Yachts

The World’s Top Luxury Boat Brands for Weekly and Daily Charters

Here, you’ll find the world’s leading luxury boat brands, the most impressive yachts in their fleet, and some of the best chartering websites.

By 

Tristan Rutherford

 |  March 28, 2025

Yacht brands build boats in their own signature style for a singular purpose. Lürssen yachts are built in Germany to conquer polar extremes. Heesen in the Netherlands builds lightning-fast yachts that look razor-sharp. You get the picture. In fact, the superyachts produced by each shipyard are so distinct that charter brokers receive requests for specific brands. “I want to book a Benetti,” is the most popular ask, possibly because Benetti manufactured the yachts featured in multiple series of floating drama-fest Below Deck: namely, the 164-foot Honor (real name Barents), 180-foot Lady Michelle (now called the Next Chapter), and 197-foot St David. As sailing yachts are considered a niche charter, all of these top brands produce motor yachts. In this guide, we’ll delve into these luxury boat brands and break down the best charters.

The World’s Top Luxury Boat Brands 

How Much Does a Luxury Boat Brand Cost?

Basic question: How much does a top luxury boat brand cost to charter? Weekly rates depend on the season, location, and even how many wagyu steaks a charter party intends to demolish. However, the overriding price factor is the size and age of the boat. A sparkling new Lürssen, which manufactures 400-foot-plus megayachts, might book for above $3 million. A 25-year-old Benetti, like Barents from Below Deck, charters for around $170,000 per week. But remember, you must also factor in the tax, fuel, and Advanced Provisioning Allowance (APA) charges, as detailed in our guide on how to charter a superyacht. Together, those fees could increase the overall charter price by 50%. The good news is that there are around 3,000 superyachts on the charter market, spanning a full range of price points to choose from.

Dayboats generally charter by — that’s right— the day. Bank on anything between $1,000 and $10,000 per day from a reputable broker. 

The Best Boat Brands for Superyacht Charters

Lürssen 

Nobody builds yachts bigger than Lürssen, one of Germany’s finest shipyards. It launched six of the world’s top 10 largest yachts. Because Lürssen also built warships, the capability of its private yachts is unlimited. For instance, imagine you wanted to mount a polar expedition to Greenland. One of these superyachts could escort you and a private army of chefs, heliski experts, and ex-special forces guides to a zone where no human has gone before. Seriously. 

In charter terms, Lürssen’s modus operandi allows its yachts to haul anything, anywhere. Personal float planes, a hyperbaric scuba chamber, remote aquatic drones, you name it. Welcome to the ne plus ultra of luxury yacht charters.  

The Best Lürssen Charter: Flying Fox 

Currently the largest yacht on the charter market, Flying Fox escorts guests like Beyoncé and Jay-Z at 20 knots, accompanied by 55 crew.

Benetti  

The world’s biggest boat manufacturer is also the most requested charter brand. In the 1950s, Benetti invented motor yachts with its Art Deco–inspired Delfino series. Each successive line paired an inimitable Italian style with innovative designs, semi-custom options, and pioneering charter innovations.  

For example, Benetti’s new Oasis Deck line has flip-out bulwarks that open up the entire aft (the rear of a yacht) to create one epic oceanfront lounge. Its latest B.Now series just hit the charter market; these boats feature voluminous interiors with informal social spaces, not like the stuffy designs of old. Benetti’s Italy-based shipyards also manufacture sister brand Azimut, which specializes in smaller, faster luxury boats.  

The Best Benetti Charter: Alpha Waves 

One of Benetti’s landmark new Oasis Deck releases, Alpha Waves, was styled internally by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture, which designs hotels and private homes in New York.

Feadship  

Feadship is the Rolls-Royce of superyachts. Each launch is meticulously manufactured in the Netherlands with an attention to detail that no other shipyard can match. Each fully custom yacht combines rugged engineering with design élan. In other words, each boat can circumnavigate the world in style.  

