5 of the coolest new wooden yachts in 2025
Rupert Holmes takes a look at a number of new wooden yachts that have been recently launched or will soon be launched
It has now been many decades since wood was the most widely used material in yacht productions but timber is still a natural choice for some modern yacht designers and there are still many new wooden yachts coming to market all the time.
Rupert Holmes has long been following the new yacht market and has rounded up some of the most interesting and exciting new wooden yacht designs.
New wooden yachts
WOY 26 is a thoroughly modern daysailer built using high tech timber construction. Photo: Nico Krauss
WOY26
The WOY26 is an exquisite open daysailer designed by Martin Menzner of Berckemeyer Yacht Design and this wooden yacht is a radically modern design, including a flat hull with wide, open transom, a negative stem, twin rudders and a lifting keel with a T-bulb. For ease of handling, the carbon rig has swept spreaders but no backstay and a self-tacking jib.
“With the WOY26, our idea of a modern wooden sailing yacht has come to life,” says the yard’s founder Jan Brügge, with…“sustainable design, modern lines for maximum performance and easy sail handling.”
The first example of the WOY26 was launched in October 2024 and boat number two is already in build. Price is expected to be ‘between a new Dragon and a ClubSwan 28 – or slightly under €200,000.’
LuluNikka’s spirit of tradition design shows in her pleasing hull lines and an interior that highlights her timber construction at its best. Photo: Fabio Taccola
Ceccarelli 42
Roberto and Luisa Lacorte are passionate sailors with enviable track records of yacht ownership, including Flying Nikka, the Mark Mills-designed Mini Maxi that uses similar foiling technology to the America’s Cup.
When it came to choosing a yacht to sail as a couple, or with family and friends, they turned to Giovanni Ceccarelli who created this standout 42ft spirit of tradition yacht. Slender hull lines with low freeboard and a beam of only 3.16m (10ft 4in), plus extensive external woodwork echo a style of earlier times, as do the deep bulwarks and long aft deck.
Yet this is absolutely a contemporary yacht, with a near plumb bow and stern, a powerful square-top mainsail and long bowsprit for reaching sails and asymmetric spinnakers. Below the waterline is a high-aspect deep draught torpedo bulb keel and efficient single rudder, while a displacement of only 6,400kg puts the boat firmly in the high-performance category.
Photo: Alison Langley
Stephens Waring 39
This more classic and cruising-oriented design is intended as a blend of timeless design and contemporary innovation, with a gracefully balanced hull reminiscent of those of the mid-20th century.
By contrast, the deck layout borrows heavily on today’s thinking. The forward part of the cockpit is an upholstered area for lounging and entertaining, while sail controls are led aft to the area around the central single wheel, allowing the boat to be conned from here when being sailed single-handed.
As far as possible the boat is set up for push-button sailing, with electric winches to handle sheets for jibs and reaching sails, as well as hoisting the in-boom furling mainsail. The mainsheet is controlled using an innovative hydraulic under-deck system.
Eagle 46
Hoek Design is a long-standing master in this field and the Eagle 46, which was unveiled by Leonardo Yachts at Cannes in September, is unlikely to disappoint.
The elegant and timeless lines feature very long overhangs, but there are state-of-the-art appendages under the water and a powerful sloop rig. The deck layout is set up for easy single-handed sailing and there’s a large cockpit for family and friends to enjoy.
SJ66
This promises to be an absolutely gorgeous spirit of tradition yacht, with crisp classic lines, a stiff and lightweight timber/epoxy construction, plus contemporary underwater profile and sail plan.
Stephen Jones and Jonty Sherwill, the two names behind the concept, need little introduction and have collaborated on numerous projects across several decades, including the Starlight 35, 38 and 46, SJ320, Rustler 42, and most notably the Prima 38 One Design that won the BMF Yacht of Year in 1998. More recently Jones has combined contemporary yacht design knowledge with traditional shapes in boats such as the Rustler 33 and Mystery 35, as well as his own 46ft spirit of tradition yacht Meteor.
Jones says the design for the SJ66, “…evokes the Metre Boat style with sleek proportions and long overhangs.”
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