The winners of the 2026 Motor Boat Awards were announced at a gala ceremony in Düsseldorf on Tuesday 20 January 2026. The event was celebrating the very best in design, performance, and seafaring innovation.
It has taken months of testing, weeks of analysing and days of deliberating amongst our judges but the results of our annual Motor Boat Awards can now be revealed.
As always we have chosen a winner in each of our ten categories based on how well the boat performed during our rigorous sea trials but also how well it meets the requirements of its target market in relation to its size, style and price.
In some categories we have also awarded a highly commended to boats which came a very close second or have moved the game on in some significant way.
Last but not least we’d like to thank Sleipner for once again partnering with us as the headline sponsor of the 2026 Motor Boat Awards and our individual category award sponsors Garmin, Lumishore, JL Audio, and Marinade.
2026 Motor Boat Awards winners revealed
Best Sportsboats up to 30ft
Finalists: Arksen Discovery 8 | De Antonio D29 | Ockelbo B25 Cabin
Highly commended: Aquaspirit 700 | Windy 29 Huracán
Winner: Nordkapp Enduro 830
Nordkapp has spent 60 years forging a stellar reputation for compact family powerboats – and the new Enduro 830 is undoubtedly one of the best. Designed by Espen Thorup, it’s a superb looking boat with plenty of flexibility in the layout, lots of breadth in terms of application and wonderful pace and balance when underway.
From the dash buttons to the bow covers, every detail resonates with design intelligence – and if the sensible pricing and cleverly conceived options don’t seal the deal, then the likelihood of strong residual values will certainly help. In short, as fast, open cuddy-style 27-footers go, the Enduro 830 is at the very top of its class.
Best Weekender up to 40ft
Finalists: Aiata Wayfinder 38 | Beneteau Antares 9 S2 | Delta 33 Coupé | Duchy 25 | Fjord 39XL | Navan S30
Highly commended: Fjord 39XL
Winner: Navan S30
The fact there are so many slick multi-purpose centre-console sports boats on the modern market illustrates just how good the Navan has had to be to scoop top prize in this category. It certainly looks extremely potent, with its stylish reverse bow and black anodised rails, and it fully backs that up with its performance.
Build quality is strong, with clean, thick mouldings, heavy-duty steel work and a very high calibre of fit-out and the layout is also very pleasing, not least in the form of an innovative three-bench cockpit arrangement and a bow cabin that feels a cut above in terms of space, light and finish.
Best Family Cruiser up to 45FT
Finalists: Aquador 400HT | Rustler 41 | Windy SR40
Highly commended: Marex 390
Winner: Viknes 10
Designed and built in its native Norway, the Viknes 10 is a supremely clever and (even in standard format) very well-specced platform. This aft space integrates really well with the internal saloon and, wherever you look, the detailing is also very considered.
With its remarkable cruising capacity, its indoor and outdoor day spaces, its value for money and its unstinting design clarity, this is about as rewarding as a cruiser of this modest length and price could be.
Best Passagmakers
Finalists: Prestige M7 | Silent 62 Open | Sirena 48 Coupé
Highly commended: Hardy 45 European
Winner: Absolute Navetta 62
A lot of boats claim to have a pair of owner’s cabins but this one genuinely does. Up in the bow, you get a classical Absolute forward-facing bed plus vast taper-free hull windows, an authentic walk-in wardrobe and a spacious bathroom in the forepeak.
In terms of day spaces, the stars of the show are the saloon and the flybridge – the flybridge for its sheer scale and the saloon for the loveliness of its layout and finish. We’re huge fans of the Navetta line and this combination of style, luxury and cruising practicality is exactly the reason why.
Best Sportscruiser over 45ft
Finalists: De Antonio D60 | SAY 52 | Wallywhy100
Highly commended: Bluegame BGF45
Winner: Pardo GT75
This largest Pardo ever is designed to combine the style and openness of a classical P-series walkaround boat with the extra shelter, four-season ability and cruising credentials of Pardo’s pilothouse-equipped Endurance line; and it really doesn’t put a foot wrong.
Great for day parties, practical for long-term cruising, excellent to drive and lovely to look at, this is undoubtedly the most broadly capable multi-purpose powerboat we’ve ever seen from this illustrious Italian boating brand.
Best Flybridge Over 55ft
Finalists: Pardo Endurance 72 | Pearl 63
Highly commended: Pershing GTX70
Winner: Princess F58
Princess has a knack for building exceptionally good flybridge boats and the F58 puts all that knowledge and experience to good use. Bigger, better, more luxurious and more refined than the previous F55, it does everything you’d expect of a 60ft family cruiser and whole lot more you wouldn’t.
But it’s the space and comfort it offers combined with Princess’s legendary build quality and attention to detail that really impressed our judges. Those extra couple of feet over the F55 create enough room for a separate dedicated dining area on the main deck in addition to the lounging area forward.
Best Custom Yacht Over 80ft
Finalists: Ferretti Infynito 80 | Sanlorenzo SL96A | Zeelander 8
Highly commended: Arksen 85 | Sunseeker Ocean 82 Enclosed
Winner: Azimut Fly 82
Azimut always builds pretty boats but the new Fly 82 offers so much more than that. With its clever Deck2Deck cockpit extension, lavish foredeck lounge and expansive flybridge, it offers a wide variety of comfortable outdoor entertaining spaces.
But it’s the way it drives that really impressed our judges, delivering effortless speed, refinement, fuel efficiency and comfortable seakeeping in equal measure. All this and a tender garage makes this the full motoryacht package.
Customer Service Award
Finalists: Approved boats | Boats.co.uk | Mallorca Marine Group | Tingdene Marinas & Boat Sales | Ventura Yachts
Winner: Wessex Marine
Selling a boat is the easy part, keeping the customer happy for the days, months and even years that follow is far trickier. All of this year’s finalists got it right according to the dozens of glowing emails we received from customers, but one company was singled out for its unwavering determination to deliver on that promise regardless of time, hassle and expense.
Wessex Marine, based at Salterns Marina in Poole, is the UK dealer for Targa and Marex. A family-run business with a long track record, its approach to after sales service is as thorough as it is welcome, as the following testimonials demonstrate:
“When you do business with Wessex Marine you’re not dealing with a ‘salesman’. You are dealing with a family member of a very tight team who are Targa.”
Best Technical Development
Finalists: Fathom & Integrel E-Power 15 | Garmin OnBoard MOB system | Simrad Autocaptain
Highly commended: SEA.AI Watchkeeper
Winner: Volvo Penta Electric IPS
This clever new propulsion package is much more than a just another clean electric motor. By offering the superior propulsion efficiencies of a forward- facing IPS drive with the handling characteristics of a joystick controlled pod and the packaging benefits of a more compact but equally powerful electric motor, it delivers many real world benefits in addition to cleaner, quieter running.
Judges’ Special Award
Winner: Sakari Mattila
The Judges’ Special Award is given to a person, a company or an institution that has made an exceptional contribution to the world of motorboats, and this year’s winner has unquestionably done that over a career that has already spanned 48 years, six different industries and five separate boat companies.
A true polymath with an exceptional eye for design, he has been behind many of the boat world’s most innovative boats of recent years. After leaving Axopar in 2018, he went on to found Saxdor Yachts in 2019. Since then, Saxdor has become Europe’s fastest growing motor boat brand. This year’s winner is the founder and chief designer of Saxdor Yachts, Sakari Mattila.
