Awards & press
Judged by people who sail for a living.
Cruising World — Boat of the Year · 2024
Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50 ft
Winner — Vision 444
The Boat of the Year awards have been organised annually by Cruising World for 25 years, judged by an independent panel and recognising the best new production cruising boats and multihulls equipped for coastal and offshore voyaging. In 2024, 19 new sailboats from top builders around the globe competed. The Vision 444 won the Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50 feet category — the first time Vision Yachts has triumphed at the awards. The 2024 judging panel comprised systems expert Tim Murphy of the American Boat and Yacht Council, and previous Cruising World editors-in-chief Mark Pillsbury and Herb McCormick.
The Vision 444“Many of the big cruising cats that we step aboard are a compromise by design because some of the fleet will go to private owners and the rest into charter. The Vision 444 was different, and after a 14,000-mile shakedown cruise, it clearly reflected the thinking of its owner, who was aboard every step of the way. This is a pure cruising cat, and a fine one. I think it’s one of the only cats I can recall having a full and proper nav station. And the walk-in workshop forward in the starboard bow? Brilliant.”
“In a lot of cats these days, sailing is an afterthought, but on this boat it was all about the sailing.”
“Every now and then we get really lucky on these test sails and we get to sail with the owner. This was a case where the owner really revealed a lot about the boat. He obviously is a guy who loves his boat and the boat showed why.”
“The Vision 444 was the clear winner in the class.”
Cruising World — Boat of the Year · 2025
Best Cruising Catamaran Under 50 ft — Finalist
Finalist — Vision 444 ES
The Vision 444 ES, an evolution of the original 444 with extended scoops and enhanced performance, was a 2025 finalist in the same category the 444 won the year before.
The Vision 444 ES
In the press
What has been written about the yard.
“The state-of-the-art technologies that go into each Vision run a lot deeper than their stately head-turning, modern styling.”
“South Africa is a country where a number of globally successful shipbuilding businesses, including in the world of catamarans, have already been established for some time. Also located here is the Vision Yachts shipyard, specializing in multihulls, which produces the Vision 444, a modern cruising catamaran. At 13.5 metres long and 7.60 metres wide, the Vision is a cruiser that seeks to break the typical “villa on the sea” catamaran paradigm by mixing some design elements typically dedicated to comfort with others that take into account sailing characteristics.”
See for yourself