Select runabouts and speedboats, between 24 and 42 feet, have emerged as boating’s latest crown jewels. They’re not retro replicas, but their subtle curves, tumblehome sterns, and wood accents retain clear connections to a century ago, when Gar Wood’s personal mahogany race boats set the standard for athleticism and style, and later, when Riva’s Aquarama became the tony transport for royalty and Hollywood glitterati visiting the French Riviera.
Today, custom projects like Alpha Z and Victoria Z embody that lineage. Designed by Michael J. Peters and built by Van Dam Custom Boats in Michigan, these bespoke vessels—created more than two decades apart—show the ways that mahogany runabouts can evolve with enhanced modern performance. Launched in September, the 35-foot Victoria Z exudes the warmth of wood while pairing twin Ford 427 engines (the same found in the owner’s Shelby Cobra sports car) with a stepped hull, which allows the craft to approach 100 mph. Surface drives are the boosters for these exceptional speeds, and Peters’s Stepped Vee Ventilated Tunnel (SVVT) aids with handling and tracking. The boat’s sophisticated shape includes compound curves and radii across the exterior, while the interior’s matched-grain woodwork would’ve been beyond the scope of all but the most artisanal boatyards. Peters calls the work an aquatic Fabergé egg.
Sweden-based J Craft takes a similar path, though it translates the jewel-box philosophy into fibreglass. Its 42-foot Torpedo RS is built with a more dramatic hourglass profile, enhanced by stylish stern winglets that deliver sharper turns and a drier ride in swells. “One of our American owners, a former fighter pilot, says it’s more manoeuvrable than any boat he’s ever owned, more like his F-15,” says Radenko Milakovic, owner of J Craft, about the recently delivered Amazon Queen. Every J Craft is constructed by hand over 12 to 15 months, representing more than 8,000 hours of labour by a small crew on the island of Gotland.
The fact that only 24 examples of the Torpedo exist—each with distinctive hull colours, fabrics, and leathers—explains the brand’s heirloom appeal. Beneath the timeless appearance, the J Craft can be navigated using a Garmin smartwatch, which also controls the radio, lighting, and chartplotter. Yet handmade mahogany trim, stylised gauges, and teak decking keep the boats pleasingly tactile, and the owner’s choice of Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana, and Fortuny materials dresses up the interiors, even as they integrate advanced technology.
Having started as a wooden boat builder in 1956, Italy’s Comitti yard on Lake Como migrated to modern composites in 2002 and now walks the line between classic looks and contemporary layouts. The Venezia 34 blends precision craftsmanship with updated functionality, retaining the brand’s DNA—defined by teak or mahogany trim and hand-built cabinetry— but offering more interior space than its previous iteration. Then there’s new Italian builder Nerea, which has given its NY series a more au courant presentation. Founder Dario Messina says the NY24 Deluxe, a compact dayboat with elegant curves, and the NY40 flagship, a more powerful midrange cruiser, share a design language rooted in Italian tradition but rendered with a minimalist hand.
Riva, of course, remains the reference point. The 27-foot Iseo Super can be seen as a modern interpretation of the Aquarama, with a slanting tumblehome, a sweeping sheerline, and striped mahogany decking that sports 24 coats of varnish. This latest model also moves Riva into a new era without losing the builder’s unmistakable identity—a drive forward also fuelled by the Iseo Super’s Volvo Penta propulsion system that allows it to reach 38 knots. “This project was even more demanding [than other Rivas] because this is a small boat,” says Giordano Pellacani, chief commercial officer of the Ferretti Group, Riva’s parent company. “It’s more difficult because you risk upsetting the overall balance and the perception of intrinsic quality.”
When it comes to how enduring this new class will be, Peters is pragmatic. “Simple curves, proportions, and how everything is put together will determine whether a boat has long-lasting appeal or is the style of the moment,” he says. “Of course, you have to match the design with the skill of the builders.” Regardless, this current fleet of modern heirlooms is sure to gleam on the water long after more tenuous trends have faded.