Vava II is a 96m motor yacht delivered in 2012 by Devonport Yachts in Plymouth, England. She was, at the time of delivery, the largest yacht built in Britain in modern history, and she remains one of the most distinct large yachts afloat: British in build, restrained in design, privately owned, and, unlike the bulk of her LOA peers, not on a standing charter programme. She is the kind of yacht the larger broker houses mention in passing when listing the 90m+ field and then move past, because she does not generate weekly inventory.
This profile covers what she is, the unusual yard story behind her, what we would change if she did appear on charter, and the four things to verify before any enquiry on the small chance she comes available.
What Vava II is
Vava II is steel-hulled, aluminium superstructure, with an LOA of 96.55m, beam of 14.50m, and draft of 4.00m at half-load. Gross tonnage is approximately 3,600 GT. Range is in the 6,000 nautical mile region at 12 knots, and she has the at-anchor and underway stabilisation systems characteristic of modern 90m+ builds.
Naval architecture and exterior design are by Redman Whiteley Dixon, the British studio that worked on the original 47m Vava (a smaller predecessor) and continued the relationship into this larger build. The interior was also led by Redman Whiteley Dixon. The aesthetic is calm: light wood, neutral fabrics, restrained metalwork. She does not carry the marble-and-onyx language that defines a lot of the Lürssen and Oceanco contemporaries, and she does not photograph as dramatically as a result. That has worked against her press profile and probably contributed to her lower public visibility relative to other 90m+ builds.
Guest capacity is 14 across 7 cabins, including a beam-wide owner's deck. Crew complement is approximately 30. She has a touch-and-go-rated helideck, a beach club, an at-anchor stabiliser package, a tender garage configured for two limousine tenders and a complement of jet skis and water toys, and a swimming pool on the upper deck.
She is registered in. The owner is, and ownership is not publicly displayed.
The Devonport story
Devonport Yachts is the part of this profile most charter clients have never heard of. The Devonport site, in Plymouth on the south coast of England, is one of the historical naval shipyards in the United Kingdom, with a build history that includes Royal Navy frigates, refits of nuclear submarines, and decades of commercial naval work. The yacht subsidiary was a relatively small line within a much larger commercial operation. It built the original Vava (47m, delivered 2002), then a series of smaller projects, and culminated with Vava II as the largest delivery.
Shortly after Vava II was delivered, the yacht line wound down. The parent operation refocused on naval and submarine work, where Devonport's commercial position was much stronger. Vava II is, depending on how one counts, either the last or one of the last yachts built at Devonport. That makes her a single-build sample in a sample size that may never grow.
For a charter client, this matters in two practical ways. The first is parts and service. A yacht built at a yard that no longer builds yachts has a longer parts-sourcing tail. The original technical files exist, and the major systems are commercial off-the-shelf items from the standard suppliers (MTU engines, the standard generator and HVAC suppliers), so this is not a serious issue, but it is a non-zero one. The second is yard provenance as a marketing handle. Vava II does not benefit from the "Lürssen build quality" or "Feadship pedigree" marketing shorthand that her LOA peers can lean on. She is judged on her own.
What needs work
If Vava II were placed on a standing charter programme tomorrow, the first thing we would change is the photography. The existing public images of Vava II are, by 90m-plus standards, conservative. The yacht is photogenic in a quieter way than her contemporaries, and the photography that exists tends to undersell her interior volume and the upper-deck pool deck. A charter campaign would benefit from a fresh shoot that handled the interior the way the build deserves.
The second thing we would change is the helicopter packaging. The helideck is touch-and-go rated, not certified for permanent helicopter parking. That is a meaningful constraint at her LOA, where a number of charter clients will assume permanent-park capability. It does not reduce her value, but it should be communicated up front, not buried.
The third thing we would change is the at-anchor stabiliser communication. The at-anchor stabilisers on Vava II are good but not best in market for the 2012 build year, and they have been. A charter brief should be specific about what the at-anchor performance actually delivers in the typical Western Mediterranean anchorage swell, because the gap between "has at-anchor stabilisers" and "comfortable in 1m beam swell" is wider than the brochure language suggests.
The fourth thing we would change is the route language. Vava II is built for cruising, not for sitting in Monaco for six weeks. Her range and her flag set make her well suited to a 14-day Western-Med-to-Adriatic week, a Caribbean transition, or a longer expedition charter. The standard 7-day Capri-Sardinia loop is below her capability and below the use-case she was built for.
