Yachting news, Monday, 2 November 2026

Brokerage: a strong third quarter, led by the 40–50 m sector

BOATPro's third-quarter report shows the cumulative value of sales running well ahead of last year's record third quarter, even with new-build deals left out. The 40 to 50 m bracket recovered from last year, and three confidential sales above 70 m were recorded. Among the quarter's deals, the 60 m Lürssen Caipirinha sold in July through Edmiston, last asking just under €39 million.

Inace sells the first Explora and adds a 39.6 m Aventura

Brazilian yard Inace Superyachts has sold the first of its 45.7 m ISY 150 Explora expedition yachts to Bob Giles, a Louisiana entrepreneur who has owned two long-range Nordhavns called VivieRae. Delivery is set for 2029. Giles asked for more than 5,000 miles of range, so the 499 GT steel and aluminium boat gives up the usual beach club for a dive-support deck, complete with compressor, recompression chamber and helium and oxygen cylinders. Hydro Tec is responsible for the naval architecture and exterior, and Carla Guilhem Design for the interior.

The yard has also shown the ISY 130 Aventura, presented at Fort Lauderdale last week. She is 39.6 m and 235 GT, sleeps ten guests in five cabins and has twin 800 hp engines, for a modest 11-knot cruise and 13 knots flat out. Inace has four projects in build, from 32 to 47 m.

Lollipop: Moonen's eighth Martinique, with sweets in the bar

BOAT has been aboard the 37.4 m Lollipop, the eighth Moonen 122 Martinique and the first of three in the series to have Vripack interiors. Launched at Den Bosch in March and handed to her American owners in June, she takes her name from Shirley Temple's 1934 song. Hence a cocktail bar with sweets set into its clear counter, and a sundeck spa with a candy-themed glass front. She is 345 GT and takes ten guests in five cabins, and her two Caterpillar C32s give 14.5 knots in the cruise and a range of 4,000 miles at 10 knots. Moonen has two yachts in build, according to BOATPro.

Brokerage: Rossinavi's Aurora makes her market debut

The 49.1 m Aurora, an all-aluminium Rossinavi delivered in 2017, has come up for sale for the first time, with Maria Razumi of Smart Yachts asking €25.35 million. She is lying in Dubai. A Fulvio De Simoni design with interiors by Salvagni Architetti, she was lengthened by 2.2 m during the build. Twin 3,460 hp MTUs give her 19 knots in the cruise and 26 at the top end, and she takes 12 guests in six cabins, two of them owner's cabins, with nine crew.

Rhum: Dorange collides, Beccaria and Goodchild duel at the front

A collision came soon after the start, when Violette Dorange's IMOCA Initiatives Cœur ran into Romain Pilliard's 75 ft trimaran Use It Again after the Cap Fréhel mark. Neither skipper was hurt. Pilliard's boat lost part of a float, and Dorange damaged her starboard foil. Both made for Roscoff, and Dorange is now going back to Lorient for repairs. She plans to rejoin the race, and must finish before it closes on 3 December.

Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Mapei) and Sam Goodchild (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) are disputing the IMOCA lead, with Beccaria back in front after going closer to shore overnight. Boris Herrmann and Sébastien Simon, on the two newest boats, lie sixth and seventh, about 60 miles back.

Among the 49 Class40s, Luca Rosetti (Maccaferri Futura) is less than a mile ahead of Pierre Leboucher (Institut Imagine), and reports 20 to 24 knots downwind in rough seas, with several broaches. Marco Guerra is stopping at Port-La-Forêt with water coming in at the keel and electronic faults, and intends to carry on. Elsewhere, Quentin Le Nabour (Bleu Blanc Planète Location) has lost his mast while in the top five, and Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) leads the Ocean Fiftys by about five miles.

Sagara takes the J/70 North Americans; France retains team race title

James Golden's Sagara, with Willem van Waay and Steve Hunt in the crew, won the J/70 North American Championship at Annapolis on 33 points after eight races. Haroldo Solberg's Brazilian entry OceanPact was two points behind, with Per Roman's Swedish GARM third on 45. There were 54 teams from seven countries. Alec Cutler's Hedgehog won the Corinthian division. The J/70 Worlds come to the same club from 23 to 30 October 2027.

In Cagliari, France defended its title at the OpenSkiff Team Race World Championship, which finished yesterday. Italy's Lega Navale del Sulcis team was second and Poland 1 third, in a field of five teams.

