ISA Yachts explained: what a 36 metre Italian build gives you

Most people chartering a yacht never ask who built it. That is fair enough, but the builder decides almost everything about how the day feels: how fast you get to the good water, how quiet it is at anchor, how much shade there is and how steady the deck stays when it gets choppy. This guide explains who ISA Yachts are, what makes a 36 metre Italian sports yacht different, and why the engineering matters to you as a guest. Plan B of Freedom Yacht is an ISA build, so she is the worked example throughout.

1. Who ISA Yachts are

ISA stands for International Shipyards Ancona. They build in Ancona, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, in a region that has produced serious yachts for a very long time. Italy is to yacht building roughly what Germany is to cars, and the Adriatic yards are at the centre of it.

ISA are known for fast, sharp looking motor yachts rather than slow floating apartments. That is a real distinction in this industry. Some yards build volume, meaning as much interior space as possible on a given length. Others build performance. ISA lean towards performance, and you feel it the moment the yacht opens up.

For a charter guest the practical takeaway is simple. An ISA hull is built to move properly, so the cruise between landmarks is part of the experience rather than dead time.

2. What a sports yacht means

You will see Plan B of Freedom described as a sports yacht. It is not marketing fluff, it is a category, and it sits between two other things.

A sports yacht at 36 metres is relatively rare. Most yachts that size are built for volume because volume is what sells. Building one that also does 33 knots takes a different hull, different engines and a lot more power.

3. Planing hulls against displacement hulls

This sounds technical. It is not, and it changes your day.

A displacement hull pushes through the water. It never rises. It is efficient, it is comfortable in a big sea, and it is slow. Think of a ship.

A planing hull is shaped so that above a certain speed it lifts and skims across the surface instead of ploughing through it. Less of the hull is in the water, so there is less drag, so it goes much faster. Think of a speedboat, scaled up enormously.

Plan B of Freedom is a planing mono hull. In practice that means the run out to the Burj Al Arab takes a fraction of the time it would on a displacement yacht of the same length. On a four hour charter that is a large chunk of your booking handed back to you as time at anchor rather than time in transit.

4. Waterjets against propellers

This is the detail that surprises people most. She has no propellers. She has three waterjets.

A waterjet sucks water in underneath the hull and fires it out of the back at high pressure. Steering works by pointing that jet rather than by turning a rudder. It is the same principle as a jet ski, scaled up to superyacht size.

Two of those rows matter to you directly. The shallow draught, which is just 1.3 metres on a 36 metre yacht, means she can anchor closer in than most yachts her size. And no exposed propellers is a meaningful safety point when you have people in the water off the back, which the swimming guide covers in more detail.

5. Why 33 knots is unusual at this size

Thirty three knots is about 61 kilometres per hour. On a 36 metre boat weighing what she weighs, that is a lot.

To get there she carries three MTU engines producing 7,200 horsepower in total. For comparison, a typical charter yacht of similar length cruises at 12 to 18 knots on far less power. She cruises at 27 knots, which is faster than many yachts her size can manage flat out.

6. The Vallicelli exterior

Her exterior lines are by Studio Vallicelli Design. Andrea Vallicelli is a well known Italian naval designer with a background in racing sailing yachts, and that shows in the shape of her.

You can see it from the dock. The profile is long and low with a raked bow rather than the tall boxy look of a volume motor yacht. There is a lot of glass along the side. The superstructure is set back rather than stacked up.

Design is subjective, but there is a practical consequence. A lower profile means lower wind resistance and a lower centre of gravity, which helps the ride. It also means the decks feel open rather than enclosed, which matters on a hot evening. Judge it yourself in the photographs.

7. What GRP means for you

Her hull and superstructure are GRP, which is glass reinforced plastic, usually called fibreglass. Larger yachts are often steel or aluminium instead.

GRP is lighter than steel, which is exactly what you want on a yacht meant to plane. It does not corrode in salt water the way steel can. It also insulates sound and heat slightly better, which you notice at anchor.

The trade off is that GRP is less suited to very large vessels and to ice. Neither is relevant in Dubai. For a fast 36 metre yacht in the Gulf it is the right material and a deliberate choice rather than a compromise.

8. The numbers, explained in plain English

9. Why a refit matters more than build year

She was launched in 2009 and fully refitted in 2025. People see the first number and worry. They should look at the second.

A hull is structural and a well built GRP hull lasts decades. What dates a yacht is everything else: the interior, the soft furnishings, the electronics, the air conditioning, the deck surfaces. A refit replaces those. A 2009 hull with a 2025 refit is, in every way a guest experiences, a current yacht.

This is standard practice at this level. Many of the most sought after charter yachts in the world are fifteen or twenty years old and have been refitted two or three times. Ask about the refit year, not just the build year, whichever yacht you are looking at.

10. What all of this means on a charter day

• You get there quickly. 27 knots cruising means less of your booking spent travelling.
• You can anchor closer in. A 1.3 metre draught opens up spots deeper yachts cannot reach.
• It is steadier in a chop. Size and hull shape together smooth out the short Gulf sea that bothers smaller boats.
• No exposed propellers. Better when guests are in the water.
• Precise handling. Waterjets make tight berthing and positioning for photographs straightforward.

None of this appears on a listing, and none of it is why people book. It is, though, why the day runs the way it does. For how that day is actually structured, read the main charter guide.

10b. How she compares with other charter yachts in Dubai

Most of the Dubai charter fleet falls into a few recognisable types. It helps to know where any yacht sits before you compare prices.

Plan B of Freedom is in the third row. That matters when you compare quotes, because a yacht in row two may be the same length and cost less per hour while delivering a noticeably different day. Speed, deck count and stability are what you are paying the difference for.

10c. What good maintenance looks like

You cannot inspect an engine room as a guest, but you can read the signs.

• Teak. Clean, even colour, no black seams lifting. Deck care is the clearest signal of how a boat is run.
• Stainless. Rails and fittings should be bright, not pitted. Salt is relentless and only constant work keeps it off.
• Cushions and upholstery. Sun destroys fabric. Faded, split covers tell you what the budget is.
• Smell below deck. A well run yacht smells of nothing.
• Crew presentation. Uniformed, calm crew usually means a managed boat.

Classification is the formal version of the same thing. She is classed with RINA, which means an independent body surveys her against a standard rather than the owner deciding what is good enough.

11. Quick answers

Is an older yacht a problem? Not if it has been maintained and refitted. Ask for the refit year.

Will we actually go 33 knots? Probably not for long. Captains cruise at a comfortable speed. The capability matters more than the number.

Are waterjets noisier? Different rather than louder. At anchor, with engines off, it makes no difference at all.

Does the size make it steadier? Yes, noticeably. A 36 metre hull handles Gulf chop far better than a 15 metre one.

Where was she built? Ancona, Italy, by ISA Yachts, with exterior design by Studio Vallicelli Design.

For how she carries a large group, see the guide to chartering for 30 guests, and for where she runs from, the Dubai Harbour guide.