Musa

Thirty-six metres two with a champagne-gold hull. The colour is the first thing anybody says about her and it is worth being clear: gold is a decision that either works on a hull or does not, and on this profile, with this sheerline, it works.

She is driven by waterjets rather than propellers, which is the more interesting fact. Waterjet propulsion gives high speed, a shallow running draught and a different feel at the helm, and it is uncommon on a yacht of this length even now.

Nine guests across five cabins. Nine is odd and five cabins do not divide into it evenly, so one room either takes an extra berth or stays spare depending on how the group is made up. It suits a family, or four couples with one person travelling alone.

Five crew for nine guests. It is a working complement rather than a lavish one and it suits the type: a fast yacht is used differently from a displacement one, with more of the day spent moving and less of it spent being served at anchor.

The guest cabins run the full beam of the hull. That is unusual at thirty-six metres and it is the single best thing about the accommodation: a full-beam cabin has windows on both sides, natural light from two directions, and the whole width of the yacht between them.

The joinery is dark timber, which belongs to the period she was built in and has aged into something better than it was. Dark wood that has been maintained for twenty-five years has a depth that new wood does not, and it suits the gold hull rather than fighting it.

She dates from 1998 and AB Yachts have been building fast hulls in Italy for a long time. Twenty-five seasons on a yacht like this means everything about her is known, and a fast hull that has lasted this well has already proved the construction.

She works the western Mediterranean, which is the right ground for a fast yacht. Take her if the group is nine, the itinerary has movement in it, and arriving on something the colour of champagne is a feature rather than a problem.