[eyu100]

5. Phocea. Dating back to 1976, Phocea was conceived as a racing yacht, built at Toulon Naval Dockyard. She was soon converted into a charter yacht. Coming in at 75.1 meters (246 feet), Phocea was acquired for private use in the late 1990s by Mouna Ayoub, a Lebanese businesswoman alternately referred to as a socialite and a super-shopper, with a huge haute couture collection. She’s one of the few women to own a megayacht (a woman now also owns Maltese Falcon). Ayoub took the yacht to Lürssen for a thorough refit, including making the interior look much like that of a fine home. Exquisite inlays can be found on soles and doorways. Phocea charters for €280,000 (about $245,000) per week.

[Solego]

1. Eos. At an astounding 92.9 meters (305 feet), Eos (above) rivals even some of the more notable motoryachts around. Equally eyebrow-raising is her builder, Lürssen, which has overwhelmingly built power craft. Not surprising, however, is the fact that she’s from the drawing boards of Langan Design Associates (now Langan Design Partners), which has penned the lines of many a beautiful sailing yacht. Eos was delivered in 2006 and is a three-masted, Bermuda-rigged schooner. Her owner is widely reported to be Barry Diller, the media entrepreneur. Because of a publicity embargo, few other details are known about the yacht, though she did cause a stir in Australia when arriving there for a refit in late 2009. more

[Michael33]

Here’s a look at the largest private sailing yachts around. (Note: While some of you may be familiar with the classic Sea Cloud, she’s currently in service as a cruise ship and referred to as such by her owners, therefore she doesn’t qualify for this list; a shame, given her LOA of 109.5 meters, or 359 feet.)

[mstate2]

Motoryachts get most of the attention in the megayacht world, for good reason: They make up the majority of orders. However, there’s still plenty to admire in the wind-driven arena, even if most of the sailing yachts employ engine power from time to time.

[bg002h]

4. Mirabella V. The year 2004 saw this 75.22-meter (247-foot) lady officially delivered, making history as the largest single-masted sailing yacht. It rises 88.5 meters (292 feet). Her owner, Joseph Vittoria, the former chairman and CEO of Avis who now has a few business interests, had a few “Mirabella” yachts prior to this one (hence the Roman numeral for five in her name). He was therefore well-versed in sailboat performance and required that Mirabella V be capable of 20 knots or better under sail. VT Shipbuilding in England (now part of Babcock International Group) naturally complied. One neat feature among her creature comforts: Recesses on the foredeck normally hold the tenders, but when they’re offloaded, one area gets rearranged as a 20-person hot tub, and the other becomes a saltwater dip pool. [links]

[Olipro]

3. Maltese Falcon. Impossible to miss on the horizon due to her DynaRig design, called the Falcon Rig, Maltese Falcon (left) was built by Perini Navi in 2006. She’s 88 meters (289 feet) of modern technology, with the masts’ rotation and sails’ operation all controlled via push buttons that are incredibly intuitive and simple to learn, even for a landlubber. Another highlight: a circular internal stairway that wraps around the center mast and topped by a skylight. There are so many fascinating details, it would take a book to describe them. In fact, there is a 240-page Maltese Falcon book, available for purchase. [links]