Yachting news, Monday, 9 November 2026

Gianetti delivers ONeiro I, almost 20 years after work began

Gianetti Yachts has handed over ONeiro I, the aluminium motor yacht that was known as Project 401. Work on her began on speculation in 2007, and she passed through several Italian yards before Gianetti agreed to buy the hull in November 2014. It reached Viareggio in April 2015. The yard spent about five years turning her into a custom build for her first client, but the client died in 2020 and work stopped. New owners bought the unfinished yacht in November 2024, and she was launched this July. She measures about 38.5 m and 340GT, sleeps ten guests in five cabins, and has a sundeck pool and a lift that serves every deck. Twin 1,300hp Caterpillars give her 16 knots and a range of about 2,700 miles at 11.2 knots. Gianetti now has one more boat in build, Project 402.

Bilgin's Moonraker finds a buyer

The 47m Bilgin Moonraker has been sold. She was delivered in 2019 and is a 499GT steel and aluminium yacht with an exterior by Unique Yacht Design. She takes ten guests in five cabins and has room for up to nine crew. Twin MTU engines give her a 12-knot cruise. She was last asking €18.5 million. AJ Blackmon of Ikonic Yachts acted for the seller, and Ami Ira of Blue Oceans Yachting brought in the buyer. The price was not disclosed.

Royal Balk offers a ready-made refit plan for Santa Maria T

Royal Balk Shipyard is selling a refit concept along with a brokerage yacht. Santa Maria T is a steel, trawler-style motor yacht of about 37 m that Van der Valk built in 2015. She has had one owner and has been used only privately. She is listed through Nauticon Yacht Services at €7 million. Royal Balk calls its refits “ReCraft” projects, and it estimates the full package, including purchase, at about €10 million. Redelivery could be within 12 months, depending on scope. The plan keeps the round-bilge hull, which gives her a range of 3,600 miles at 10 knots, but redesigns the upper deck and extends the transom to make room for a bigger beach club, more toys or even a personal submarine.

New finance chief at Sunseeker

Sunseeker International has appointed Daren Morris as chief financial officer. He takes over from Dean Lawler. The British builder says the appointment strengthens its leadership team for its next phase of development. It follows the arrival of Scott Millar, a turnaround specialist, as chief executive earlier this year.

Route du Rhum: Coville second, Burton third

The Ultim podium was completed yesterday afternoon in Pointe-à-Pitre. Thomas Coville brought Sodebo Ultim 3 home at 12:42 local time (16:42 UTC), with an elapsed time of 7 days, 4 hours and 40 minutes. That put him 15 hours and 12 minutes behind Tom Laperche. It was the 58-year-old's eighth Route du Rhum in a row and his sixth podium. His race was not easy: he lost his big J0 gennaker in a tricky series of gybes, and he picked up a 45-minute penalty over a propeller-shaft seal that broke at the start.

Louis Burton finished less than two hours later, at 14:30 local (18:30 UTC), in 7 days, 6 hours and 28 minutes. This was the first time he had crossed an ocean on Ultim Armand Thiery, the former Macif, which he had sailed only briefly before the start. He had been aiming for the top five. Guirec Soudée (Liamm) was expected to be the next Ultim home, by about mid-afternoon UTC today.

Route du Rhum: Bourgnon's lead melts, Nebout leads in Class40

The Ocean Fifty race has suddenly opened up. Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) lost a sail in violent squalls, and his lead of more than 120 miles has shrunk to about 15, with Pierre Quiroga (Wewise) and Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires En Peloton) closing in. Corentin Horeau (MACSF) still has the IMOCA fleet under control, with 380 miles to go this morning and a lead of about 320 miles over Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4). Horeau expects the wind to die for about a day before the finish. Élodie Bonafous is third, ahead of Sam Goodchild, and Francesca Clapcich is fifth.

In Class40, Achille Nebout (Amarris) has moved about 20 miles clear of Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran Seafrigo) and the chasing group, though he is having trouble with sail changes. The fleet faces gusts of 30 to 40 knots and 2 to 3 m seas before a ridge of high pressure. Kieran Le Borgne (Armor-Lux) leads Rhum Mono, and Damien Seguin is about 100 miles ahead in Rhum Multi.

