Lets talk about Super Yachts

As a regular visitor of the annual Monaco Yacht show, I’m often amazed by some of the beautiful and innovative progressiveness by the industries top manufacturers and designers. The article by Mark Seal
in the October issue of Vanity Fair features an ode to Super Yachts entitled “ Too big to sail”. For decades dominated by the established ship building houses in Europe, the Noveau rich yacht owners of today are bridging the gap between yacht design and interior design by encouraging their Interior designers to design their personal yachts. These new developments have opened the floodgates for classically trained designers used to working on immovable objects to enter into previously uncharted waters (no pun intended) with more trendy yacht interiors.

As we witness the shift of global wealth from the West towards the east, the title of the “King of the seas” is now currently been juggled between Roman Abramovich and his fleet of Yachts including the 557 foot Eclipse and Terence Disdale designed Pelorus and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who has a 525 foot yacht.

 

Pelorus

Dubai

Perhaps the most ostentatious yacht terrorising the seas is A which designer Phillipe Starck describes as “...a monolith, an artefact from the future, a line in the sand that makes every boat that came before it obsolete.”  A is rumoured to be owned by Russian Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. A was reportedly named after Melnichenko’s wife Aleksandra and is complete with rotating beds, $40,000 crystal taps and a rumoured annual running cost of $20 Million.

Other unique yachts include the Jeff Koons World War 1 inspired “Guilty” for Greek magnate Dakis Joannou and the WHY Wally Hermés Yacht.

Guilty

WHY Wally-Hermès Yacht

For the sailing yacht enthusiast, look no further than the excellent Maltese Falcon built by Perini Navi and currently owned by Hedge-fund manager Elena Ambrosiadou. The Maltese Falcon is a sight to behold with its innovative DynaRig sail system and stunning interiors.  

Maltese Falcon

For most of us mere mortals owning a yacht is simply fantasy but like the Late John Lennon sang “ ...you may say I’m a dreamer / but I’m not the only one...”