Feadship’s influence on the charter market is twofold. First, the best stewards want to crew on a Feadship — having one of the finest yacht brands on your resumé wins future employment points. Second, a Feadship yacht is indestructible. Its gentlemen-style yachts launched during the 1970s and 1980s are still sailing strong, and its stately lines can be chartered for a relatively cost-effective fee.  

The Best Feadship Charter: Alvia

One of the newest and largest Feadships on the charter market, Alvia has a bridge deck lounge that transforms into an outdoor cinema, with an alfresco bar.

Heesen  

This boutique Dutch shipyard specializes in fast yachts. Award-winning yacht company Heesen earned its reputation for speed with “the yacht that couldn’t be built.” The client was John Staluppi, an American automobile mogul with a penchant for the James Bond film series.  

In the 1980s, Staluppi purchased three Rolls-Royce 3,500hp engines with the aim of building the world’s fastest yacht. But no shipyard dared to accept his legal clause. Because if Staluppi’s new yacht didn’t touch 50 knots, the American stipulated that he wouldn’t pay. Thankfully, the resulting rocketship, Octopussy, touched 53 knots, a velocity Staluppi measured himself with a speed gun.  

Over subsequent decades, Heesen translated its speedy know-how into fuel efficiency. Its aluminum yachts can pop quicker than a Champagne cork, but with up to 50% less fuel burn than comparative builds. A stylish innovator in every sense.  

The Best Heesen Charter: Santosha 

The newest Heesen on the charter market, Santosha scooped up 2025 design awards for her aggressive lines, juxtaposed against serene exterior lounges.

Damen  

One of the world’s top luxury boat brands, Damen builds globally adept yachts. Like Lürssen in Germany, Damen in the Netherlands has a military wing that constructs fast naval interceptors and hardcore support vessels. Its charter yachts are tough as nails too. For example, its Xplorer range can carry helicopters to Papua New Guinea and submersibles to Greenland on the same round-the-world voyage.  

Damen also constructs support vessels. These are for owners who can use two superyachts at once — one for play, one to carry all-terrain vehicles, science labs, security guards, and all the gear. Some of these luxury support ships have now been converted into rugged superyachts, like Pink Shadow, and can navigate to the ends of the earth.  

The Best Damen Charter: Pink Shadow

One of the most notable new yachts in the charter market, Pink Shadow uses Damen’s support vessel frame to create a go-anywhere superyacht.  She has a large swim platform, plenty of water toys, and a Tahitian-inspired beach club that makes you feel as if you’re in the tropics no matter where you are.

Sanlorenzo  

Sanlorenzo is one of the world’s most requested yacht builders, next to Benetti. Each Sanlorenzo launch features a high-quality finish and an understated aesthetic or sprezzatura associated with Italian designers. But what truly differentiates the shipyard is the dizzying levels of customization onboard. Owners can fill their floating home with Carrara marble, spiral staircases, chef’s tables, cinema walls, or whatever accouterment best fits their I-want-it-all needs.  

For charter guests, this means that every Sanlorenzo is completely unique — even more impressive considering the shipyard launches more than 50 new yachts per year. Look out for its latest customizable platform, the 144-foot 44X-Space, which carries an outdoor living concept to extreme locations.  

The Best Sanlorenzo Charter: Para Bellum 

Part of Sanlorenzo’s acclaimed Explorer series, the 154-foot Para Bellum features a quarterdeck (plus a foldable swim platform) that is completely dedicated to beach living.

Riva  

Riva is as Italian as Campari and Lamborghini — and just aesthetically satisfying. For a century, the top yacht brand was synonymous with classic open dayboats. Just look at the Riva Aquarama, a hand-planked wooden speedster that James Bond revved up the River Thames in the 007 movie GoldenEye. No top luxury boat brand has ever produced a more stylish yacht.  

Riva expanded its “Designed to Be Timeless” DNA 10 years ago to create a superyacht division. Its series includes the 90-foot Argo, a born racer that can touch 26 knots, and the 102-foot Corsara Super, a bullet-framed speed machine with more outdoor space that rivals a Portofino beach club. Most Riva charter yachts remain in the Mediterranean, making them perfect for an Amalfi Coast yacht trip.  

