superyacht at night

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The best pictures of superyachts at night

Related articles, superyacht directory.

BOAT rounds up the best photos of superyachts illuminated at night, including Nobiskrug's Sailing Yacht A , Lürssen's 111 metre Lady Gulya and AK Yachts' Victorious . 

Motor Yacht A 

Delivered in 2008 by Blohm & Voss and penned by legendary designer Philippe Starck , the 119 metre Motor Yacht A is one of the most famous superyachts in the world. Featuring naval architecture by Martin Francis, Motor yacht A accommodates a total of 14 guests and 35 crew inside a 5959GT interior. Here, the green underwater light display illuminates the iconic steel hull from beneath. 

Perfect Lady

The first 33m Mangusta Gransport 33 superyacht, Perfect Lady , was delivered in 2020 and made its official debut at the 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Designed by Alberto Mancini , the superyacht features accommodation for a total of 12 guests and five crew and can reach speeds of up to 25 knots. Here, Perfect Lady's stern and twin staircases framing the tender garage are illuminated, alongside the yacht's glowing nameplate.

Taking the title as the world's largest sailing catamaran, the 44 metre Hemisphere was built by Pendennis and first delivered in 2011. Designed by Lauriot Prevost , the yacht can accommodate a total of 10 guests and eight crew inside a 499GT interior. Hemisphere also boasts an illuminated flybridge and underwater lighting.

First launched by German yard Lürssen as Tis , the 110 metre Lady Gulya is designed inside and out by London-based studio Winch Design. The massive 4699GT interior accommodates a total of 18 guests in nine staterooms. Here Lady Gulya is pictured off the coast of Juan-les-Pins France, with exterior lighting casting a golden hue on its superstructure. 

Northern Sun

The 50m Narasaki superyacht Northern Sun was first launched in 1976 and accommodates a total of 12 guests in six staterooms. the popular charter yacht, which is currently listed for charter with Ocean Independence, carries with it the owner's own artwork collection, which includes nautical antiquities and rugs from around the world, as well as a bursting inventory of water toys. Here, the glowing lights of Northern Sun's interior make sure the superyacht stands out against the darkening horizon.  

Launched at AK Yachts in April 2021, the 85 metre Victorious first started life fourteen years ago in Northern Chile as a 77 metre explorer. Now featuring exterior design by Michael Leach Design and interiors by H2 Yacht Design , Victorious features an upper deck complete with a sky lounge, cocktail lounge, observation saloon and dining room, a helipad at the bow and a Jacuzzi on the aft deck. In order to ease the landing of helicopters at night, eight green dots appear on the helipad while impressive underwater lighting leaps out of the steel hull. 

Sailing Yacht A

One of the most famous superyachts in the world, the 142.81 metre Sailing Yacht A has been turning heads since it was delivered in 2017. Featuring a boundary-pushing design characteristic of designer Philippe Starck , the sail-assisted motor yacht has a top speed of 21 knots and has a massive 12700GT interior. Here, the instantly recognisable hull is illuminated by purple lighting from beneath the waterline. 

More about this yacht

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• How to sail at night

Captains are often asked if it's possible to sail at night. In the vast majority of cases, the answer is yes, unless you are just starting out. You just need to know the specifics of night sailing — the rules of boat lighting, beacon signals, have navigation and nautical charts handy, and most importantly, follow basic safety rules on board. So, do you know what night sailing entails?

You can't do it without the correct lights

While on land, lights are primarily there to help us see, at sea it's the other way around. All boats must be properly lit for other vessels to see. And, a boat doesn't work like a car either, where we shine our headlights on the road ahead to see what's in front of us. At sea we rely on navigation, nautical charts, lighthouses and the captain's knowledge.

Basic boat lights include running lights, steaming lights and anchor lights. There are clearly defined and standardized rules for lighting a ship  under sail at night . So the question of how to light a yacht at night has a very simple answer. Running lights, or side lights, show other vessels where your port and starboard sides are, with red indicating port and green starboard, and you must also have a white stern light on.

Lighting the yacht at night is very important because, unlike during the day, the helmsman cannot judge the distance and direction  of other boats by sight. Running lights make the position and direction of the surrounding vessels visible, as well as their approximate distance, and helps to avoid possible collisions. Radar is also highly practical in this respect, as it shows the size and distance of the vessel.