Cheese IV sweeps Istanbul's season finale

The seventh Presidential International Yacht Races of Türkiye ended in Istanbul yesterday, after a season of four legs, 27 races and 88 different boats. Levent Peynirci's Farr 40 Cheese IV, racing as Enka, won all five races in the 65-boat Republic Cup, as well as the 2026 ORC 0 trophy, and was named Champion of the Year. Next season opens on 23 April.

Coming up: Star Worlds in Miami, and a 40-nation Gold Cup in Rio

The Star World Championship has drawn 97 teams from 17 nations to Biscayne Bay, with six races from 9 to 14 November. Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen defend, against a field including European champions Robert Scheidt and Austin Sperry, and Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Bruno Prada.

Three SSL47s have been parading off Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon to promote the SSL Gold Cup, which runs from 18 November to 13 December in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. Forty national teams will race identical boats through knockout rounds to a four-nation final.

For the diary: Gdynia in 2027 and València in 2028

World Sailing has published the Notice of Race for the 2027 World Sailing Championships. The 49er, 49erFX, 470 and Nacra 17 will race at Gdynia, Poland, from 22 July to 2 August, alongside the Para Inclusive titles, and the event offers the largest share of Olympic quota places for Los Angeles 2028. The iQFOiL, Formula Kite and ILCA fleets have their championships at Fortaleza, Brazil, in January.

Separately, the Offshore Racing Congress has given the 2028 ORC World Championship to València and the Real Club Náutico de Valencia. Dates are provisional, somewhere between 15 June and 15 July, as the club fits it around its SM La Reina Trophy.

GNR seizes 4,900 litres of fuel near Albufeira beach

The GNR detained 12 men aged 18 to 30 in the early hours of today near Praia de São Rafael, Albufeira, and identified a 15-year-old. It seized 196 jerricans holding about 4,900 litres of fuel, two vehicles, one of them with a false number plate, and seven mobile phones. The force says the fuel was meant for a boat and would have supported drug trafficking by sea. The Olhão coastal control detachment led the operation, using land and air assets after suspicious movements were spotted, and the suspects were caught as they tried to run.

Desalination: PS deputies press the government to keep building

Two Socialist deputies for Faro, Luís Graça and Vítor Guerreiro, say the work on the Algarve's desalination plant must go on despite Albufeira's embargo. They argue that an administrative issue should never have stopped a project they consider essential to preparing the region for drought. Graça says Mayor Rui Cristina could have called an extraordinary session of the municipal assembly to correct any error, and wants the government to move from assurances to action. The project's monitoring committee, as reported here yesterday, meets on Wednesday.

Ferragudo asks for help with its waterfront; a Quarteira fisherman at the UN

Marking the anniversary of its elevation to town status, Ferragudo's parish council has called for more resources and municipal support. It says state budget data for 2027 leave it among the three Algarve parishes receiving least from the national parish fund. Among the projects awaiting decisions, it lists the waterfront requalification, which it calls fundamental to the area's identity and economy, and gear shelters for local fishermen. No scope, cost or timetable has been given.

Elsewhere, João Santos of Quarteira, a professional fisherman for 12 years before joining the Ministry of Agriculture and Sea, has presented Portugal's Young Fisher Statute at an FAO youth session in Rome, speaking on behalf of the Secretary of State for Fisheries. The measure, set out in a January decree-law, aims to attract young people to fishing and aquaculture.

Under six weeks away: the Youth Worlds return to Vilamoura

We found no new Algarve sailing results in the last few days, but the next big event is close. Vilamoura hosts the World Youth Sailing Championship for the second year running from 11 to 19 December, with about 450 athletes from a record 72 countries racing in the 29er, ILCA 6, Nacra 15, 420, iQFOiL and Formula Kite. Organiser Vilamoura Sailing estimates an economic impact of about €3.5 million and nearly 12,000 overnight stays. (Reported on 26 October.)

Bahrain's Dilmunia Marina to open in December

Masar Group, part of the Mumtalakat holding company, will manage and operate Dilmunia Marina under an agreement with Ithmaar Development Company, announced in Manama yesterday. The marina is expected to open next month on about 15,000 m² on the north side of Dilmunia Island. It will take 118 vessels: 68 on wet berths for boats of up to 13 m, and 50 in dry storage, along with ten jet-ski berths and some 580 m of modular pontoons. A members' lounge, a marine training centre and a water transport station are also planned.

València to repair its marina promenade

Anyone heading for La Marina de València should expect works along the waterfront. Valenciaport has awarded a contract worth €2,257,841 to repair the elevated promenade, covering its metal structure, access stairs, handrails, lighting, and the benches and pergola near the port entrance. A Sorigué-Acsa joint venture has 15 months from formalising the contract to finish, and has been told to avoid generators and compressors with combustion engines.