Founded in 2014, Yacht Harbour has now gone through nearly 3 years of rapid growth, packed with milestones and interesting events. In this list are 11 things about Yacht Harbour that are not widely known, but we thought were interesting enough to share.
#1 Yacht Harbour started as an Instagram channel
Even though Yacht Harbour's initial plan was to build a web platform for a marketplace of yachts for sale, the company started an Instagram account in August 2014 to get some sort of traction, ahead of the launch of its website in December of that year.
At a time when no yachting media companies were on the platform, the strategy proved successful and saw Yacht Harbour get to 10,000 followers in under 4 months. This, in turn, proved instrumental to getting the first users to Yacht Harbour.
#2 We power instant results for a Top 5 search engine
Another little known fact about Yacht Harbour is that the company's index powers an instant result snippet for search engine, DuckDuckGo. One of the 5 available search settings on an iPhone, DuckDuckGo is a search engine built with privacy in mind.
Any user searching for a particular yacht on the platform, will see on top of search results an image of the yacht with it's main specifications, which DuckDuckGo displays using an API built by Yacht Harbour on top of its database for the search engine.
#3 News coverage was first meant as a content marketing play
Even though our audience is now spread evenly across its superyacht marketplace and its news section, Yacht Harbour's editorial coverage was started only in October 2015 to act as a content marketing vehicle for its search platform.
Despite these plans, news coverage rapidly evolved and grew to serve the purposes of a true media company, which Yacht Harbour has since become. Stories broken by our news department are now often used as sources by international media such as the BBC, CNBC and others.
#4 We built a chat bot to answer any yachting question
Developed in a wave of growing excitement over chat bots, Brook became the first chat bot in yachting that used a combination of machine learning, natural language recognition and big data to answer any question related to yacht.
Although Brook was since retired due to a lack of users, Yacht Harbour did manage to build a working version, answering over 80% of asked questions. Its original interface can still be seen here. When live it was even accessible from the Telegram messaging platform.
#5 Our content can be found on Forbes and Business Insider
As part of its content distribution strategy, Yacht Harbour struck deals with Business Insider to distribute part of its English-language content and to contribute stories to the French and Russian versions of Forbes.
With news stories around yachting and articles trying to open up the field to a more general audience, this content was read over 2 million times so far in 2017.
#6 We ran a crowdfunding campaign in our first year
Far from today's peak of attention around ICOs, Yacht Harbour ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2015 as an experiment, ahead of the launch of its charter marketplace to offer heavily discounted deals and lifetime advantages for participants.
Through the campaign, Yacht Harbour raised just under $3,000 from a series of contributors. The value of some the items offered then by Yacht Harbour has grown over 1,000x today.
#7 We get 10 million impressions of our content every month
Having rapidly grown from the 23 visitors Yacht Harbour on the day of it's launch, the company's combined channels now reach over 10 million impressions every month. This figure includes Yacht Harbour's website traffic, social media reach and audience on third-party platforms.
#8 There are sometimes easter eggs on Yacht Harbour
Sometimes overtaken by the holiday spirit, Yacht Harbour's homepage can sometimes change to adopt a special skin for limited times as seen above. So far, the company has dressed up its website for Halloween, Christmas and New Year's Eve but other events may soon be coming.
#9 One million minutes are spent watching Yacht Harbour's videos monthly
Playing an increasingly important role for any media company, videos have been a key to Yacht Harbour's success as well with over 800 days worth of videos being watched on our platform every month. The latest Black Pearl video alone reached over 3 million impressions on our network.
#10 Our Facebook page outranks its nearest competition 10 to 1
Owing much of its success to social media, Yacht Harbour has always tried to dominate the space in the superyacht sector and Facebook is currently the most reflective of this paradigm. Whereas Yacht Harbour gets 36,500 engagements on its page every week, the nearest competition currently sits at 3,300 engagements per week.
#11 It took us over 20,000 hours to build the Timeline platform
A major step forward in yacht search, Yacht Harbour's Timeline platform was launched in May 2017 after over 20,000 hours of research. The platform, compared to a Bloomberg terminal for yachting, lets its subscribers track the market in real time, discover the story behind any yacht and find the best deals on the market with big data.
