Usher

Usher spends her year on the American side of the Atlantic, and her own itineraries show it: Miami and the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and, in summer, New England and Chesapeake Bay. Delta Marine built her in 2007, when she was called Mr. Terrible, on a semi-displacement composite hull that cruises at around 20 knots, a pace that shortens the run between Florida and the Bahamas. Her most recent refit was in 2025.

What sets her apart is an option few charter yachts offer: through the SeaKeepers programme, guests can spend days working with marine scientists. Depending on season and place, that might mean tagging tiger sharks on the Little Bahama Bank, collecting coral fragments for a nursery in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, or joining sawfish research around the Marquesas Keys and the Dry Tortugas, diving or snorkelling with the researchers.

Inside, Juan-Carlos Espinosa gave her a Polynesian look that is rare in the charter fleet: bubinga and wenge, bamboo and woven wood, leather, stone and made-to-order glass. Two VIP cabins have Jacuzzi baths, the master suite sleeps beneath a stained-glass dome, a Pullman berth suits a child, and a lift runs from the cabins up to the skylounge. Outside, the sundeck has a bar beside its hot tub, the stern has a fishing cockpit, and the boats include a 35-foot Scout tender with its own head and, on request, a 56-foot Hampton chase boat with two crew of its own.

She is the wrong choice for a Mediterranean summer, which she does not offer, and for guests who like a pared-back modern interior, because her decoration is deliberately exuberant. Groups looking for a big beach club or a spa will also find her deck plan traditional. For families who want quick passages, fishing and diving in American and Bahamian waters, with a scientific angle if they ask for it, she has a clear identity.