The Best Riva Charter: Maximus 

This new Riva 100 Corsaro Maximus is accompanied by a rarefied toybox, which features Seabobs, electric bikes, and jet surfs — which are like riding a scooter on the sea. 

Westport  

Westport is the sole American player in the superyacht market. The boat builder pioneered the use of composite materials like fiberglass to create fast, durable charter vessels. By solely building series instead of fully customizing yachts, Westport produces boats at cost-effective prices.  

 The vast majority of its company-managed charters are in the Caribbean or U.S. waters. You can book a 10-guest Westport charter in the Caribbean from $100,000. Uniquely, Westport has its very own charter division, bringing costs down further, and its keen pricing structure has a knock-on effect on charter rates.   

The Best Westport Charter: Far Niente 

The 130-foot Westport Far Niente makes a perfect Caribbean charter thanks to its outdoor dining area beyond the bridge (where the boat is steered) with parasols and loungers.

The Best Luxury Boat Brands for Day Charters

Wajer  

Wajer yachts look like floating Aston Martins. Tom Brady was a fan and owned the flagship 77 model, currently listed for resale for around $7 million, which is $1 million more than the retail price. The attraction is that each model comprises the greatest Dutch shipbuilding knowledge (Wajer’s design partners like Sinot and Van Oossanen work on the world’s biggest yachts) into one whip-smart package.  

You can bed down in cabins on Wajer’s 77, 55, and 44 series. But they are best known as dayboats that can thrash through the Bahamas while charging electric surfboards and a wine fridge. The final touch is the futuristic helm (steering station). Piloting a Wajer is like being in the cockpit of an F-35 fighter jet — all the high-tech gear and speed you could ask for.  

Wajer manages its own 77 boat charters in Ibiza and St. Tropez with Seabobs — underwater scooters — and throws in electric surfboards for $11,000 daily.  

Scout  

Scout started life by building tough little dayboats that could zip to fresh fishing grounds. Its predilection for speed continued with the launch of far sexier models like the 670 LX, which also has “fishability” built in. Think rod racks, fish fridges, and cooktops for grilling your catch.  

Like the Dutch-built Wajer, these all-American fishing boats fly — more than 50 knots in many cases. Not to mention, Scout’s modern sport yachts feature advanced technology, like hybrid propulsion systems that enhance fuel economy and cut the gas bill.  

Airbnb-style boating sites like Sailo have a great selection of Scouts in U.S. and Caribbean waters.  

Sunseeker 

Britain’s leading boat producer is a yachting icon. Sunseekers have appeared in four James Bond films. To use a maritime aphorism, Sunseeker has aggressive designs; they look fast even when standing still. With clever marketing since the 1980s, you can find these dayboats by the hundreds in Latin America, the U.S., and the Caribbean.  

Sunseekers are built to last. This means many on the charter market are older models but still serviceable for a rip-roaring, rosé-fueled day in the sun.  

Among the brand’s upcoming launches is the 55 Sport. Its defining feature is an upper bridge deck where charterers can pilot the boat while enjoying epic views. Look out for newer Sunseekers that feature X-Tend, a multifunctional waterside area that electronically flips open to offer additional loungers and beach space.   

Samboat showcases more than 100 Sunseekers for charter worldwide, including its fast Predator dayboat series.  

Chris-Craft  

Christ-Craft goes way back; this long-standing American brand is nearly as old as Riva. Like the Italian manufacturer, these boats were wood-planked and sold to minted moguls, like Henry Ford in the 1920s and Elvis Presley in the 1960s. The marque’s 150-year-old pedigree means that modern designers won’t mess around with the vintage aesthetic. However, Chris-Craft has pushed into modern materials while maintaining its classic lines. Custom upholstery and top-notch marine components elevate this product to A-list dayboat status. As fast as any yacht on this list, a Chris-Craft promises safety and unrivaled seakeeping at speed.  

Boat charter site Samboat has more than 20 Chris-Crafts to charter in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.  

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