European Yacht Of The Year 2026

There has not been such a promising year in yacht building for a long time. Instead of focusing primarily on increasing volume and living space or, worse still, cutting costs in production, most shipyards have now refocused on core values. This was impressively demonstrated by the tests for Europe’s Yachts of the Year.

The six award-winning models in particular epitomize the return to the essentials. They all owe their victory not exclusively, but very significantly, to the fact that they were able to impress under sail – regardless of whether they are a cruising catamaran or a blue water yacht. Even boats from categories for which performance is not the only decisive factor won their title at sea, not in the assessment at anchor or in the harbor.

For a long time, the focus of new developments was on comfort, but today such one-dimensionality is no longer enough to win one of the coveted boatbuilding Oscars. It takes more than that: good cockpit ergonomics, suitable deck hardware, rigid structures, sufficiently thick edge banding and veneer thicknesses in addition to easily accessible sailing fun. – Full report