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Already some mega-yachts won’t fit into the harbor at Monaco. How long until a yacht cannot fit through the Suez Canal?
Destroyer-Sized Yacht Too Small for Billionaire’s Egos? The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, world’s largest, starts Thursday in Florida. On display will be a couple billion dollars’ worth of yachts, luxury yachts and megayachts, seagoing excess being the latest boom industry in a world where far too many are impoverished yet an ever-larger number have more money than they know what to do with. According to Power & Motoryacht magazine, two decades ago, Americans owned five yachts that exceeded about 150 feet (about 46 meters) in length; today, there are at least 100 such megaboats. It’s believed that two decades ago, there were at most a few dozen 150-foot-plus yachts worldwide; now, there are believed to be as many as 1,000. As recently as a decade ago, the 100-meter (328-foot) yacht was the status max. Now, Blohm & Voss builds a 345-foot megayacht too large to enter Monaco harbor, offers a 417-foot yacht and is said to be working on a 525-foot yacht for Russian plutocrat Roman Abramovich, the same man who is having an entire Airbus A380 converted to his private use. A 525-foot yacht would be longer than an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer.Â
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Power & Motoryacht says the world’s largest private yacht not owned by a Saudi prince is the Rising Sun, owned by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a 452-foot megaboat with a price tag around $200 million. When the Rising Sun is anchored at night, it bathes itself in green light — just in case you didn’t get the money-boasting point! Many of the megayachts are registered in George Town, Cayman Islands, so the superrich owners can evade paying employers’ Social Security taxes on the crew. And if your 345-foot megayacht can’t enter Monaco harbor, how will you get to Bianca’s party? John Tagliabue recently reported in The New York Times that the superrich are adding helicopters to their yachts. English luxury boat builder Edmiston has been showing designs for a 200-foot yacht with a landing pad for a $2 million Eurocopter. Want to buy American? Check out the 50-meter superyacht built by Westport of Seattle, which costs about $30 million to acquire and several million annually to operate. The Westport 164 has six staterooms but only one lifeboat — maybe when they abandon ship, highest net worth gets the lifeboat.
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The “Buy American” mega-yacht. Note: Henchmen and Ursula Andress optional.
Own a megaboat? Then you should join the International Superyacht Society; member benefits include discounted tickets to the annual gala. Want to join the yacht revolution but can afford only millionaire, not billionaire, prices? Just as fractional ownership has come to private jets and vacation villas, so it now comes to seagoing excess. SeaNet is selling fractional shares of large yachts on a turnkey basis — the key is turned over to you with the boat ready to set sail. For $582,150, you get a quarter share of a 66-foot Manhattan yacht. And why not drive to your fractional yacht in a fractional exotic car? This company sells time-share rights to Rolls-Royces, Ford GTs (that would be TMQ’s choice) and other zoomy supercars that will reduce your odds of Darwinian fitness (see last week’s column).
DFW Elite Car Club is that company if you live near Dallas Fort Worth. Visit them at www.dfwelitecarclub.com.