Monaco Yacht Show 2015: the best of the boats

In recent years, the number of moorings at the annual Monaco Yacht Show has ballooned, and the bay is thick with nautical innovation, decks and gleaming fittings. We bring you the best from the modern yacht industry - from the superstructures to the slick ’expedition’ vessels making waves… Pictured: Iguana Yachts

(Image credit: press)

By Jonathan Bell

last updated 18 October 2022

in Buying Guides

Monaco is the cradle of the superyacht, a place where the capital exists to indulge this most indulgent of industries. In recent years, the number of moorings at the annual Monaco Yacht Show has ballooned, and the bay is thick with nautical innovation, decks and fittings gleaming in the bright autumn sunshine. Money seems to cascade down the steep hills of the principality and end up in the bay, where it’s transformed into the navy, grey and white superstructures of the modern yacht industry.

Along with Fort Lauderdale, the MYS is the premiere industry destination. Tax planners sit alongside naval architects and the Antiguan tourist board, with everyone looking for ways of muscling in. In the marquees you’ll find specialist suppliers of marquetry, crockery, galley equipment, tender hoists and superyacht stabiliser systems. Everything that can be chromed, is chromed. A thousand sparkly finished objects compete against other as everyone angles to get their ‘gesamtkunst’ into the ‘werk’. Spokesmodels are poured into matching dresses while a hundredweight of glossy brochures and specialist magazines threaten to sink the pontoons into the harbour. Shelves groan with magazines like Global Citizen and Arabian Knight, each hoping to speak directly to the elite cadre of perhaps 10,000 people who can afford to buy and maintain one of these extraordinary objects.

This year, the big trend is not just ‘expedition yachts’ (the SUVs of the nautical world, designed to go anywhere for long periods of time so you can indulge your Steve Zissou fantasies), but ‘shadow boats,’ essentially a tug-like support vessel that follows the main yacht laden with jet skis, tenders, personal submarines and a helicopter or two, thus freeing up space above and below decks on your main boat for (even) more lavish accommodation. Glass-sided swimming pools were also in evidence, for example, as was a new Dutch innovation for a bed platform that constantly adjusts to counter the roll and pitch of the sea, theoretically giving you a stable place to sleep. Now even the most seasick mogul can enjoy their time offshore.

Wallpaper* was hosted on a Riva Rivale, an elegant sports yacht built by the legendary Italian firm, moored at the Riva Monaco Boat Service and as guests of Lia Riva. The Yacht Show sees Riva in its element – the company fielded jetties full of Aquaramas and Aquarivas, as well as its larger cruisers, all the way up to the new Florida 88. Step on board for our guide to what’s new in nautical design, technology and style.

‘Marinised’ version of its single-seater road-legal track car — BAC Mono: First up is something for the weekend. Yachts with integral garages have been around for decades, but few car companies have designed specifically for this tiny niche. British supercar builder BAC is now offering a special ‘marinised’ version of its single-seater road-legal track car

Car with anti corrosion treatment — The Marine Edition not only comes with a specialist crate and crane to get the car onto the dock, but the car itself has been given special anti-corrosion treatment so it can withstand life on the open waves

Ian Briggs designed yacht — Ian Briggs, the co-founder of the company that bears his name, began his career designing yachts, so building a lightweight toy for high-speed sojourns seems like a logical next step

OMA / Solid Nature / Inside/Out: Stone suppliers Solid Nature consolidated their installation at this year’s Maison & Object by taking their product to the customers that matter

A collaboration between OMA and Inside/Outside, the company showcased their exquisite selection of natural stone finishes – a must-have for a certain type of superyacht owner – with an installation that projected stone onto fabric...

creating a tapestry of texture and form that had interior designers salivating at the prospect of what they could achieve onboard

**Iguana:** Iguana Yachts build a beast that is best described as a transitional object

A mix of elegant yacht tender and half-tracked vehicle, the Iguana can skim the waves with ease and then – once the retractable tracks are deployed – power up the rockiest beach, to provide you with a lofty perch to dine and sunbathe, or just descend and explore

Carbon fibre and Kevlar come together to make this beach-busting machine tough as well as luxurious

**Triton Submarines:** Step up a gear to dive even deeper with Triton’s 3300/3, one of a crop of ever-larger subs built by this Florida-based specialist

As the name suggests, the 3300/3 lets two passengers sit abreast of your designated Captain Nemo, with a dive depth of up to a kilometre

A yellow color yacht in blue sea — Larger diving parties can club together in the 3300/6, with its twin-hulled design, or the mighty 6000/2, a new model designed for even deeper forays into the ocean beneath your floating retreat

U-Boat Worx Super Yacht Sub 3: — **U-Boat Worx Super Yacht** **Sub 3:** Budding James Camerons can enter the undersea kingdom via U-Boat Worx’s new Super Yacht Sub 3, a deep-diving machine designed for installation in your expedition yacht or shadow boat

