NAVIS Aug/Sept'25

One hundred and fifty years may be the blink of an eye in the origin of the universe, but in terms of operating a business, it is rather a stellar achievement. Long a highly regarded name in the marine industry, Lürssen sails through that milestone in 2025 with quiet elegance, delivering the most luxurious, innovative, and beautifully crafted yachts in the world. If yachts held royal titles, Lürssen’s kingdom would reflect growth, progress, success, and a bright future.

How does a luxury-focused brand continue to remain at the top of their game? And what contributions, looking both to the past and through the present to the future, continue Lürssen’s legacy as a leader in the yachting world as a cherished brand? It begins with passion. There is also an emphasis on the legions of craftsmen and women who design, build, and dream, as the next generation of yachts transition from concept to delivery.

Bilgin Yachts unveiled the luxurious interiors of its latest masterpiece, MY Camila, which was delivered to a US owner in June. Showcasing her 50-meter exterior at a late January launch from Bilgin’s Istanbul yard, Camila displayed her crisply defined curves from Unique Yacht Design. Recently, her palette of interior hues, inspired by nature, highlighted the fresh, elegant, and balanced hand of Hot Lab throughout the yacht, effortlessly blending interior and exterior spaces.

Bilgin takes great pride in a very high rate of satisfaction among clients, with many returning when considering their next purchase. Bilgin CEO, Ismail Şengün, notes, “ Today, the Bilgin 163 is our most ambitious project and is a perfect example of what we can propose to the adventures of the sea.” Camila, the second yacht of the 50-meter 163 hulls after Eternal Spark, offers an exciting visual explanation of such adventures.

A Regatta for the Ages in the Heart of the Mediterranean

The Bay of Palma once again solidified its reputation as one of the world’s premier sailing destinations, providing the perfect stage for the 29th edition of the Superyacht Cup Palma. Held from June 25-28, 2025, Europe’s longest-running superyacht regatta delivered a masterful blend of high-stakes competition and relaxed shoreside camaraderie that has become its signature. This year, however, history was made as one yacht achieved an unprecedented triple victory, etching its name into the annals of sailing history.

The event, renowned for its professionally managed racing and the reliable sea breezes of Mallorca, drew an impressive fleet of the world’s most prestigious sailing yachts. Owners, guests, and top-tier crew gathered for a spectacular celebration of sail, where strategy on the water was matched only by the vibrant networking and social events ashore. From the opening race to the final, dramatic conclusion, the 2025 edition was a proof to the enduring appeal of this iconic event.

A Mirror of Sky

There are journeys that take you from one place to another, and then there are those that take you out of time altogether.

Our speedboat moved across water so smooth, it became indistinguishable from the heavens above. No ripples, no wind, no sound beyond the low hum of the engines. Just a stretch of infinite blue, blending sea and sky into one seamless horizon. We were floating, not sailing, through a weightless realm, suspended between what is real and what might be imagined.

Crossing from the Baa to the Noonu Atoll in the Maldives required a passage over open ocean. There, the boat began to cradle softly with the rhythm of the swells. Something shifted. Conversations faded. The few other guests on board each retreated into their own thoughts. The gentle rocking, the vastness around us, the absence of landmarks, it all conspired to lull us into a quiet trance.

We live in an era where luxury hospitality often defaults to gleaming high rises promoting a near-surfeit of equally glossy, mostly insubstantial features described as “amenities.” In our recent journey to Onomichi, a port town in the Hiroshima Prefecture, the Ryokan Onomichi Nishiyama stands in quiet rebellion of this trend, embodying a meditation on what it means to truly honor the soul of a destination.

Onomichi itself holds centuries of trading importance yet still manages to retain a therapeutically relaxing atmosphere. Surrounded by mountains and facing the Seto Inland Sea, Onomichi is famous for its many unique stores housed in refurbished old private houses as well as exceptional examples of temples and shrines. This remarkable ryokan, which reopened in April 2023 after inheriting the culture of the 1943 original Nishiyama Bekkan teahouse, which once reigned as the city’s finest, catering to only the most distinguished guests. In its newly reimagined state, Ryokan Onomichi Nishiyama represents something increasingly rare: a thoughtful, authentic hospitality experience that treats the past not merely as décor, but as living memory.

Dining in Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Dubai begins long before one samples a single morsel. Located within the Atlantis The Royal on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, itself a culinary cosmos with 36 world-class food & beverage offerings in addition to luxury accommodations in a destination famed for its opulence. This one MICHELIN-starred sanctuary is a drier and hotter – in terms of weather – and more theatrical version of its Knightsbridge, London sister.

Merely accessing this restaurant requires a theatrical entrance worthy of its well-established reputation. Debuting at the already dramatic Atlantis the Royal in 2023, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal Dubai earned its first MICHELIN star a mere four months after opening. Now in its third year, dinner here remains one of the hottest reservations to score in town and certainly within the Atlantis resort complex. We dined here on the last night of our stay at Atlantis and it made for a final, fittingly memorable conclusion.

“Where ancient wisdom meets cutting-edge innovation, wellness becomes an art form.”

Rising from the golden crescent of Palm Jumeirah like a vision from the future, Atlantis The Royal is a symbol of architectural audacity and opulent living. Yet within its shimmering facade lies a haven of calm, meticulously crafted for those seeking relaxation and profound transformation. AWAKEN, the signature wellness destination of Atlantis The Royal, is a sanctuary where ancient rituals, high-performance science, and intuitive design converge to offer a wellness journey unlike any other in the Middle East.

AWAKEN is a philosophy, an invitation to realign, recharge, and rediscover the self. Set across an expansive 5,000 square meters and curated with reverence for both global healing traditions and pioneering therapies, this wellness destination redefines the boundaries of self-care in Dubai’s ever-evolving luxury landscape.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate where we are. The year is 2025, Aston Martin has its own Formula 1 team, a lineup of turbocharged grand tourers, and now, finally, a proper mid-engined supercar that doesn’t exist solely to adorn a billionaire’s garage but is actually being built for the road. Valhalla, a car whose name implies heavenly reward for those slain in battle. If that sounds like overkill for a plug-in hybrid, it probably is. But Aston Martin, now in full transformation mode under Lawrence Stroll’s regime, is less concerned with subtlety than with making noise, in every sense of the word.

Valhalla is a statement. A carbon-bodied declaration that Aston Martin will no longer be relegated to pretty GTs and soft-shod tourers. This one snarls through a flat-plane V8, pivots through pushrod suspension, and can be driven in pure EV mode, at least until the batteries run out and all hell breaks loose.

Still, for all its engineering theater, Valhalla matters not because of what it is, but because of where it sits. Between Valkyrie’s track-bound lunacy and the still-distant electric future, this is the car Aston hopes will cement its legitimacy with the clientele who buy Koenigseggs on Thursday and yachts by the weekend.