“With no hesitation, my choice for the world’s coolest yacht is Vestas Sailrocket 2,” says Pascal Conq.

The designer behind two-times Vendée Globe winning IMOCA 60 PRB and the new electro green FC3 53 lightweight cruiser is famous for speed, though he admits: “Sometimes I like to sail slow, very slow, and try to stop everything from moving”.

Paul Larsen’s Vestas Sailrocket 2 is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating pieces of yacht design work ever created and set a new world speed sailing record of 65 knots in 2013.

It catapulted sailing into its very own jet age, and refined a concept yet to be bettered.

“I love this boat because her speed was so high that Paul Larsen could write it on the sand, beginning at the end, and because her ‘pulling down’ foil explored successfully the opposite force [to lift] by keeping a flying object in sufficient contact with the water to generate its speed.”

Make sure you check out our full list of Coolest Yachts.

Vestas Sailrocket 2 stats rating:

Top speed: 68 knots
LOA: 12.1m
Launched: 2011
Berths: 0
Price: Secret
Adrenalin factor: 100%

Pascal Conq

Designer Pascal Conq, 56, is head of design office Finot-Conq.

He is famous for IMOCA 60 designs spanning Vendée Globe winner Alain Gautier’s racer Générali-Concorde in 1989, Team Group 4 for Mike Golding in 1998, Hugo Boss for Alex Thomson in 2007 and two-times Vendée winner PRB for Michel Desjoyeaux then Vincent Riou.

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