Gitana 18 back in Lorient

Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild arrived back at La Base in Lorient on Saturday afternoon, a few minutes after Gitana 17, the boat he won the 2022 Route du Rhum on. The team has now explained what went wrong: the trailing edge of the port foil tore off and took the foil's hydraulic lines with it, so the foil stopped producing lift. Caudrelier also said he had caught Covid three weeks before the start and was not at full strength. The new trimaran will do more test sailing before she goes into the shed for the winter.

Star Worlds start on Biscayne Bay

The Star World Championship opened at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami yesterday with a practice race and an opening ceremony. Points racing starts today, with one race a day until the title is decided on Saturday 14 November. More than 90 teams from 17 nations are taking part. Paul Cayard and Frithjof Kleen are the defending champions, and Robert Scheidt, Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Diego Negri are also in the fleet, which includes 23 former world champions, Olympic medallists and America's Cup sailors.

America's Cup: a busy day for the French in Naples

La Roche-Posay Racing Team had its most energetic session yet on Saturday, its 20th day on the water in its AC75 off Naples. According to the Recon Unit, the crew made 79 tacks and 53 gybes, nearly all of them fully foiling, in a breeze that dropped from 12 to 14 knots in the morning to 6 to 13 in the afternoon. Diego Botín and Quentin Delapierre shared the helm, and the day included pre-start drills and a full practice race. The team later weighed the boat, and the mast on its own, with a crane.

Alvor and Albufeira bars closed; Portimão restricted for boats under 12 m

By yesterday afternoon the swell from depression Bruna was already closing Algarve harbour entrances. At 14:40 on Sunday, the Navy's bar-status page showed the Albufeira and Alvor bars closed to all traffic, and the Portimão bar restricted for vessels under 12 m. All other bars in the region were open at that point. IPMA had the south coast on a yellow warning for south-easterly waves of around 2 m.

It is due to get worse. IPMA has a yellow sea warning from 21:00 tonight until 03:00 on Wednesday, with westerly waves of 4 to 5 m on the west coast and a south-westerly swell building along the south coast. Today brings showers, heavy at times, with possible thunderstorms and southerly winds. Forecasters are also watching a possible new depression on Wednesday that could come close to south-west Portugal, though its track is still very uncertain. Bar status changes quickly, so check the Marinha's Estado das Barras page before going out, and keep an eye on your lines tonight.

Madeira takes stock; a second low is on its way

Conditions in Madeira improved a lot on Sunday morning, after a night that the regional civil protection service called relatively calm. Saturday's storm caused well over 100 incidents, mainly fallen trees and flooding, along with several landslides, and flights out of the airport were suspended from 17:00. Some families had to leave their homes in Santa Cruz and Funchal. Meteored warns that a subtropical depression is now heading for the archipelago and will bring heavy rain, thunderstorms, strong gusts and a rising sea from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. In the Azores, all the islands were on a yellow wind warning yesterday. RTP reported a top gust of 95 km/h on Graciosa and a few cancelled flights, but no incidents.

US Coast Guard wins the Ocean Safety award for the Magic Bus rescue

This year's International Ocean Safety at Sea Award has gone to the US Coast Guard's East District. It was given for the rescue of five crew from the 54ft catamaran Magic Bus about 260 miles off Cape Hatteras, in a force 8 to 9 gale on 6 November 2025. Lt Cdr Andrea Rice, who supervises the Coast Guard's UK detachment, accepted the award on 7 November at the Cape Horners' annual lunch in Portsmouth. It was presented by Alistair Hackett, managing director of Ocean Safety, which sponsors the award.

Acquera opens in St Kitts & Nevis

For yachts heading west this winter, yacht agent Acquera Yachting has opened an office in St Kitts & Nevis. It is working with Anchor Point Logistics, a local firm that already looks after visiting yachts, which will now trade under the Acquera name and keep its key staff. Vernitha Evelyn will run operations there. Acquera is based in Venice and already has offices in Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Barth, Sint Maarten, St Lucia and St Vincent. Its agents handle clearance, regulatory paperwork, provisioning and logistics.