Aquijo Is Currently the World’s Largest and Most Luxurious Sailing Yacht

Ladies and gents, this may very well be the largest veiled ship you’ll ever see, at least until someone comes up with a bigger design. It’s known as the Aquijo and it was delivered in 2016. This 85-meter (278-feet) sailboat isn’t just huge, it's packed with so many perks and living areas that it even doubles as a home for its owners. To get an idea of the size of this thing, those little black dots you see all over the ship are people.

Whenever a sea-faring vessel goes from dream to reality, rarely is one team responsible for the entire ship. The Aquijo is no exception to that rule. Here, several teams worked hand in hand to make this dream possible: Vitters Shipyards, Oceanco, Tripp Design Naval Architecture, and interior designers Dölker + Voges.

Together, they unveiled a capable, comfortable, and safe vessel for its owners. Another focus was to offer significant offshore capabilities, truly allowing the sea life to sink in. Here's what the anonymous owners had to say about the completed project: “What an amazing day of sailing today! Aquijo reached 20.4 knots. We will raise a glass to the naval architect who made this masterpiece possible! You have to be on her when she is under full sail with winds of 35 knots and above. Today, we had the staysail out, one reef in the main, and two reefs in the mizzen. We are all exhilarated and happy.”

One of the main features of this behemoth are the equally large sails. The main, jib, code, and stay sail offer a surface area of 5,300 square meters (57,048 square feet) to capture wind. Looking closely at the design, you’ll soon realize that this much coverage is absolutely necessary to get this hunk moving.

A big challenge when creating such a large vessel is to make it easily maneuverable, and to do it safely. The ship is equipped with a unique steering system developed by Vitters that offers direct feedback of hydrodynamic forces to the fly-bridge steering wheels, improving both safety and the overall sailing experience. This steering system also allows Aquijo to feel as if you’re maneuvering a small ship. With all other systems in place, it can sail under 30+ knot winds without feeling like it’s going to topple over.

As for the interior of this wonder, just have a look at the gallery. One of the beautiful things about creating such a fast ship while equipping living spaces with all the necessary pizzazz is that it must be rather simple. Ever tried to play pool hitting waves at 20 knots an hour? Yeah, it's not easy, even if the table has a wave dampening system.

However, the experience of these teams shows that simplicity does not mean tastelessness. Take the jacuzzi exposed on the main deck, for example; it's simple, elegant, not too crowded, just right. It looks like Goldilocks may have had a say in all of this. The exterior dining with a skylight overhead is also perfect. There’s a gym, too, with another jacuzzi to help relax the muscles after a workout.

The master bedroom includes a raised bed frame with LED lighting strips illuminating from the floor. Other perks the owner enjoys are the massive floor-to-ceiling windows that dominate an entire wall of the room, while smaller windows occupy the sides and allow for a view from any of the desks or sofas found. Guest rooms are no less lavish, just a tad smaller and not so much glass.

There’s a rumor going around that businesses are failing and what not. Sure, some are, but that’s always been the case. However, if you know where to look, you’ll see explosive growth in other branches of the game, yachting being one of them.