SAILING Into the FUTURE

Designers push the boundaries of luxury on the high seas, and reap the rewards

- SI SI PENALOZA

A new generation of superyacht clientele, with ever-evolving priorities and pastimes, is challenging the industry to freshen up. For such a discerning cohort, decadent scale and unparalleled sense of space is a key driver. High concept, future-forward design is winning out over ostentatious glamour for its own sake. Case in point, one only has to look to the winners of the 2023 BOAT International Design & Innovation Awards to see evidence of ambitious forms heralding higher functionality than ever before.

Held in Cortina d’Ampezzo on the first day of the Superyacht Design Festival in February, the dazzling ceremony celebrated yacht design and toasts the studios behind them. Attended by preeminent designers, naval architects and shipbuilders, the evening is a who’s who of industry mavericks, not least because BOAT International has been the authority in super yachting for over three decades.

Ahpo, a seriously siren-worthy 378-ft. stunner, took the top prize for Outstanding Exterior Design, Motor Yachts 60m and Above—a major coup for Nuvolari Lenard, who also designed the sublime interior. Carlo Nuvolari and Dan Lenard are renowned for their sizzle reel of superyachts, private jets and villas. Ahpo’s naval architecture was developed by Lürssen to showcase a drop-dead gorgeous teak deck and spellbinding aluminum superstructure. Judges clearly approved of the designer’s instinct to limit the palette of shapes—her retro mast funnel is in perfect proportion and keeps exhausts and antennae neatly in check.