Winner of Best Motor Yacht was BREAKTHROUGH reportedly owned by Canadian billionaire Patrick Dovigi,EdmistonThe World Superyacht Awards, organized by BOAT International, recognize the top yachts each year and are considered the highest honors in yachting. These awards highlight both custom and semi-custom yachts in several categories. The Neptune trophies not only celebrate outstanding vessels but also reflect shifts in owner preferences, shipyard advancements, and trends in private yachting.At the 2026 ceremony in Venice, Breakthrough, a 118.8-meter (390 foot) motor yacht built by Feadship, was named Motor Yacht of the Year by BOAT International. It also won the award for best displacement yacht over 5,000GT, marking an important achievement for both Feadship and the industry as a whole.The 65-meter (213 foot) Aquarius from Royal Huisman was named Sailing Yacht of the Year. Dolce, a 43.9-meter (144 foot) explorer yacht that has traveled over 40,000 nautical miles, won the Voyager’s Award. Goh Cheng Liang, the late Singaporean billionaire and founder of White Rabbit Yachts, received the Legacy Award posthumously.Pi, a 122-meter Feadship that public reports have linked to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz won the displacement motor yacht category for vessels between 2,500GT and 4,999GTFeadshipIn an interview, Caroline White, editor of BOAT International told me, “What makes the World Superyacht Awards so special is that, unlike any other such prizes, the jury is made up exclusively of current and former superyacht owners. Collectively, they bring hundreds of years of experience owning, running and managing big boats. They work tirelessly to ensure the finest yachts win, traveling the world to visit boats and poring over photography and statements.”White explained that Breakthrough has become “a totem for the hot-button topic of next-generation fuels and propulsion.” The 118.8-meter Feadship is the first superyacht to use liquid-hydrogen fuel cells, and its owner was willing to take a costly first step. “This yacht is extraordinary for many reasons, from her underwater Nemo room to the artful separation of owner, crew and guest circulation around the boat, to her sinuous lines. ‘The curvature is just stunning,’ said one judge. But what makes Breakthrough so special is that the project was an act of ambitious altruism on a staggering scale by a high-profile owner willing to take a risk to move the conversation on."“A new generation is less interested in owning a yacht to project an image and more interested in using it as a tool to have incredible experiences, whether exploring the South Pacific or having a picnic on an iceberg in the Arctic”