The Bolide 80: the world’s fastest yacht

If the success of Ferrari’s Purosangue is anything to go by, luxury connoisseurs love a good fusion: part SUV, part estate, part supercar, it refuses to be labelled.

Welcome to the ocean-going version: the Bolide 80 by Victory Design. Is it a muscle boat? Is it a super yacht? Is it a floating nightclub? Yes. To all three. And then some.

The Italian word for ‘fireball’, the Bolide is the world’s fastest yacht. It’s packed with 6,000hp courtesy of three 2,000hp MAN diesels.

The yacht is made of lightweight carbon fibre, so not only is it more efficient than an equivalent sized yacht, it’s also a hell of a lot faster. The Bolide hit more than 75 knots (86.5 mph) in its sea trials – which is staggering for any yacht, let alone one that’s 81-feet long.

You would think at these speeds it might be a handful, but the makers assure us that thanks to an innovative rudder system and active steering system, it remains perfectly manoeuvrable.

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It uses three surface propellers to automatically and constantly find the ideal trim angle – tech that’s been derived from the motorboat competitions.

And as for the luxury? Well, the carbon fibre and leather are made in Italy; its linen, silk and cashmere come from Loro Piana; marble from Port Saint-Laurent.

Now, we did say that this was the kind of yacht that refused to be labelled. But despite that, the makers have had a go: apparently, the Bolide is the pioneer of the ‘hyper muscle yacht’ category. Sounds pretty strong to us.

And there’s no doubt that with the Bolide, Victory Design is on to a winner.