In this edition, we’ll get into:
📊 Fifteen 40-meter-plus yacht sales against last July's five
🧭 A 49.9m explorer with one platform in three builds
🏎 The 75th Pebble Beach, with Ferrari on the lawn
🏡 A $300 million ranch outside Aspen
🌳 A production yacht with a real, living tree growing amidships
Read time: about 6 minutes

July logged 52 sales, up from 32 a year ago, and volume climbed with it: $504M against $330M last July. The largest disclosed deal of the month was the 67.6-meter Amels NENINKA at €85M (roughly $97M), but strip her out and July still clears $406M, well ahead of last July's entire total. The top end did most of the talking: 15 yachts of 40 meters or more changed hands, up from 5. The more interesting number is the one that barely moved. The median sale price landed at $5.7M, within 1.5% of last July, so a market that moved 20 more boats didn't have to cut price to do it. The one soft spot is patience. Boats took a median 390 days to sell against 343.

Busiest yard: Sunseeker led every builder with 6 sales on the month.

⚓️ Destiny arrives. Blackstone chief Stephen Schwarzman has taken delivery of DESTINY, a 101.2m (332ft) Feadship reported to be worth around $400 million, her name made public only after years hidden behind a construction code. She joins Feadship's small club of 100m-plus customs, and yes, the man who commissioned her reportedly still checks the time on a $140 Swatch.

🐳 A superyacht went looking for whales. A 57m Feadship teamed up with a pair of ocean-science outfits, EYOS and Yachts for Science, to log roughly 500 humpback whales and close a 45-year gap in the research on them. A good reminder that these boats can chase something other than the next anchorage.

🌅 The Med is on sale. Summer yacht charters in the Mediterranean have turned into a rare buyer's market. Brokers put this season's bookings down 20% to 30% on last year, with demand cooling amid tensions in the Middle East, so boats are cutting deals to fill the calendar. One 130-footer went for €210,000 (about $239,000) for a week in late July, down from her usual €250,000, and last-minute charters are suddenly a thing, people booking a big yacht on Monday for a Friday departure. The very top of the fleet, boats over 70 meters, is still holding firm, and September is already filling up as charterers push their plans later in the season.

📈 The trophy market is booming. Christie's and Sotheby's both posted record first-half numbers this year, and "luxury," meaning watches, jewelry, cars, and memorabilia, is now the second-biggest category at both houses. The headline lot: the late Jim Irsay's Americana collection sold for $105.2 million, which Christie's called the biggest memorabilia haul ever assembled.

🏘️ Nine figures is the new normal. At the very top of residential real estate, a $100 million asking price barely raises an eyebrow anymore. The current crop of the world's most expensive homes on the market clears $4.1 billion combined and averages roughly $164 million each. For scale, one of the headline listings right now is a 75-acre estate outside Aspen asking $300 million. Inherited wealth and international buyers are keeping the shelf stocked.

For more than 260 years, Baccarat has embodied the pinnacle of French craftsmanship, creating crystal masterpieces that transform exceptional spaces into unforgettable experiences. Inspired by the endless dialogue between light and water, Baccarat’s Endless Blue campaign celebrates the serenity, brilliance, and boundless spirit of nature—an ethos that resonates naturally with life on board the world's finest yachts.

From sculptural barware and refined tabletop collections to statement lighting, decorative objects, and bespoke gifts, Baccarat enhances every moment at sea with timeless elegance and extraordinary savoir-faire. Whether entertaining guests at sunset or creating a residence on the water defined by impeccable detail, Baccarat invites owners and designers alike to discover an art de vivre where exceptional craftsmanship and the beauty of the ocean exist in perfect harmony.

Learn more at the Baccarat Design Showroom here →

The link between haute couture fashion and Stefano Gabbana's yacht is seamless. What binds icons like Tommy Hilfiger, Diane von Furstenberg, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Stefano Gabbana (of Dolce & Gabbana), the late Roberto Cavalli, and the late Giorgio Armani beyond their indelible marks on the runway?

