Layout
Locate the shaded seating, dining area, cabins and working spaces. Look at the routes between them, including stairs, narrow passages and access to the water.
Five ways to explore · Independent guide
Find your kind of yacht.
A visual starting point for discovering yachts. Explore the differences in movement, living space and purpose—then follow the guide that fits your interests.
- Explore
- Five yacht types
- Compare
- Life aboard
- Think about
- The journey
- Next step
- Choose a direction
01 — A place to begin
You do not need to know yacht terminology to know what appeals to you: a quiet passage under sail, lunch in a shaded cockpit, room for everyone to spread out, or a journey beyond familiar harbours.
Use those preferences as your starting point. These guides explain what each type offers, what varies between individual yachts and which details deserve a closer look. They are independent editorial guides, not a fleet of yachts available to book or buy.
The categories overlap. Motor and sailing describe propulsion; catamaran describes two hulls; superyacht describes a broad large-luxury category; explorer describes an intended purpose. A single yacht can belong to more than one. Treat the five guides as different ways into the subject, not a ranking.
02 — Yacht types
What draws you in?
Motor Yachts
01 · Powered cruisingExplore hull styles, deck layouts and life at anchor. Start here if engine-powered cruising and onboard living are the main attraction.
Sailing Yachts
02 · Life under sailDiscover the sailing experience, from the rig to the cockpit. Compare the appeal of the passage with the movement and flexibility it involves.
Superyachts
03 · Large-yacht livingLook beyond scale to the spaces, guest arrangements and crew roles. A larger yacht can offer more possibilities, but its label is not a feature list.
Catamarans
04 · Two hullsSee how twin hulls change shared spaces and cabin layout. Compare sail or power, beam, draft and everyday access rather than length alone.
Explorer Yachts
05 · Journey-led designStart with the destination and the support it requires. Learn to distinguish an explorer silhouette from documented capability for an actual route.
03 — Comparison
At a glance
A starting point for your reading, not a specification. Individual yachts vary in layout, condition and capability.
| Type | Start with | Look closer at |
|---|---|---|
| Motor | Powered cruising | Hull, shade, motion |
| Sailing | The passage under sail | Rig, heel, cockpit |
| Superyacht | Spaces and service | Layout, guest arrangements |
| Catamaran | Twin-hull living | Beam, cabins, draft |
| Explorer | A journey-led brief | Range, support, region |
Capacity, speed and price belong to a particular yacht and arrangement—not to a category as a whole.
Compare the day, not just the dimensions
Picture breakfast, a passage, a swim and an evening aboard. Where would everyone sit? How would they move between spaces or get ashore? A deck plan makes those questions more concrete than a length figure.
04 — Look closer
Six details behind the photograph
Movement
Ask how the yacht behaves underway and at anchor, and what stabilisation it has. No hull type or equipment label guarantees a motionless experience.
People aboard
Separate the number of beds from the permitted guest arrangements. For a crewed trip, compare the crew’s roles with the meals, activities and service your group expects.
Dimensions that matter
Beam is width; draft is the depth needed below the waterline. Both can affect where a yacht fits. Neither overall length nor a category label tells the whole story.
Condition and equipment
Ask for current information rather than relying on a build year or an old photograph. A purchase merits appropriate independent inspection and specialist advice.
The actual arrangement
If your research leads to charter or ownership, confirm who is responsible, what is included and which documents need checking. These guides are a starting point, not that verification.
05 — The journey
Let the place inform the choice
A yacht and a destination should be considered together. Begin with the kind of time you want on the water, then use the destination guides to explore places.
Harbours and coastal stops
If going ashore is central to the trip, ask about berth dimensions, tender transfers and distances between stops. Consider how the group will board, disembark and move around the yacht.
Island anchorages
Draft, shelter and access to the water may deserve more attention than top speed. Shallow draft can expand options, but the captain still needs to assess depths, conditions and local requirements.
Time under sail
Think about exposure, passage length and how much flexibility you have. A route chosen around the sailing experience asks different questions from one organised around fixed arrival times.
Farther from support
Range, resupply, equipment and relevant operational expertise move to the foreground. An explorer label is not a route approval; a qualified operator must assess the actual vessel and plan.
Found a direction?
Take the next step from yacht type to the experience of a first charter.