However, when sailing there can be situations where the sails need to be lowered, and with that, the lighting also needs to be changed. If travelling under motor power , a steaming light  (masthead light)  must be turned on , which shines at the same angle as the side lights. When a sailboat is not under sail, it has to abide by the rules set out for power boats by COLREG (The International Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea).

Lighting regulations when at anchor are again different. When at anchor at sea , only the anchor light should be on . According to the regulations this could be either a 360-degree white light atop the mast, or a light suspended from the boom, above the foredeck or on a furled genoa. If the boat is moored in port, the light is not normally used.

Navigation, GPS and maps

Nowadays, GPS and navigation aids integrated into the boat or that work as mobile apps are commonly used to determine the position of the boat. Modern technology is very accurate and reliable, but it is still worth understanding, reading and checking your position on  paper nautical charts . After all, almost any skipper will tell you that their GPS or navigation system has at some point told them they were on land, even when tens or hundreds of metres from shore.

Thanks to nautical charts, you will not only know of possible danger spots, but also lighthouses , enabling you to easily and accurately determine your position with the help of a compass. Each lighthouse is different, being lit and flashing in a unique way. A nautical chart will tell you how to identify a lighthouse by the number of flashes, their frequency and the colour of the light. To determine your exact position, you’ll then need two lighthouses in sight that serve as reference points for each other.

YACHTING.COM TIP: Lighthouses are not only practical, but they are often buildings with impressive architecture that are well worth stopping off at. Take a look at  15 lighthouses you must visit .

Safety is paramount when sailing at night

Even during the day, there are clear rules regarding the movement of the crew on board. Basically, the crew should not stand unless they are engaged in manoeuvres. In all other cases, they should be sitting on benches, at the side of the boat when heeling, or in the cabin. Apart from the fact that a standing crew member could obstruct the helmsman's view, it also poses a greater risk of falling overboard . If you're interested in getting to know this subject in more detail, check out our article Sailing Etiquette A to Z .

At night, the rules are even stricter to ensure the crew remain as safe as possible and avoid damaging the yacht. If a crew member is on deck at night while sailing, they should wear a lifejacket  and ideally be attached to the boat with a lifebelt or harness.

Except for really experienced seafarers, the rule of thumb is that there should be at least  two people on board when sailing at night. And the captain should schedule shifts so that there are always two  rested crew members on board. After all, you need to be doubly vigilant when sailing at night, and staying awake all night is certainly not conducive to alertness — especially when manoeuvring  or entering port. For the same reasons alcohol is prohibited when night sailing. While during the day, crew members other than the helmsman can toast Neptune or have one glass of wine or beer, drinking alcohol is not permitted during a voyage at night. By all means celebrate a successful journey upon arrival in port at a local tavern, but it definitely pays to keep a clear head at sea.

Specifics of night sailing and boat handling

Steering and controlling the boat  is not particularly different during the day and at night. There are just a few nuances to make sailing that bit smoother. If you're on a vessel you know well, that’s one thing, but if you're on a charter boat , it's worth marking the sheets and other lines so that you know your way around in the dark.

Sailing at night, it is also important to assess  the weather conditions well. What you would normally do during the day can be significantly more challenging at night and requires a more careful assessment of weather conditions and weather patterns. It is always better to choose smaller sails and if you have even the slightest doubt about anything, postpone the trip. 

When  entering a harbour  or sailing close to shore, be doubly cautious. There are several risk factors. During the day, the surrounding boats, the rocks and the potential hazards on the surface and below are visible. At night you have to rely on navigation, charts and lighting. When entering the harbour, charts and GPS can provide you many clues but lights can cause issues. For example, you might get dazzled by the light from the shore, the anchor lights of other boats are easily confused with the lights on land, and, last but not least, you may encounter poorly lit fishing boats. However, if you keep in mind all of these potential risks, you will arrive safely in the harbour.

The magic of night sailing

When compared to sailing during the day, night sailing places more demands on the captain's experience and knowledge of sailing regulations. But it is also a truly romantic experience. Millions of stars glistening in the night sky and the waves sparkling in the moonlight. If you're lucky, sailing out of the mist from land on a clear night with a near full moon, it will seem almost like daylight.