The three-seater is designed to be upgradeable and can ultimately be rated to depths of up to 300m. With leather seats and a giant viewing dome, this is the ultimate lightweight exploring machine for deep-pocketed treasure hunters and marine biologists – they’ll need to find at least €1,500,000 for the experience

**Deep Flight Dragon:** Coming straight from the Hergé school of submarine design, the Dragon is the latest personal submersible from the Californian company

A sleek two-person sub, the Dragon not only dives deep but enters the water smoothly and quietly

Monaco Yacht Show — The relatively compact 5m design features six thrusters, allowing you to hover as well as fly, making undersea excursions a leisurely experience

**Heesen Ann G** : Leading Dutch shipbuilders Heesen showcased their latest launch, the 50m Ann G

Monaco Yacht Show 2015: the best of the boats — With an exterior by Clifford Denn and interiors by Reymond Langton, the steel-hulled yacht is classically handsome with a flowing superstructure that dovetails elegantly into the dark lower hull

The interior is richly outfitted in hardwood and stainless steel with deco-design touches. A grand yacht in the traditional style.

**Heesen Project Nova:** Heesen’s conceptual 50m Project Nova is the shipbuilder’s newest hybrid yacht design. Combining regular engines with an electric propulsion system, Project Nova will have range, pace and grace, as well as stealthy, elegant silence

interior of yacht by Sinot Yacht Design — The aluminium hull by Omega Architects is paired with a clean contemporary interior by Sinot Yacht Design, while key elements like the vertical bow have been included for a more stable, serene platform. The ship should take to the waves in 2017

**Riva Tunnel:** Riva is a big name in Monaco circles, so the company’s Yacht Show event in their famous Riva Tunnel drew the great and the good from Monagasque society. Featuring an installation by London-based architect Adriana Natcheva of Groves Natcheva, the event was hosted by Lia Riva – CEO of the Monaco Boat Service – in collaboration with the French publication *Monaco Madame*, in the vast subterranean storage vault where the firm keeps its priceless collection of vintage Aquarama’s. Thanks to the recent addition of the Aquarama Lounge at the summit of Norman Foster’s new Monaco Yacht Club, the Riva name now encircles the bay. Mrs Riva, daughter of the firm’s founder Carlo Riva, told us that the company will stay true to the compact elegance of the classic Aquariva – ‘it’s a very special market, small but precious, like a diamond’. However, Riva is also upsizing and heading into the superyacht arena

Riva Florida 88 — **Riva Florida** **88:** One of the stars of the show, the Florida 88 pours all of Riva’s boat-building know-how into the superluxury powerboat format, with a few added twists

The Florida 88 — If the original Aquariva is the compact Italian sports car of the waves, the Florida 88 is the Ferrari, a sleek and sumptuously presented powerboat with a few unique features, most notably the folding hardtop which opens up the wheelhouse to the elements

TRANSPORT: Monaco Yacht Show 2015: the best of the boats — Officina Italiana Design has created a sleek 27m masterpiece, complete with 40 knot performance, four en-suite cabins and an integral tender garage

**Fincantieri / Pininfarina Ottantacinque:** A collaboration between shipbuilders Fincantieri and legendary design house Pininfarina, the Ottantacinque is a conceptual design for an 85m mega yacht

Monaco Yacht Show 2015: the boats — With a maximum of 33 berths (19 crew and 14 passengers), the Ottantacinque offers up a very contemporary take on mega yacht aesthetics, with a more organic interior than the current clutch of big, big boats

**Amels Madame Kate:** A Tim Heywood design that was garlanded with honours at the 2015 MYS, the Madame Kate won both the show’s Interior Design Award and Environmental Awards and being graced with a royal visit

Sitting area of yacht — Fourteen guests can be accommodated in the six main cabins, interiors designed by the Italian specialist Laura Sessa, with a crew of 18 on hand

Yacht sailing in sea — **Oceanco Acquaintance:** Given that the superyacht designation starts at 50m, Oceanco’s newly announced Acquaintance demands its own category at a quay-busting 105m. This is a monumental, yet minimal piece of ocean-going design

Wooden deck of yacht — Ten guest cabins, a glass-walled swimming pool, ‘beach club’ and spa area at the stern and vast owner’s accommodation are offset by the lean, lightweight design that would make the Acquaintance marginally more efficient to run than equivalent yachts

**CRN Atlante:** The Atlante is a new 55m yacht from CRN – it’s a dark and purposeful build, with a hull design inspired by military craft

Monaco Yacht Show 2015:CRN Atlante- the best of the boats — The designers were Nuvolari Lenard, with interiors by Paris’s Gilles & Boissier – the overall effect is restrained and traditional, with squared off superstructure,...

CRN Atlante-interiors — ... generous accommodation thanks to the wide beam, and neat touches like tender garages that double as open guest spaces once the tenders are at sea

INFORMATION

Monaco Yacht Show 2016 will run from 28 September – 1 October at Port Hercules, Monaco

ADDRESS

Monaco Yacht Show S.A.M.
7, rue Suffren-Reymond – Le Suffren
MC 98000, Monaco

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Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.

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