Photos by Julien Hubert
The newly delivered Benetti Oasis 34 motor yacht Y has entered the brokerage market with Mark Seaton of Yacht. The 34.4-meter vessel was delivered in May 2025 and remains under full shipyard warranty. Currently berthed at Benetti’s shipyard in Viareggio, Italy, the yacht is available for immediate delivery.Designed by RWD, the Oasis 34M series features a distinctive Oasis Deck with fold-down bulwarks, a glass-sided infinity pool, and a spacious beach club area. The yacht’s streamlined profile, extended overhangs, and open-plan layout reflect Benetti’s approach to indoor-outdoor living.The interior design, created by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture of New York, combines warm greys and natural tones with contemporary elements. The accommodation includes five staterooms for up to 10 guests, with a full-beam owner’s suite on the main deck and four guest cabins below. The crew quarters can accommodate seven staff members.The 269 GT yacht is powered by twin 1,380hp MTU diesel engines, providing a top speed of 16 knots and a cruising speed of 14.5 knots. The vessel sails under the Marshall Islands flag. The asking price for the yacht is €17,500,000, excluding VAT. It represents the only Benetti Oasis 34M from 2025 currently available on the market worldwide. The vessel was built under the supervision of experienced owners and a leading maritime consultancy, ensuring high-quality construction and finishing.Credits: Yacht Harbour Archive
June 20, 2025
Athens-based design studio IPYD has revealed Aether, an 80-meter superyacht concept developed for Oceanco's Simply Custom platform. The design features triangular geometric motifs throughout its exterior, referencing concepts of balance and harmony from ancient Greek philosophy.Presented at the 2023 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Aether joins Oceanco's portfolio of semi-custom concepts built on a standardized technical platform by Lateral Naval Architects. Initial renderings show a continuous exterior profile with an open-plan beach club featuring spa facilities and lounge areas.The Simply Custom range offers owners design flexibility while utilizing pre-engineered naval architecture. Aether follows previous concepts including Ani by Vallicelli Design and Dunes by the Touch Studio. Oceanco has not disclosed construction timelines or technical specifications for the Aetherconcept.Oceanco was founded in 1987. Right now it is a world-class builder of custom superyachts up to the 140 meters range. Oceanco works with world-known designers such as Terence Disdale, Nuvolari-Lenard, Espen Oeino, Sam Sorgiovanni, Igor Lobanov, Tim Heywood and Andrew Winch to create some of the timeless and award-winning yachts afloat today.Credits: IPYD
June 20, 2025
The Pershing GTX80 has docked at Manhattan's North Cove Marina, marking the start of its East Coast tour celebrating Pershing's 40th anniversary. The 24-meter Sport Utility Yacht will visit Montauk (July 1) and Newport (July 12) before concluding in the Hamptons.The tour showcases Pershing's performance-oriented design combining speed and onboard comfort. The GTX80 series features an open layout with 370 square meters of living space across three decks, powered by twin 1,550hp MAN V12 engines reaching 35 knots.Allied Marine is coordinating the tour, with updates available through Pershing's social media channels. The itinerary highlights the yacht's coastal cruising capabilities along the Atlantic seaboard.The Ferretti Group, led by Chief Executive Officer Alberto Galassi, is now one of the world’s leaders in the construction and sale of luxury yachts and pleasure vessels, with a unique portfolio of brands: Ferretti Yachts, Riva, Pershing, Itama, Mochi Craft, CRN, Custom Line and Wally.Credits: Ferretti Group
June 20, 2025
Hargrave Superyachts has launched its new 38-meter tri-deck motor yacht, the Hargrave 125, from its Antalya, Turkey facility. The vessel, designated Project 125, will debut at the 2025 Cannes Yachting Festival.With a 7.92-meter beam and 1.95-meter draft, the Bahamas-compliant design features a displacement hull optimized for long-range cruising. Stabilization systems operate both at anchor and underway. The 330GT interior maintains 2.2-meter ceiling heights throughout its 10-guest, 7-crew configuration.Power comes from twin Caterpillar C32 main engines with matching 75kW generators, delivering a 17-knot cruising speed. An ASEA power converter ensures global shore power compatibility. The yacht carries a 10-year structural warranty and equivalent coverage for main mechanical components.Hargrave includes a six-month management package with each sale. The vessel remains available for inspection ahead of its Cannes showing.Credits: Hargrave Custom Yachts
June 20, 2025
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is hosting the 2025 Swan One Design Worlds from June 17-21, featuring 35 teams from 30 nations competing across four one-design classes. The event marks the competitive debut of the ClubSwan 28 class alongside established ClubSwan 36, 42 and 50 fleets."The Swan One Design Worlds highlight the energy and camaraderie of the ClubSwan family," said Luisa Bambozzi, Managing Director of ClubSwan Racing. "Porto Cervo provides the ideal setting to combine world-class racing with vibrant shoreside activities."The regatta features defending champions in multiple classes, including Mamao (ClubSwan 36) and Nadir (ClubSwan 42). Notable entries include Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone and Marcus Brennecke's Hatari in the ClubSwan 50 division. The newly introduced ClubSwan 28 class will compete for its first Gold Cup, with seven teams including youth entry NOX OCEANI featuring 13-year-old helmsman Giorgio Nocella.Giovanni Pomati, CEO of Nautor Swan, emphasized the event's community aspect: "This regatta represents the unity and international spirit that defines the ClubSwan family." The competition schedule allows for eight races per class (ten for ClubSwan 28), with Mistral winds expected for the final racing days.Social events include class dinners and an owners' reception at YCCS, culminating in Saturday's prize ceremony. The ClubSwan Academy continues its youth development program, providing young sailors access to competitive racing platforms.Nautor Swan was founded in 1966 in Pietarsaari, Finland. The builder entered the superyacht market in 1999. Since then, the yard has continued building high-performance sailing yachts in three different lines; ClubSwan, Swan Yachts and Maxi Swan Yachts. Credits: Nautor Swan
June 19, 2025