MCY 105

How the MCY 105 became the brand's flagship

Monte Carlo Yachts unveiled the 105 to coincide with its own fifth anniversary, five years on from the 2010 debut of the MCY 76 that had started the range. The first hull, named G, went to an owner in Hong Kong; period coverage from Motor Boat and Yachting and Boat International, both present at the Venice launch, described a formal night ceremony at the historic Arsenale shipyard rather than a boat-show stand reveal. Monte Carlo Yachts president Carla Demaria called it "just one milestone, the first, of a new era for Monte Carlo Yachts" at the event, framing the 105 explicitly as a step up in ambition rather than simply the next model in a numbered sequence.

That step up in size mattered because it was also a step up in category. The 105 grew the range six metres past its previous flagship, the MCY 86, and pushed Monte Carlo Yachts for the first time into the size bracket where brokers and class societies start using the word superyacht rather than motor yacht. Brokerage listings and the model's own build-year records put her production run at 2015 through 2025, with roughly ten hulls built across that decade. As of the yard's live 2026 model lineup, the 105 still sits at the top of the MCY Collection alongside the 66, 70, 76, 80, 86 and 96, though Monte Carlo Yachts has since begun previewing a newer MCY 105 Skylounge variant alongside her.

Design and construction: one studio, aerospace-style build

Monte Carlo Yachts' own technical specification and the Boat International superyacht directory both credit Nuvolari Lenard for the 105's full exterior and interior design, with Monte Carlo Yachts itself listed as the in-house naval architect and engineer. A Yacht Style feature on the model, republished by Luxuo, reported that the interior on the launch hull ran through a roster of European decorative houses, including Hermes, Poltrona Frau, Armani Casa, Rubelli and Pierre Frey, on a build that let the Hong Kong owner shape much of the detailing directly with the design studio. That single-outlet account of the specific brands used should be read as a description of one owner's choices rather than a fixed standard specification, since Monte Carlo Yachts customises interiors hull by hull.

The construction method is where the 105 breaks most clearly from a traditional Italian flybridge yacht. Modular, pre-outfitted sections, resin infusion, and Kevlar and carbon fibre in the superstructure cut the man-hours needed to build a hull of this size from roughly 100,000 down to about 40,000, according to the Yacht Style account of the build, and shortened Monte Carlo Yachts' typical build schedule toward six months on later hulls, against a more usual one to three years for a yacht this size. The same report claimed a hull roughly 15 percent lighter than a comparable traditionally built motor yacht. Both figures come from a single outlet's reporting on the builder's own claims rather than an independent audit, so they are best read as the yard's stated engineering target rather than a verified, hull-by-hull measurement.

A five-year-old Beneteau spin-off built the yacht that finally made Monte Carlo Yachts look like a superyacht yard.

Power, speed and how she rides

Monte Carlo Yachts' published technical sheet and the yacht's listing on the itBoat and YachtBuyer databases agree on the engine options: standard 2x MTU 16V 2000 M86 units at 2,200 hp each, or an optional 2x MTU 16V 2000 M96 (or M93, depending on the source) at 2,400 hp each, driving V-drive gearboxes mounted aft to keep the engine room out of the accommodation spaces forward. Power and Motoryacht's European editor Alan Harper sea-trialled a test hull with the optional 2,400 hp engines off Cannes, in a 2 to 3 foot chop, and recorded a two-way average of 26.1 knots at 2,460 rpm, burning 240.4 gallons per hour at that setting, a shade under the yard's own top-end claim for that engine option but still, in his words, "pretty impressive for a vessel of this size." He noted the 16-degree deadrise hull and forward-carried beam made short work of the chop on the day.

That same sea trial surfaced two real problems worth weighing against the launch-week praise. A steering fault developed during testing and curtailed how much performance running Harper could complete, so the top-speed figures on record come from the yard's own claims and a partial test rather than a full, completed sea trial. He also flagged the cockpit hot tub's position as a poor use of space he felt belonged on the flybridge or foredeck instead, and called out a heavy teak-laid anchor winch hatch on the foredeck as a barefoot safety concern despite the yard's intent for exactly the opposite. Fuel and water capacity are modest for the size of yacht: 12,000 litres (3,170 US gallons) of fuel and 2,000 litres (528 US gallons) of fresh water, figures consistent across both the builder's own spec sheet and the itBoat listing.