The answer is style that transcends showrooms. All of these fashion legends have channeled their creativity into the design and ownership of superyachts, transforming their respective vessels into floating expressions of their sartorial philosophies.

Read the full Gabbana feature →

Most new-construction stories give you one yacht to picture. Project PETRA gives you three.

She's a 49.9m full-displacement explorer drawn by Milan's Hot Lab and engineered to be built at RMK Marine in Istanbul. What sets her apart is that she's offered as a single platform in three editions, Core, Aura, and Infinite, so an owner picks the version that matches how they actually plan to cruise, from a pleasure-class baseline up to a fully ice-class, hybrid expedition build.

All three share the same hull, the same on-deck master with a private balcony, and an aft deck that reconfigures for a pool, a helicopter, or a stack of toys. And because she's fully engineered, the build can start now, not years from now.

From €26,500,000. See the full story with Alex G. Clarke →

▸ Monterey Car Week: Aug 7 to 16. The collector-car world's biggest week, ending in the 75th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on the 16th. No boats, but it's the same crowd.

▸ Cannes Yachting Festival: Sep 8 to 13. Europe's season opener, 49th edition, split across Vieux Port and Port Canto.

▸ Monaco Yacht Show: Sep 23 to 26. The main event at Port Hercule.

▸ Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show: Oct 28 to Nov 1. Our home water, 67th edition, the largest in-water show in the world.

Italy's biggest builders are circling one of their own. The Italian Sea Group, the Marina di Carrara group behind Admiral, Tecnomar, Perini Navi and Picchiotti, is in insolvency proceedings in Florence, and on July 27 a not-yet-incorporated consortium called Polo Nautico Carrara bid for the entire business, debts and liens excluded. Sanlorenzo has confirmed it's prepared to take a minority stake in the bidding vehicle. Nothing is binding yet: the offer depends on due diligence and on a competitive sale process actually being opened.

Sunseeker's ownership question is finally settled. Cross Ocean Partners and Cheyne Capital completed their ownership transfer of the British builder, with Scott Millar named incoming CEO, after a rival buyout attempt stalled in April. The company says a rebrand and several new product concepts arrive at Cannes in September.

Formula 1 is now in the battery business. Williams Grand Prix Technologies, based in Grove, Oxfordshire alongside the Atlassian Williams F1 team, launched the ES10M, its first purpose-built marine product: a modular battery system aimed at superyacht hybrid propulsion and refits. It scales from 39kWh to north of 4MWh.

Somebody's finally asking who controls the berths. Italy's competition authority opened an investigation in mid-July into the Luise Group over allegations it abused a dominant position in superyacht berth allocation. If you've ever wondered why a Med berth costs what it costs, this is the case that goes looking for the answer.

The other big-toy market is running hot too. Pre-owned private jet transactions jumped 32% in Q2 against the same quarter last year, 397 against 300, with first-half sales up 21% from 616 to 746, per the International Aircraft Dealers Association. Same buyers, same confidence signal, different hangar.

Tap to vote. See where everyone else lands.

FRANK Magazine reaches the owners, buyers, brokers, and quietly wealthy who move this market. Not the biggest list in yachting. The most valuable one. They open us on purpose. Your brand could be what they find.

Get in touch about advertising in the next issue →

Every week I come into the office, brew my morning coffee, and browse for interesting stories happening around the industry that might be worth shooting a video on. When "there's a tree on a yacht" casually popped up and I saw the photos, I had to see more, then created a social reel on it in my style.

Turns out, with over 2,800 likes, a good number of other people thought she was interesting too. So here's a shoutout to Sanlorenzo for pushing the proverbial envelope when they created VIRTUOSITY. Engineering questions aside, genuinely one of the coolest yacht features to excite me in a good while. -LD

Check out the video, and tell me your thoughts →