Evening light clings to the water like silk, the air thick with salt and whispers of engines cutting through calm seas. A shadow glides along the coastline, so fluid it seems more apparition than craft. Cameras turn, conversations falter, and every yacht already anchored suddenly looks outdated, outclassed. What approaches is not simply another addition to the marina; it is a spectacle, a statement that bends design and defies caution.
The curves catch the last glow of sunset, an unbroken sweep of glass and metal that gleams like a blade poised above the waves. Its towering structure doesn’t dominate the scene with noise but with presence, an assertion that grandeur can be quiet yet irresistible. In its wake, the harbor hums with speculation.
This is THIS IS IT, a 43.5-metre catamaran conceived as much for wonder as for travel. Built by Tecnomar under The Italian Sea Group, it stands as one of the most daring yachts ever commissioned, an ultra-modern marvel stretching 14.5 metres wide and wrapped in over 600 square metres of glass. It is not a vessel you simply board; it is one you enter like a world.
How a Yacht Was Born, Not Dreamt
This extraordinary craft is the living embodiment of its creator’s resolve. Tasos Papanastasiou, a self-made Cypriot mastermind behind the global foreign-exchange giant XM, looked at the typical superyacht and thought: what if? He insisted it be real, not hypothetical. “THIS IS IT was born, not as a concept study, but as a yacht to be built,” he said, “so the yacht’s design had to be feasible even if it was completely new in terms of contents and style.”
The result discards convention. Aluminum curves sculpted to evoke sea creatures, weight-defying expanses of glass, and a naval architecture so daring it pushed material science to its limits, all testaments to one man’s vision. Every angle feels believable yet otherworldly, familiar and alien in the same breath.
Oceanic Home and Playground
Stepping aboard, THIS IS IT reveals itself as more than a vessel, rather a world. Six cabins house up to twelve guests; each feels more like a luxury module than a cabin. The owner’s quarters, with glass ceiling and private terrace, rival a seaside villa for loftiness and serenity. A vertical garden drapes across decks, bringing greenery into this architectural dream.
Every deck invites a different kind of immersion. The main deck merges indoor dining with open air, Jacuzzi bubbles against Mediterranean breezes, the bridge deck hides a spa sanctuary, and the sun deck screens films against the sky. A salon lounges with a bar, cinema, and game room built for lingering.
For thrill-seekers, the ocean becomes a playground. From Seabobs to jet skis, e-foils, wakeboards, kayaks, a 15-metre chase RIB and two tenders, the yacht is primed for exploration in extraordinary style.
A Charter Floating Between Worlds
Though born of personal ambition, THIS IS IT invites others to step inside its drama. Since April 2024, it’s been available for charter across the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Its presence fleet-wide raises pulses. Depending on season and destination, rates start from roughly €350,000 to €440,000 per week.
Charterers do not just visit Italy or Greece, they are wrapped in the yacht’s aura. Greek isles, French Riviera, Amalfi, Ibiza, the Red Sea’s hidden reefs are not so much destinations but as co-stars in the experience.
Beyond a Boat, A Bold Wake
This is a yacht built to provoke. By fluid, curving shear glass and steel, it invites us to reconsider luxury as something more than plush comfort. It insists on being performance, artistry, theatrical stage and quiet retreat all at sea.
Tasos Papanastasiou did not commission a floating treasure; he demanded life elevated as architecture. “I want something never seen before,” he reportedly said and he got exactly that. The result is less a boat and more a beating pulse of ambition, anchored in water but drifting through imagination.