If you're serious about sailing and steering your boat, there are other benefits to night sailing. Navigating at night sharpens the senses and enhances the sailing experience as well as your experience of the sea itself. It truly gives a whole new meaning to sailing. But if all you want is to just enjoy yourself, night sailing is one of the most romantic experiences you can have. Check out our article on how to enjoy romance on board a yacht charter .   

Are you new to the sea? We will recommend experienced captains who will take care of you on the ship. Give us a call.

Denisa Nguyenová

Faq how to manage a night sailing.

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Night sailing: top tips and expert advice to see you safely through until dawn

• Helen Fretter
• October 6, 2016

A Yachting World special report on how to prepare and enjoy sailing at night. Photos by Tor Johnson.

Sailing through the night brings its own rewards: a contemplative stillness, phosphorescent trails through a star-lit sea, the soul-warming sunrises. But it also raises challenges – if you cannot see gusts and squalls approaching, how quickly can you react? How well do you – and the rest of your crew – know your yacht’s layout in the dark?

We asked some experienced long-distance cruisers, many of whom have sailed extensively in the tropics – experiencing much longer hours of darkness than northern hemisphere sailors who only venture offshore in summer months – for their night sailing advice.

Sundowner readiness

Romantic though sailing into the sunset may be, heading into darkness requires careful preparation. ‘Bones’ Black, who owns and skippers Emily Morgan , a Bowman 57 charter cruiser, says: “We do a great deal of night sailing, be it from island to island in the Caribbean or transatlantic passages. When doing overnight island-hopping we plan to arrive at the next destination in daylight, especially if we have not been there before.

“We prep the boat, all sail covers off, halyards attached, engine checks and of course we recheck the weather – if we are in tidal waters we would double check the tides too. We also prepare the cockpit by putting a good torch, hand-bearing compass, binoculars, bottle of water and spare safety tether to hand.

“Then we sit and have a decent meal to relax before we set sail. We also prepare a meal for later as it’s common to feel a little queasy at the start of a passage if it’s a bit lumpy and the last thing you want is to go below to start cooking.”

Erik Lindgren, currently cruising his Baltic 56 in Fiji, says: “ Spirit V is by design a very fast boat. This means that we cover good distances without pushing and without using too much sail at night. Our night set-up includes bimini down, sprayhood up, one or two reefs in the main depending on the risk of squalls, lifejackets are worn and we are always clipped on, AIS transmitters in lifejackets and PLB in foulweather jackets.”

Paul Frew, who is sailing his Oyster 575 Juno around Europe with his wife Caroline, says: “We are very cautious offshore. We have a golden rule never to leave the cockpit at night, so we will delay a pole gybe until daylight even it means heading a few miles off course. If for any reason we do need to leave the cockpit the on-watch crew have to call me and we all clip on. “I have an offshore checklist that we always review before any night passages. I keep a high-powered 24V torch in the cockpit and an anti-collision flare in the companionway. Radar is always on at night and AIS alarms are checked before dark.”

Take extra precautions if heading out of the cockpit on to the foredeck when sailing at night.

Golden rules

Once underway every skipper applies the same golden rules, summed up by Will Downing, skipper of the Hanse 575 Ximera : “Lifejackets obligatory; lifelines attached even if you are sleeping in the cockpit; don’t go forward without someone else awake in the cockpit and clipped on.”

Erik Lindgren adds: “We never, ever leave the cockpit while on a single watch. Sail area is reduced during the night – if hit by a big squall – by furling the jib. The off-watch sleeps on the saloon sofa.”

John Dyer, who sailed his First 47.7 Exocet Strike on the World ARC, says: “While on night watches we always take a view on likely weather conditions and reef accordingly before it’s dark – always easier to shake reefs out than put them in. “We also use head torches and use the red LED to preserve night vision.”

Top tip: Night vision relies on rod cells in the eyes, which take 20-40 minutes to adapt to a change of light

Bones Black says it’s also important to brief new crew joining the yacht on what to do if they have concerns. “We tell our crew always to wake Anna as skipper or me as first mate at any time. I would rather get up and check something out, be it a strange noise or a light on the horizon in good time, rather than at the last minute when it could be a problem.”

