Excellence

Few yachts launched in the late 2010s resemble Excellence, a 2019 build from the German yard Abeking & Rasmussen. Inside and out, she is the work of Winch Design: a reverse bow, sharp lines that blur where hull ends and superstructure begins, and broad bands of mirrored glazing. The German yard itself likens her to a spaceship, and brokers note that it had never fitted glass of this size on one of its yachts before. She was named Finest New Yacht at the 2019 Monaco Yacht Show and took its exterior design prize too; in 2020 the Robb Report gave her its interior award and Boat International singled out her lighting.

Glass shapes life inside as much as the profile. The social centre is a glazed atrium rising through several decks, framed by panels without frames, which keeps the whole party in touch with the sea. The owner's deck is the high point: a suite partly wrapped in floor-to-ceiling curved glass with 180-degree views, the largest single pane about six metres long, plus a private office and an outdoor terrace with its own Jacuzzi. The other six cabins each have a different colour palette.

A lot happens close to the water. At the back of the main deck you can swim straight up to the bar in the pool, and one level lower the beach club folds out into a broad terrace over the water, with steps down for swimming and a generous platform. The main deck also houses a tiered cinema, a spa with sauna and the gym. Two Hodgdon limousine tenders take guests ashore in comfort, and a range of some 6,300 nautical miles lets her move freely between oceans.

The owner who commissioned her had already run successful charter yachts, and the layout shows that experience. In winter 2026/27 her cruising grounds are the Caribbean islands, Leewards and Windwards alike, plus the Bahamas; for summer 2027, around Corsica, Sardinia, the Riviera, the Italian coast, Greece and Croatia. She suits a group of up to twelve who enjoy bold design and like to entertain. If you prefer warm, wood-panelled classics, or a discreet yacht that does not draw every eye in the harbour, she is not your boat.