Made by CrossCurrent Marine, the U.23 Carbon is the market’s first rigid inflatable boat constructed of proprietary carbon and Kevlar epoxy composite. Lightweight and ultra-durable, the U.23 Carbon is well equipped for coastal cruising or excursions in open water.

Designed for the elite individuals seeking acquisitions of the highest caliber, the U.23 Carbon is the ultimate in luxury inflatables. Capable of achieving speeds of 45-knots, the U.23 maintains stability and a comfortable ride at high speeds under reasonable load and conditions.

The U.23 Carbon is currently available for order directly from CrossCurrent Marine, and has a boat and motor starting price of $109,000. A list of custom options is available.

If you’re an environment friendly sailor and have a passion for speedboats check out Czeers MK1, a luxury designed 10-meter that was launched at the Millionaire Fair in 2007.

The Delft Technical University Solarboat Team built the original platform as an entry in the 2006 Nuon Frisian Solar challenge, which it easily won - and in the process, attracted serious investment power from Rabobank to get a full scale test boat built.

Made 100-percent of carbon fiber with orange leather trim, photovoltaic cells on almost all horizontal surfaces and an LCD touch-screen control system, the world’s first solar speedboat goes up to 30 knots on water.

Porsche Design Group on Wednesday announced the signing of a design and marketing agreement with Singapore-based yacht builder, Royal Falcon Fleet.

Under this agreement Porsche Design will design luxury catamarans and mega-yachts for Royal Falcon Fleet on an exclusive basis in addition to developing a marketing concept for the yachts.

The first project is what you see in the photo above, a motor catamaran that is over 40 meters (135 feet) long. Porsche Design will design both the hull exterior and interior of the catamaran.

Imagine touring the world, 300 ports in 150 countries, from the comfort of your own exclusive, floating home. The new ultimate in luxury is purchasing a condo on the world’s largest private residential cruise ship, the Magellan.

The 860-foot long ship features 210 units, including 16 penthouses, to keep up the tradition of exploration in the modern world aboard a 76,000-tonne, 15-deck residential cruise ship. Life will become one long, leisurely dream for the Magellan’s 1100 passengers who will be pampered by 350 crew and backed up by four restaurants.

Residences start at $2.34 million for full ownership and the two best suites, each with four bedrooms, cost $17.3 million apiece. In addition to the purchase price of each apartment, owners pay a hefty maintenance fee amounting to between 5 and 6 percent of the purchase price. Magellan also offers the unique opportunity to buy fractional ownership of one month or two weeks per year, starting at $140,000.

For many owners this is a third home and one that most use for just weeks in any given year, choosing the part of the world they want to visit or for some special occasion, including family get-togethers.

The Magellan will operate much like a cruise ship with most of the amenities one would expect to find on a luxury vessel, such as tennis court, retractable marina that goes into action as soon as the ship berths, two putting greens, an observatory, four fine dining restaurants, an all-weather heliport, Aqua Spa, casino, gourmet marketplace, microbrewery, 430-seat Broadway-style theatre, two pools and more… Owners can reach the Magellan via the ship’s two executive jet helicopters, Venetian tenders or at ports.

The Magellan will circumnavigate the globe every two years. Scheduled ports include Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Istanbul, Stockholm, New York, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco, Vancouver, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney, Bali, Honolulu and Alexandria.

The ship will be built at Aker Yards in France and is scheduled to set sail in 2010.

Pictured above: Guilty, a 115-foot yacht designed by Jeff Koons and commissioned by Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou, who owns one of the world’s finest collections of contemporary art.

The exterior design was created by international art star Jeff Koons, famous for his basketball in perspex case, three-storey high “Puppy” made of flowers, and the “Made in Heaven” erotic series of photographs with Italian ex-wife and porn-star-member-of-parliament La Cicciolina.

Koons based his design on a WWI camouflage pattern. complemented by architect Ivana Porfiri’s jagged shapes.

Guilty is likely to appear in next month’s Italian Vogue.

French luxury products group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton said Monday it has signed an exclusive agreement with Dutch investment company Egeria to acquire Royal van Lent, the Dutch designer and builder of luxury custom mega-yachts sold under the Feadship brand.

The talks with owner Egeria, a Dutch investment firm, are based on an acquisition price worth approximately 11 times net profit. The estimated price equates to a transaction value of less than 500 million euros, a source familiar with the talks said.

This acquisition will enable LVMH to enlarge its scope of activities and to expand its presence in products and services at the top of the luxury market.

Royal van Lent’s yachts target an ultra-exclusive clientele and are built to the highest quality standards using specific know-how. Feadship’s attributes of creativity, craftsmanship, innovation, quality and exclusive positioning are shared by all the luxury businesses operated by LVMH.

Founded 160 years ago, Royal van Lent enjoys a leading market position. It designs and builds custom mega-yachts under the Feadship brand, one of the most exclusive and prestigious brands in the world for motor-yachts measuring over 50 meters.

The custom-built ultra-luxury mega-yacht sector offers strong global growth prospects. By targeting exclusively ultra-high net worth individuals, Royal van Lent offers an outstanding growth opportunity that is resistant to economic cycles. Since 2000, the worldwide order book for custom-built luxury yachts measuring over 50 meters has grown by more than 20% per annum.

Those luxury watch sell for an average 30 million euros ($44 million) each. (source)