Sea Wolf

Sea Wolf was launched in 2008 by the Italian yard Mondo Marine and spent her early years as Barents Sea, a name that still crops up in older listings. Studio Vafiadis drew her profile and Luca Dini designed the rooms, but the first thing anyone notices in an anchorage is the colour: her hull wears a bright shade of electric blue that stands out among the white boats around her. In 2009 she was a finalist at the World Superyacht Awards in the category for semi-displacement and planing yachts over 40 metres.

That kind of hull shapes the holiday. She is built entirely in aluminium, with twin MTU engines, so she covers the distance between islands faster than a heavy displacement boat and leaves more of the day for swimming and lunch ashore. Slowed to an economical 12 knots, her tanks are good for about 3,450 nautical miles. Stabilisers work both under way and at anchor, which helps when the meltemi picks up in the afternoon.

Her owners have kept spending on her. A refit in 2018 redesigned the upper lounge from scratch, put a stone top on the dining table, renewed the fabrics, blinds and bathroom furniture, repainted the hull and added a new swim platform and chase tender. Further upgrades followed in 2022, and portals record another refit in 2024.

Life on board is sociable rather than formal. The upper deck pairs a Jacuzzi with a big lounging and sunbathing area, the forward sunpads sit under a bimini on carbon posts, and the open-air bar, lit with LEDs, has its own screen. There are two saloons, one on the main deck and a skylounge with an HD projector for film nights, and each cabin has its own home-cinema system; in the bathrooms the lighting can change colour to suit the mood. Only the owner's cabin sits on the main deck, while everyone else sleeps a level below, in a VIP, a pair of queen-bed doubles and a pair of twins that take an extra pullman each, which makes life easy with children aboard.

She is based in Athens and stays in the eastern Mediterranean through the year, so the natural trips are Mykonos and the rest of the Cyclades, the Turkish coast, or Croatia and Montenegro further north. Sea Wolf is made for up to twelve people, friends or relatives, who want a quick, cheerful boat and plenty of time at anchor. Anyone expecting a spa, a large beach club or the service of a much bigger crew should look further up the size range, and she has no Caribbean season for winter sun.