European Yacht of the Year: the five award-winning boats
Contest 63 CS, J/40, Hanse 360, Nautitech 48 Open and BayCruiser 21 won the prize in their respective categories in an edition with few nominated but high quality boats
During the Flagship Night organised by the German magazine Yacht at boot Düsseldorf, the five winning boats of the European Yacht of the Year 2025 award were unveiled.
Luxury Cruiser: Contest 63CS
Performance Cruiser: J Boats J/40
Family Cruiser: Hanse 360
Multuhull: Nautitech 48 Open
Special Yachts: Swallow Yachts BayCruiser 21
With twelve boats taking part in the sea trials, the 2025 edition was the one with the fewest participants ever. In fact, of the sixteen boats selected for the nominations – a number already lower than in previous years, when peaks of over 20 were reached – four were forced to retire due to production delays or technical problems. Skipping the round were the Wauquiez 55, the Moody DS48 and the Vaan R5 and Seawind 1170 catamarans. For the models that managed to make it, trials were held in Kiel, Germany, at the Olympiahafen Schilksee and in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, at the Club de Mar for a total of 144 trials: all twelve journalists sailed the twelve boats. After the great post-pandemic binge, the boating sector, and the sailing sector in particular, is experiencing a normalisation that has brought fewer novelties to the market and a few more complications to manage. Consequently, the number of boats available for selection has also been lower than in recent years. But in this case the motto ‘few but good’ really applies, because the twelve boats present all demonstrated excellent qualities, both constructional and marine, and could therefore aspire to victory. Compared to previous years, there was also an increase in the percentage of models offering electric propulsion as an option and those offering it as standard.
The prize was founded in 2003 by the German magazine Yacht – whom we thank for welcoming SUPER YACHT 24 and its new magazine Yacht Upstream to the ranks of the jury – and year after year it has become one of the most important in the European sailing boat market, awarded by a jury of twelve journalists from the most important European magazines. The award is now in its 22nd year and bases its authority on sea trials. It is one of the few awards in the world to elect the winners after testing all the boats nominated with the aim of rewarding the models that best achieve the objectives for which they were designed and built. Among the fundamental rules is the one that governs voting: journalists cannot vote for boats from their own country. The criteria used to nominate them are: performance, liveability and comfort, construction features, value for money, aesthetics and innovation.
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