The best yacht designs by top yacht designers! Do you need a hand-crafted yacht to sail the oceans of the world? Our links display the finest yacht design companies in the world.   A yacht is a recreational boat for business and pleasure. It designates two rather different classes of watercraft, sailing and power yachts. Yachts are differentiated from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. It was not until the ascendancy of the steamboat and other types of powerboat that sailing vessels in general came to be perceived as luxury items. However, since the level of luxury on larger yachts has seen an increasing trend, the use of the word yacht to mean any sailing vessel has been diminishing and is more and more limited to racing yachts or cruising yachts.