Conversely, when all is going well, being considerate of your off-watch crew is important – tether hooks dragging on deck and rattling pans in the galley sound incredibly loud at night. If you need to run a generator, consider timing it so it so the noise is split over two watches.

Sailing at night can be a truly uplifting experience.

Watch patterns

Your choice of watch system depends on several factors – how many people there are on board, how mentally and physically draining the conditions are, and personal preferences – some people find it hard to sleep down below during the day, for instance, while others prefer a short night watch and a longer day off-watch.

Fact: NASA studied the sleep patterns of solo ocean racing sailors to see how extreme sleep deprivation affects decision making and performance.

Will Downing comments: “I am a firm believer in the four-hour sleep rule of REM. Most people sleep for four hours, then two hours, then one hour, with waking moments (or close to) in between. If there are only three people on board, a three-hours-on six-off watch system means you will definitely get that four hours of sleep. Two hours on and four off is not four hours of sleep. Once you’ve brushed your teeth, had a snack, gone to the heads and maybe read for a few minutes, you’re lucky if you end up with just three hours.

“Even better is a four-person shift pattern with two hours on and six off. It’s not long on duty, but long on the old shut-eye. I have always found that the crew are better humoured, easier going and just plain happier!”

Black agrees: “There are so many different watch systems you could run, but they depend on how many crew you have. If it’s just Anna and me we do three on and three off during the night, and four on four off during the day to catch up. If alone on watch we steer for about 20 minutes, looking around the horizon all the time, then have a look at the AIS and radar.

“If there are three people we do three on, six off and steer as much as we can to keep busy. When concentration starts to lapse the autopilot goes on for a while and a drink and a few nibbles help.

“If we have a full complement of six crew we run three on, six off with two crew on each watch, this means the crew on watch can steer for half an hour then swap.”

For an even more in-depth look at this topic and plenty of others, see our Bluewater Sailing Techniques feature and video on night watches and routines offshore

Handover period

Equally important is how you hand over between watches. Downing says it’s worth taking your time over the watch change. “When you finish a shift in the middle of the night and are yearning for your pillow and some well-earned rest, remember that the person coming on watch has only just recently woken up so take time to chat with them, offer them a hot drink, talk about the weather and the shipping.

“I always finish with asking: ‘Are you awake enough to do this?’ Remember that your life is now in their hands!”

For the person coming on deck Downing suggests: “Read the log. It’s nice to know they saw dolphins and a mermaid, but more important that they heard a rattle from the engine or that the temperature felt like it dropped several degrees very quickly.”

Preserve your night vision but keep on top of the logbook, radar and navigation

Getting through it: Creature comforts to get through the night

“As we normally have three or four crewmembers on long passages we adopt a mother watch. Desert Island Discs downloaded from the BBC is our favourite distraction!” Paul and Caroline Frew, Juno

“Listening to music helps pass the time – but I am always being told off by Anna for singing along while she is trying to sleep. We also have what we call the ‘excessive calories box’ stuffed full of sweets, breakfast bars, chocolate bars and anything else we can find. There is nothing like the sight of your watch mate appearing at 0300 with the box to raise morale.” Bones Black, Emily Morgan

Whitsundays Luxury & Superyacht Overnight Charters

With class, opulence and comfort, seeing the Whitsundays aboard a luxury super yacht is your next best adventure. Spend a night or more cruising in style throughout the tropical Whitsunday Islands. Featuring stylish spaces, decadent food and a myriad of sea adventures, there's simply no better way to relax than this.

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Pleiades II will be offering private charters in the Whitsundays from June to October 2023.

Experience the Whitsundays in utter luxury on board sophisticated Superyacht, Aurora. 

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Interested in a multi-night charter? Please enquire for pricing. 

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Night pilotage: How to enter unfamiliar harbours

• James Stevens
• August 17, 2020

James Stevens looks at how best to prepare for arriving at an unfamiliar harbour after dark and what to be aware of

Entering a harbour at night usually comes at the end of a long sail. Credit: Paul Wyeth

How confident are you when it comes to night pilotage ?

Around most of the UK coast, it is possible for yachts to reach a destination in daylight during summer even with tidal gates restricting the time of arrival.

So although British ports are busy with shipping at night there are surprisingly few yachts underway in the dark.

