AD ASTRA

AD ASTRA is a recently launched sailing catamaran built around space, light and the sea itself. Her stern steps down to a beach club set just above the water, where swimmers slip in from a broad platform and the toys go out without fuss. Above it, the aft cockpit is the centre of daily life: a large dining table, cushioned sunbeds and several places to sit, so that lunch can drift into an afternoon of reading and talk. To either side, balconies fold down to open two terraces, adding room, breeze and a higher view over the bay.

Forward, a second cockpit has its own bar and a wide sunbed that lifts to reveal a Jacuzzi, a quiet place for a soak with nothing ahead but the horizon. The flybridge is a full open deck in its own right, with a long sofa curving round it, a bar and a plancha grill. This is where everyone gathers for dinners in the open air, for the last of the light and, later, for the stars. A bimini gives shade by day, and there is a BBQ, music through the stereo and a deck shower after a swim.

Indoors, the galley sits below, which leaves the saloon calm and uncluttered. Deep sofas line one side and free-standing chairs the other, each with a low table beside it, and windows running from floor to ceiling keep the water in view wherever you sit. There is a television and WiFi, board games for slower evenings, among them backgammon, chess and UNO, and connections for your own devices. Her Silent Night system lets her run with very little generator noise, so an evening at anchor and the first coffee of the morning keep their stillness, with only the water against the hulls.

For the water, she carries a Jet Ski, a SeaBob, adult water skis, a wakeboard and an adult monoski, along with a kayak, a paddleboard, snorkeling equipment, a fishing rod, an inflatable couch and an inflatable donut. A Highfield tender handles trips ashore, and a yoga mat, a dumbbell and gym bands are aboard for those who keep a routine. In Greek waters this makes for easy island-hopping: a morning under sail, a swim in a clear bay, an evening ashore. Her professional crew set the rhythm, from the table to the next anchorage, so the days are entirely yours.