Wind back the clock to 1983 when BOAT International first hit the newsstands, and join me in a helicopter (it's a Hughes 500) over Monaco. A youthful Alain Prost is in pole position at the Grand Prix, and a crimson Lamborghini Countach makes for a sporty safety car. Below us, Port Hercules is stuffed with small, plastic boats – and the most striking thing? Lots of them have masts!
Moored stern-to along the Quai des Etats-Unis is one of the big new beasts of the nascent superyacht world: 180ft Le Pharaon is the last word in 80s opulence and grabbing all the headlines. This Feadship motor yacht with lines by De Voogt has a classic raked bow, lots of sheer and overhanging side decks.
Fast forward 40 years and it's a different story. Monaco's pontoons bristle with 200ft-plus power boats. Creations such as 246ft Kenshō – the masterpiece from Admiral – with her reverse bow, deep hull chine and complex, swooping curves, 262ft Artefact from Nobiskrug, the golden trimaran Khalilah or 525ft Lürssen Blue.
Compared to the early 1980s, you'd notice immediately how much bigger the yachts are – and how colorful. “The last 40 years have seen quite a dramatic evolution in yacht design,” designer Espen
