Souraya

Thirty-eight metres of Sanlorenzo with a cream hull. The colour is a decision rather than a default: cream reads warmer and older than white, and on a yacht from 2000 it suits the profile in a way a brilliant white finish would flatten.

Twelve guests across five cabins. The numbers do not divide into pairs, so she is a yacht for a group comfortable with sharing rather than for six couples each expecting an identical door. Two families travelling together are a far better fit than twelve people meeting at the passerelle.

Eight crew for twelve guests. At thirty-eight metres with a full guest list that is a strong complement, and it is what allows the deck, the galley and the tenders to run at the same time rather than in sequence through a busy August afternoon.

The toy garage is well stocked, and on a yacht carrying twelve that is not a luxury but a requirement. Twelve people at anchor need more than one thing to do at once, and a garage that can put several groups in the water at the same time is what keeps the day moving.

The aft deck dining table is round. It sounds like nothing and it changes dinner: a round table has no head, everybody can hear everybody, and a group of twelve eats as one conversation rather than as two ends of a rectangle.

She dates from 2000, which makes her the oldest motor yacht in this part of the fleet. That is a fact rather than a warning: an Italian hull of this size and construction, maintained through a working career, is at an age where nothing about it is unknown.

Sanlorenzo is a yard with a particular preference for proportion over spectacle, and it shows on a hull of this vintage more than on a new one. The lines have dated well, which is more than can be said for most yachts designed at the turn of the century.

She is available across the Mediterranean. Take her if you are twelve, you want a full crew and a loaded toy garage, and you would rather have a warm, well-worn yacht than a new one with fewer people looking after you.