The combined price tag of the vessels on this page exceeds $1.5 billion. They represent the absolute pinnacle of sailing yacht construction — the most expensive, most technologically advanced private sailing vessels ever built. They have DynaRig systems, carbon fiber masts, regenerative hybrid drives, and wine cellars that could supply a small nation.
Not one of them has ever been timed on a point-to-point speed record.
To be fair, these boats were not designed to go fast. They were designed to make other boats look small. But the masts are real, the sails work, and the route from New York to Miami is right there. So we ran the numbers.
| Vessel | Cost | LOA | Cruise Speed | Projected Time | vs. Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groupama 3 (record holder) | — | 103 ft | 27 kts avg | 1d 11h 5m | — |
| Maltese Falcon | $150M | 289 ft | 15 kts | ~63 hrs | +28 hrs |
| Koru | $500M | 417 ft | 15 kts | ~63 hrs | +28 hrs |
| Black Pearl | $200M | 350 ft | 12 kts | ~79 hrs | +44 hrs |
| Sea Eagle II | $100M | 266 ft | 14 kts | ~68 hrs | +33 hrs |
| EOS | $200M | 305 ft | 11 kts | ~86 hrs | +51 hrs |
| Athena | $70M | 260 ft | 14 kts | ~68 hrs | +33 hrs |
This record class is currently open. No billionaire sailing yacht has ever been formally timed on the NYC–Miami corridor. The WSSRC ratifies passage records for any vessel — there is nothing stopping Koru, Maltese Falcon, or Black Pearl from registering an attempt. The support boats are already following them around anyway.
CG will formally recognize and document any billionaire sailing yacht that completes the course. We'll even time it for you. We know you have the crew. We know you have the weather routing software. The question has never been whether you can. It's whether you're willing to find out that your half-billion-dollar sailboat is slower than a 20-year-old French trimaran crewed by ten guys eating baguettes.
Complete the course and you donate $25,000 to CG's charity fund. That's the entry fee for proving you can actually sail what you bought. The owner must be at the helm for progress to count — hand it off and the boat stops moving. Sleep is your problem.
And the bounty escalates. Second billionaire to finish: $50K. Third: $75K. The price of admission rises because the bragging rights are worth more once someone else has done it first.
You can afford it.
Here's what stings. Groupama 3 completed the Miami–NY passage averaging 27 knots for 35 straight hours. That's 947 nautical miles without slowing down. The boat is 103 feet long and was built for roughly the cost of Koru's support yacht.
Meanwhile, Koru — at 417 feet and $500 million — cruises at 15 knots. On a perfect day. With a professional crew. In calm seas. The Maltese Falcon can push higher in big wind, but its cruising average over 950 miles would settle around the same range.
The fastest superyacht on this list — the Maltese Falcon at a theoretical 15–16 knots sustained — would arrive in Miami roughly 28 hours after Groupama 3's crew had already showered, eaten, and flown home to France.
For the cost difference? You could buy three Groupama 3s and still have enough left over for the baguettes.
Look — comparing a racing trimaran to a superyacht is like comparing an F1 car to a Rolls-Royce Phantom. They're not trying to do the same thing. These yachts are extraordinary engineering achievements designed for comfort, beauty, and the quiet satisfaction of anchoring in Monaco and making everyone else feel poor.
But the masts are there. The sails are there. The route is 947 nautical miles of open Atlantic. And somewhere in the Caribbean right now, there's a $500 million sailing yacht motoring at 12 knots between islands with its sails furled, being followed by a $75 million support yacht carrying a helicopter.
Set the sails. Run the course. Prove us wrong.