The order book in numbers

The Global Order Book compiled annually by BOAT International records 1,093 yachts of 24 metres and above on order or in build in its 2026 edition, down from 1,138 in 2025. That is the second consecutive annual decline by unit count. Average length and tonnage moved the other way, to 40.8 metres and 551 GT, the highest recorded. The trade-press claim of a record order book is true only by length and tonnage, not by units.

The 2026 order book breaks down as 837 motor yachts, 101 explorers, 69 sailing yachts, 63 open yachts, and 23 sportfish. The explorer category has consolidated as the second-largest single type at roughly nine percent of the order book, an undercovered shift in composition. Sailing remains around six percent of units.

Source: BOAT International Global Order Book 2026, hull-type breakdown via BOATPro.

Italy now accounts for 568 units, 52 percent of the global order book. Azimut Benetti is ranked first among builders for the 26th consecutive year, with 5,924 metres across 163 yachts; Sanlorenzo, with Nautor Swan, is second at 4,698 metres across 130. The Netherlands is second by tonnage at 107,796 GT across only 66 units, which is the statistical signature of the Dutch yards' position at the large custom end. Turkey holds 82,383 GT across 141 units. Germany builds the fewest hulls in the top four, 18 units, for 78,651 GT, output concentrated at the very top of the size range.

For a buyer entering in 2026, the practical constraint is not price but the delivery slot. Current published positions: Lurssen is booked through mid-2027 at minimum. Feadship is quoting 2028 to 2029. Damen Yachting's Yacht Support range is booked through Q4 2028 or Q1 2029 on certain models, and Sanlorenzo's SX, SD, and Steel ranges extend to the same horizon. Heesen has operated a speculative-build model since 2023, which can shorten the wait where a hull already in build matches the requirement. Oceanco's delivery of the 111-metre DreAMBoat in 18 months stands as the counter-example of what compressed timelines look like when a yard clears the path.

These positions move quarter by quarter and are exactly the kind of claim a buyer should re-verify directly with the yard. Chapter 2 sets out what the order book means for market timing, and Chapter 5 covers how to read a specific yard's pipeline before contracting.

Three cautions apply to any order-book figure, including the ones on this page. First, "on order or in build" spans everything from a signed letter of intent to a hull in final outfitting; the number says nothing about how many yachts will deliver on time or at all. Second, unit counts and tonnage tell different stories, as the Italy and Netherlands rows above show; quote one without the other and the picture distorts. Third, a yard's published backlog is a sales instrument as well as a fact, and due diligence on a specific yard's pipeline and financial condition is a contract-stage discipline, not a press-release read.