It is easy therefore to become unused to night pilotage.

But, if skippers are sailing longer distances, or simply short trips which become delayed, this means that knowing how to enter a port at night is an essential skill.

Trying to read a pilot book and work out tidal heights and streams and sketch a pilotage plan is hard work at a dimmed chart table so it makes sense to pre-plan while still in daylight.

Mastering pilotage at night

When I started skippering, one of the hardest skills to master was pilotage.

It became easier with practice but then came the time to tackle pilotage at night.

My first night entry was Plymouth.

It looks pretty easy on the chart: a huge bay with a couple of rivers flowing into it and plenty of navigation marks.

When navigating at night it is best to be on deck. Credit: Paul Wyeth

In the dark, the plethora of flashing lights made navigation really confusing.

The city of Plymouth and the fun fair on the Hoe were bathed in dazzling light whereas objects that might have been helpfully illuminated, such as the breakwater across the entrance, were inconsiderately pitch black.

Occasionally harbours are actually easier to enter at night than in the day.

Langstone, which is rarely visited by most yachtsmen, has a large expanse of water with channels that can be difficult to pick out by day.

At night the absence of background light makes finding the marks much easier, but such places are rare.

Most harbours are populated to some degree and require good planning and pilotage skills to enter successfully after dark.

When approaching any harbour you need to have a good idea of what to look for and where.

Fortunately GPS has taken the sweat out of finding the yacht’s position so it is easy to know where to look for the first mark (you do, of course need to know its light character).

A good pair of marine binoculars with a built-in compass are useful here.

From the first mark, the pilotage plan will tell you the range, bearing and light character of the next.

The better you pre-plan, the longer you can spend on deck when entering a harbour. Credit: Colin Work

You should know the height of tide, the clearance if required and the direction and strength of the tidal stream.

The pilot book will warn of hazards and how to identify them.

The more you pre-plan the more time you can spend on deck.

Conversely, poor navigators wear out the companionway steps trying to relate reality to the chart.

In a complex harbour such as Southampton there are going to be times when finding the next mark is not as easy as it looks on the chart.

Slow down and keep an eye on the echosounder.

Adding to the difficulty is the fact that entering somewhere like Southampton at night usually happens at the end of a passage, with skipper and crew tired after time at sea.

It is when you must concentrate most, but there is a great sense of achievement when you’re safely alongside.

Night pilotage problems

From a yacht, the identification of buoy lights is difficult because they are at the same height as the navigator’s eye when standing in the cockpit.

They become lost amid the background scatter of lights and one can easily miss a mark and cut a corner, which risks a grounding.

It is also difficult to judge distance at night.

For the beginner, lights on the shoreline look much closer than they are.

It’s a difficult skill to learn.

Even experienced navigators struggle to judge distance off when sailing at night.

Case study: Southampton Water to Shamrock Quay

Southampton Water, what could be easier?

A wide, almost straight, well-mapped route to the city, a bit like the M3.

In daylight it is straightforward but at night the navigation marks, so obvious on the chart, get lost amongst the multitude of shore lights.

To port is another blaze of lights from Fawley, one of the biggest oil refineries in Europe.

Southampton is one of the UK’s busiest ports so you can expect to encounter plenty of ships along with high speed ferries, tugs, dredgers, pilot boats, work boats, the occasional fishing boat and of course yachts.

Apart from a working knowledge of the lights in the Colregs, for this trip it’s also important to know what an occulting light is and some other light characters on the chart such as IQ R 10s. (Occulting lights flash darkness and IQ means interrupted quick flashing).

At night, features which are obvious on the chart, such as lit buoys, can be difficult to find, while the small symbol on the chart with the word chimney next to it at the entrance to Southampton Water marks a lit chimney which is 198m high and can be seen for at least 10 miles.

These big features give a handy visual reference to your position and you can get a quick position line as they transit with other marks.

Making a plan

First, read the pilot book and look up the tides.

The pilotage plan sketch gives courses to steer and shows the navigation marks where a change of course is required.

It usually includes the distances to the next mark but on this trip the buoys are so close together that providing the light characters are identified it should be easy to find the next mark.

So what could go wrong?

