technical or stylistic, that nothing else on the water can match.

— itBoat, Every Boat and Yacht Size Explained (2026)

The list

In our order, not by size. Each entry names what she did first or still does best, with the year and sources.

Maltese Falcon
2006 · 88 m · Perini Navi
The first vessel ever built with a DynaRig: three freestanding, rotating carbon masts that set about 2,400 m² of square sail in around six minutes. The rig had been proposed for cargo ships in the 1960s but was never built until Maltese Falcon put to sea in 2006.
- Technical
- Historical
Sources: Boat International, 2015, Dykstra Naval Architects, Boat International, 2024, Boat International, World Superyacht Awards
More about Maltese Falcon
Black Pearl
2018 · 106.7 m · Oceanco
Black Pearl carries the world's largest DynaRig: three 70 m carbon masts set 2,900 m² of sail, about 25 per cent more than on Maltese Falcon, and under sail her propellers turn backwards to generate up to 480 kW for use on board. Oceanco delivered her in 2018.
- Technical
Sources: Boat International, Iconic yachts: the story of Black Pearl, 4 October 2021, Boat International, The greatest sailing yachts of the last 20 years (World Superyacht Awards), SuperyachtNews, Black Pearl: paving the way to a sustainable future, 22 December 2020
More about Black Pearl
Sailing Yacht A
2017 · 142.81 m · Nobiskrug
The largest sail-assisted motor yacht ever built, delivered by Nobiskrug in 2017. Her three freestanding, rotating carbon masts, the tallest rising 100 metres above the waterline, are described by the builder as the tallest and most highly loaded freestanding composite structures in the world.
- Technical
- Stylistic
Sources: Nobiskrug, Sailing Yacht A, Boat International, 2015, Boat International, 2017, Yachting World, 2022
More about Sailing Yacht A
Motor Yacht A
2008 · 119 m · Blohm+Voss
Philippe Starck gave her a submarine-like hull with an axe bow, a profile that divided opinion when Blohm+Voss delivered her in 2008; in 2018 Starck said that "everybody hated Motor Yacht A at first". By 2021 Boat International was calling her the world's most famous yacht.
- Stylistic
Sources: Boat International, Love it or hate it? The most divisive superyachts, 15 March 2018, Boat International, On board the world's most famous yacht with Philippe Starck, 11 June 2021, SuperYacht Times, SuperYacht of the week: the 119m superyacht A, 6 March 2010 (archived)
More about Motor Yacht A
Venus
2012 · 78.2 m · Feadship
Feadship calls Venus the world's first mastless motor yacht: when she was launched in 2012, her antennae and domes were hidden inside a composite casing on the top deck instead of on a mast. Her low superstructure is walled with about 15 tonnes of glass, carried on a hidden 10-tonne aluminium frame.
- Technical
- Stylistic
Sources: Feadship, Venus, Feadship, Feadship Firsts, 2025, Boat International, 2024, Boat International, Iconic yachts, 2021
More about Venus
Breakthrough
2025 · 118.8 m · Feadship
Feadship describes Breakthrough, delivered in 2025, as the world's first hydrogen fuel-cell superyacht. Sixteen fuel cells fed from a 92 m³ tank of liquid hydrogen at −253 °C can run her hotel load for about a week at anchor, or drive her at 10 knots, with water as the only exhaust.
- Technical
- Historical
Sources: Feadship, Breakthrough, Boat International, June 2025, SWZ|Maritime, Ship of the Year 2025, Boat International, World Superyacht Awards 2026, YachtBuyer, Breakthrough
More about Breakthrough
Wallypower 118
2003 · 36 m · Wally (built by Intermarine)
Wally's first motor yacht, launched in 2003: a faceted 36-metre hull under a deckhouse of tinted glass on a carbon frame, driven to around 60 knots by three gas turbines and waterjets. In 2004–05 the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art included her in its exhibition on glamour in design.
- Stylistic
- Technical
Sources: Power & Motoryacht, 2004, Boat International, 2015, Motor Boat & Yachting, 2022, SFMOMA, Glamour exhibition press release, 2004
More about Wallypower 118
Guilty
2008 · 35.3 m · Cantieri Navali Rizzardi
A yacht treated as a work of contemporary art: the 35-metre Guilty was delivered in 2008 in a hand-painted dazzle camouflage designed by Jeff Koons after First World War warships, and her owner counts her as part of his art collection.
- Stylistic
Sources: Domus, 2008, Boat International, 2023, BOOTE, 2023, Yachting, 2013
More about Guilty
Scale model
Destriero
1991 · 67.7 m · Fincantieri
In August 1992 Destriero crossed the Atlantic from Ambrose Light, New York, to Bishop Rock in the Scilly Isles in 58 hours, 34 minutes and 50 seconds, averaging 53.09 knots over 3,106 nautical miles without refuelling. Fincantieri in 2017 and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in 2022 described the record as still unbeaten.
- Technical
- Historical
Sources: Fincantieri, 25th anniversary of the Destriero challenge, 2017, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Destriero: a record still unbeaten after 30 years, 2022, SuperYacht Times, Fincantieri celebrates 20th anniversary of Destriero record, 2012
More about Destriero
Savannah
2015 · 83.5 m · Feadship
Launched in 2015, Savannah was the first superyacht able to choose between diesel, diesel-electric and fully electric propulsion. A single Wärtsilä diesel turns one large variable-pitch propeller, with an electric Azipull thruster in its slipstream; three generators and about one megawatt of lithium-ion batteries supply the electric power.
- Technical
Sources: Lloyd's Register, Feadship launches hybrid superyacht, 2015, Feadship, Savannah, SuperyachtNews, 2015, Boat International, 2016/2021
More about Savannah
Silver Cloud
2008 · 40.5 m · Abeking & Rasmussen
Delivered by Abeking & Rasmussen in 2008, Silver Cloud (now Nurja) was the first private yacht built on a SWATH (small-waterplane-area twin hull) platform, a hull form that until then had only been used on commercial vessels. On her sea trials she recorded a vertical acceleration of 0.035 g rms in two-metre seas.
- Technical
Sources: Abeking & Rasmussen, Silver Cloud: the first of its kind, Boat International, Yacht owner and philanthropist Alexander Dreyfoos dies at 91, 2023, Boat International, Are SWATH platforms the ideal superyacht design?, 2015, YachtBuyer, Nurja: build story and specification
More about Silver Cloud
Canova
2019 · 43.3 m · Baltic Yachts
The first superyacht fitted with a Dynamic Stability System foil, launched in 2019: a 9-metre carbon foil slides out through the hull to leeward, reducing heel by up to 34% and pitching by up to 40%. Her diesel-electric drive also recharges her batteries from the propeller while she sails.
- Technical
Sources: Baltic Yachts, Dynamic Stability System, Baltic Yachts, Baltic 142 Canova, SuperyachtNews, 2018, Boat International, 2019, YACHT, 2026
More about Canova
Almax
2024 · 49.99 m · Sanlorenzo
Launched by Sanlorenzo in May 2024, Almax (now Contigo) was the first superyacht with a reformer fuel cell: a Siemens Energy system that converts green methanol into hydrogen on board and then into up to 100 kW of electricity, enough to run the hotel load at anchor with the engines and generators switched off and without storing hydrogen.
- Technical
Sources: Sanlorenzo, Sanlorenzo launches 50Steel, the first superyacht in the world powered by a green methanol Fuel Cell system, SuperyachtNews, Sanlorenzo launches its first methanol-powered yacht, 2024, Boat International, Sanlorenzo delivers first fuel-cell powered 50Steel superyacht, 2024, Boat International, Future perfect: on board Sanlorenzo's groundbreaking fuel-cell superyacht Almax, 2024
More about Almax
Christina O
1943 · 99.13 m · Canadian Vickers
Converted from the 1943 Canadian frigate HMCS Stormont and delivered to Aristotle Onassis in 1954, Christina hosted Winston Churchill, Maria Callas and John F. Kennedy and became, in Boat International's words, the world's most famous luxury yacht. Her saltwater pool, whose mosaic floor rises to form a dance floor, has been copied on superyachts since.
- Historical
Sources: Boat International, Christina O: what happened to Aristotle Onassis' 99m superyacht?, 2024, Boat International, What to know about the legendary 99m superyacht Christina O, 2026, Yachts International, Christina O: rebirth of a legend, 2002
More about Christina O