What we said no to
We would pass on the assumption that Vava II is available. She is not, in the sense that matters. The most-current public position is that her owner uses her, that informal release windows have happened, and that charter inventory is not a thing that exists for her in the way it exists for the equivalent Lürssen or Oceanco. A charter client who wants a 96m Med week in August has many better-supported options.
We would pass on Vava II for the standard "client wants to be photographed at the Eden Roc dock" charter. Vava II does not photograph the way the contemporary Italian and Dutch builds photograph, and the clients who book a 90m yacht for its visibility usually want that visibility. Vava II's signal is quieter.
We would pass on the assumption that the British heritage is a premium attribute. It is a real attribute and we like it, but in the contemporary charter market it does not move the rate the way "Feadship" or "Lürssen" moves the rate. The reason is partly the closed yard and partly the comparative obscurity of the design studio outside specialist circles. A charter brief that leans hard on the British provenance will not convert at the rate the brief assumes.
Charter availability and what to verify
If Vava II appears on a charter release, verify: the owner's actual willingness to charter for the specific window (informal release windows in the past have sometimes been retracted), the central agent of record for that window, the all-in budget including APA at 30 to 35 percent and crew gratuity at 10 to 15 percent, the toy package and the tender complement (which has changed across deployments), the helicopter operating envelope (touch-and-go only, fuel constraints), and the cruising area cleared by the owner.
If those items are not in the broker's first response, the release is not ready and we would treat it as unavailable.
Spec at a glance
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Builder | Devonport Yachts |
| Year delivered | 2012 |
| LOA | 96.55m |
| Beam | 14.50m |
| Draft | 4.00m at half-load |
| GT | approximately 3,600 |
| Range | approximately 6,000 nm at 12 knots |
| Guests | 14 across 7 cabins |
| Crew | approximately 30 |
| Helideck | touch-and-go rated |
| Tender garage | 2 limousine tenders, jet skis, water toys |
| At-anchor stabilisers | yes |
| Underway stabilisers | yes |
| Pool | upper-deck pool |
| Naval architecture | Redman Whiteley Dixon |
| Exterior design | Redman Whiteley Dixon |
| Interior design | Redman Whiteley Dixon |
| Flag | |
| Refit |
Where Vava II sits in the field
The 90m to 100m sector is dominated by Lürssen, Feadship, and Oceanco, with Benetti, CRN, and Amels in the supporting cast. Vava II is the British outlier. The yachts she is most often compared to in technical conversation are the Feadship 90m-plus deliveries from the same era and the smaller end of Lürssen's portfolio.
In charter inventory terms she is not in the conversation, because she is not on the central-agent boards. In owner-circle terms she is well regarded. The build quality, by all accounts that we can verify, is high. The interior is calm. The yard heritage is interesting. The fact that she does not charter is, in the ecosystem we cover, the central fact about her.
The bottom line
Vava II is the British 96m the rest of the segment would rather not talk about, partly because she is good, partly because the closed yard means she is a hard one to slot into the standard taxonomy. For a charter client, her relevance is mostly negative: she is a name that comes up in 90m-plus conversations and almost always disappoints when run to ground for an actual booking, because she is not on the market.
If you want what Vava II represents at a yacht size that actually charters, see Lana, Anna, Luminosity, and Symphony in the same LOA range. For the broader 90m-plus charter shortlist, see our Mediterranean charter best-of. For destination context on Monaco, see the Monaco hotel guide on hotelsforkings.com and our French Riviera charter pillar.
FAQ
Is Vava II currently for charter? No standing programme. Informal release windows have been reported through narrow broker channels. Verify with a major central agent before assuming any availability.
Who owns Vava II?. The ownership is not publicly displayed.
Why is the build yard closed? Devonport Yachts wound down its yacht-build operation shortly after Vava II's delivery. The parent group, Babcock International, refocused on naval and submarine work. Vava II is the last large yacht in the line.
What is her cruising signature? Long-range, restrained, British. She is suited to a 14-day Western Med to Adriatic week or a Caribbean season more than to a Capri-anchored short week. Her range and her at-anchor systems back the longer use case.
Is the Devonport build quality comparable to Lürssen or Feadship? By the technical documentation that exists publicly, the build is high quality. The marketing shorthand that "Lürssen" and "Feadship" provide is not available to Devonport because the yard does not produce comparable annual output. That is a brand fact, not a build-quality fact.