MYS 2026: Tony Castro on Design, Performance and the Future of Yachting

SAMY, the 62-metre performance sloop. The Pelagic 77 Vinson of Antarctica, built for one of the harshest sailing environments on earth. A long-running collaboration with Galeon operating at an entirely different scale. On paper, Tony Castro's current portfolio reads like three unrelated design briefs — until he explains what actually ties them together.

"The boats are so different — so you do wonder if there's a common thing there... I guess the common thing is me!"

Underneath that answer sits a genuinely consistent approach — one built less around a signature look than around a set of questions Castro asks on every project, whatever its scale or environment.

Nowhere is that clearer than on SAMY, where the propulsion concept came before the yacht itself. Rather than starting with a layout and working backwards to a rig, Castro began by asking how the yacht should actually move through the water — and, before that, how its owner intended to use it.

"We ought to know what the intentions are of the owner... where does he go, what does he like to do... before we suggest a particular type of propulsion."

That thinking led him toward wind-assisted propulsion, an idea he frames with characteristic simplicity, though he's quick to note that harnessing it well is another matter entirely.

"The wind is free, so in principle this is a good idea."

The sail concept behind SAMY reflects that complexity. Castro describes designing rigging that all but vanishes when not in use: "I'm trying to create a type of sail that disappears... These sails will be telescopic."

For Castro, the throughline isn't a hull shape or a signature silhouette. It's a habit of starting every project by asking not what a yacht should look like, but how it should move — and letting everything else follow from there.