The biggest yachts in the worldLooking for size instead? Every delivered yacht of 100 m or more, ranked by length overall.

Questions

What is a hyperyacht?

A yacht that makes a technical or stylistic statement no other vessel can match. It is a different level, not another rung on the size ladder: once a yacht is a hyperyacht, size stops being the point.

What is the difference between a superyacht, megayacht, gigayacht and hyperyacht?

There are no official lines; on this site they are drawn as follows. A superyacht starts at about 100 ft (30 m), give or take 10 ft, or once there are more than three crew and a management company, or at roughly 100 gross tons. A megayacht starts at about 1,000 gross tons, usually around 60 m. A gigayacht: some put the line at 100 m; here the line is above 10,000 gross tons, where Lürssen's 141 m NORD (10,154 GT) sits. A hyperyacht is not measured by size at all: it is defined by a technical or stylistic statement nothing else on the water can match.

Is every hyperyacht also a gigayacht?

No. Some are both, such as Sailing Yacht A, at 12,500 GT. Nausicaä, at 6,300 GT, is a hyperyacht but not a gigayacht, and Wallypower 118 and the yacht GUILTY are mini-hyperyachts.

Which is the biggest yacht in the world?

By length, Azzam: 180.61 m (593 ft), built by Lürssen and delivered in 2013 (Boat International). She is not on this list, because length alone does not make a hyperyacht. All delivered yachts of 100 m or more are ranked on the biggest yachts in the world.

How is a yacht chosen for this list?

Each yacht is listed for one thing she did first, or still does better than any other yacht, such as Maltese Falcon, the first yacht built with a DynaRig in 2006. Every entry gives the year and sources from the shipyard or the yachting press.

Sources (2)