Horizon Yachts

A Kaohsiung yard

Horizon Yacht was founded in Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, in 1987 by the naval architect John Lu with Gong Shan Chiai and Cheng Shun Hui. It started with a team of fewer than 30 people, building motor yachts under 50 feet for other companies to sell in the United States, Australia and Sweden. From 1989 it turned to selling yachts under its own name in Europe, Australia and Asia.

The yard today

Horizon now builds composite motor yachts of 60 to 150 feet, and by 2020 it had delivered more than 835 of them. In 2018 it was the tenth-largest yacht builder in the world by total length delivered. It is part of the Horizon Group, alongside the yards Atech Composites, Vision Yachts and Premier Yacht and the Horizon City Marina, and it is the only Far East member of SYBAss, the Superyacht Builders Association. Its larger builds include the 45-metre SunOne, launched in 2012 as Polaris.

QARA

QARA, chartering with SuperSailYachts, is a 25-metre Horizon 82 delivered in 2001 under the name Carol Ann. A refit in 2023 gave her new teak and holly floors, new fabrics and furnishings, a Waveless stabilisation system and Starlink internet. She is based in Tortola and charters in the British and US Virgin Islands.