You can usually see enough sail for trimming purposes but you might need a torch in the middle of the night. Credit: Paul Wyeth

A classic mistake is to instruct the helmsman to go for the next green without reference to the chart plotter or the pilotage plan.

On the night sailing assessment in Yachtmaster exams I have been taken into the Hamble, which was the next green, instead of up Southampton Water.

During another exam, we were run aground on Weston shelf near Southampton as the helmsman aimed for a green light two ahead of the next one.

Although a useful aid, a plotter with AIS will not always pick up small craft, because AIS is not required for vessels less than 300T.

The navigator should be on deck as much as possible for collision avoidance, hence the need for the sketch pilotage plan in the cockpit.

It is worth staying outside the main channel as much as possible but even on the nautical equivalent of the pavement there will be other craft to avoid, some of them quite large and fast.

The passage

Arriving from the west the best route is north of the Thorn channel leaving the red buoys to starboard, but not too far, as it is very shallow inside over Calshot Spit.

The main channel in this area has a moving prohibited zone around large ships requiring small craft to keep well clear, preferably by being outside the channel.

You can identify a ship with these rights by the Constrained by Draught lights, three reds in a vertical line (or a cylinder by day).

If the channel is clear, a good place to cross to the east side where there is more room is near Black Jack red buoy, as the channel is narrow here.

It is then a matter of keeping on the east side outside the main channel.

In addition to the main channel starboard buoys, there are smaller, lit green buoys laid on the edge of the shallows on the east side of Southampton Water for the benefit of small craft.

James Stevens, author of the Yachtmaster Handbook, spent 10 years as the RYA’s Training Manager and Yachtmaster Chief Examiner

These are helpful to keep you off the mud providing you don’t confuse them with the channel buoys.

At night you can see the width of Southampton Water as you approach the city but the channel is not in the middle.

Continues below…

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Even small craft have to move over to port to avoid Weston Ledge, a large and shallow shoal to starboard at the entrance of the Itchen river.

From there on, yachts stay in the main channel and it is easy to see the span of the Itchen Bridge with a charted height of 23m which most yachts can pass under with plenty of clearance.

Just at the moment you think it is all downhill to Shamrock Quay marina, the river takes a turn to port, with the channel following the port bank to avoid another shoal on the starboard side.

There is a green post to keep you off the bank, but for first timers it’s an easy one to miss.

From there on it is plain sailing, except for the strong tidal stream flowing past the marina which can be a boat-handling challenge.

Night Pilotage checklist:

Check the nav lights work.

If you have lifebelt lights, check they’re in working order.

You need a powerful torch for identifying buoys, lobster pot floats and illuminating sails to help prevent any collisions.

A red headtorch can be helpful to keep night vision while reading pilotage notes on deck.

Keep a couple of small torches for searching in lockers. I use clockwork ones.

Fit a red-filtered chart table light, and ideally one over the galley.

Dim the plotter and instrument screens.

Always check your main compass and instrument lights are working.

Compass and binoculars

A hand-bearing compass with a built-in light, usually fluorescent, is essential for identifying marks.

You’ll need a pair of binoculars, preferably with a built-in compass light to make sure you’re looking along the right bearing.

Make sure your lifejackets have a built-in light, crotchstraps, a sprayhood, and tethers you can clip to a jackstay.

Have some pre-prepared snacks in the cockpit and consider keeping everything tidy below so you don’t need to turn on the cabin lights to find out what you’ve just tripped over!

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1 dead after shooting inside Regal Cinemas theater in Ohio

The victim was identified to be Daron Davis, 27, from Canton, Ohio.

A late night shooting inside an Ohio movie theater has left one man dead, police said.

The shooting took place at approximately 11 p.m. when the Massilon Police Department were notified of a shooting inside a Regal Cinemas movie theater in Massilon, Ohio -- some 50 miles south of Cleveland.

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“Massilon Police Officers responded and found a male deceased near the front lobby,” authorities said in their statement early Saturday morning detailing the shooting. “The victim was identified to be Daron Davis, 27, from Canton Ohio.”

MORE: Grandfather pays homeless woman $20 to watch granddaughter while he got drunk at bar for hours: Police

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., police say a suspect was taken into custody outside the Massilon Police Department. Authorities did not disclose the identity of the suspect or reveal a possible motive in the killing.

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