Living aboard: layout, cabins and the flybridge

The owner's suite sits on the main deck rather than below, full beam, with floor-to-ceiling windows and roughly 484 square feet of space according to the Yacht Style feature on the launch hull, a layout choice that trades some deck-level cockpit space for a level of natural light and headroom unusual on a yacht this size. Monte Carlo Yachts offers the lower deck in either a four-cabin configuration or a five-cabin version with the VIP cabin positioned aft or forward, per the builder's own published layout drawings, with guest capacity listed at eight in the four-cabin option or up to ten in the five-cabin version. The Boat International superyacht directory lists a standard crew of five in dedicated crew quarters aft and below, separate from the guest accommodation.

Outdoors, the flybridge is one of the largest in its class, with dedicated dining and lounge zones, an open-air galley station, and helm seating under a hardtop, laid out for entertaining rather than just navigation. The forward Portuguese deck and bow lounge give a second usable outdoor area distinct from the aft cockpit, which itself carries a hydraulic bathing platform Power and Motoryacht rated capable of lifting a roughly 2,600 pound tender clear of the water. Monte Carlo Yachts describes this combination, mega-yacht scaled outdoor spaces on a semi-custom production hull, as the defining trait of its design language, and an optional set of balconies off the saloon, a feature more associated with far larger yachts, was available on the 105, though Harper's review called the option complicated and expensive rather than a straightforward add-on.

Awards, price, and where she sits in the range today

At the 2017 World Superyacht Awards in Florence, an MCY 105 named Botti won the Semi-Displacement or Planing Motor Yachts category for boats between 30 and 33.9 metres, beating three sister MCY 105s and several rival yachts that were also shortlisted that year, according to reporting from Charterworld and the builder's own event recap. "We couldn't be happier to win this award as we faced some stiff competition in the category," president Carla Demaria said afterward. The model also picked up Robb Report's Best of the Best award in both 2016, in the Wings and Water category for 100 to 195 foot yachts, and again in 2017, alongside a Golden A' Design Award and a Yacht and Aviation Award for interior design in 2016, and a Most Innovative Yacht trophy at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2015, the same show season she launched. Reviewers were equally positive at launch: Motor Boat and Yachting called her "a marvellous achievement, fully deserving of its spectacular launch," and Boat International described her as "certainly one of the most striking designs to emerge from an Italian yard for some time."

None of that industry recognition comes with a published price. Monte Carlo Yachts has never confirmed what a new MCY 105 costs, and the only public figure on record is Power and Motoryacht's 2016 press estimate of 10 to 12 million US dollars for a built boat, a number that came from the outlet's own reporting rather than a yard price list. On the brokerage market, hulls built between roughly 2018 and 2022 have since listed at around 6.5 to 7.4 million euros through firms including SI Yachts, with listings on YachtWorld and YachtBuyer confirming a similar range. The model has now been in production for a decade, longer than most flybridge motor yachts stay in a builder's active range without a refresh, and Monte Carlo Yachts is already showing a newer MCY 105 Skylounge variant alongside her, a strong signal that this decade-old flagship's run at the top of the range is closer to its end than its beginning.

Design

Pour qui: An owner who wants genuine superyacht-scale spaces, a full-beam owner's suite, a large flybridge built for entertaining, without stepping into full-custom pricing or a multi-year custom build.

Prix indicatif: Monte Carlo Yachts has never published a new-build price for the MCY 105. Power and Motoryacht estimated USD 10-12 million at launch in 2016; that is a press estimate, not a yard figure. Used hulls from roughly 2018-2022 have since listed on the brokerage market at approximately EUR 6.5-7.4 million (SI Yachts; corroborated by YachtWorld and YachtBuyer listings).