Oh YEAH? I'll see your ten spot and RAISE you a ten spot!!

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

From the current issue of MAIB:

"Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought the 354' le Grand Bleu which has its own 72' sailboat on board, then he commissioned the 414' Octopus , planned to be the biggest yacht in the world. Octopus has a 59' speedboat, personal submarine, swimming pool, music studio, and a helicopter pad on the main aft deck which doubles as a basketball court.

While Octopus was under construction, Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp. chief, was building his own superboat, originally slated to be 393'. Learning of Octopus Mr. Ellison expanded the size of his boat to a 452' colossus called Rising Sun . Now a Saudi family is building an even larger ship called Platinum , expected to be about 525' long."

Well, my eleven foot skiff seems to be getting smaller and smaller... but my guess is that I'm a lot happier with a little than they are with a lot. smile.gif

[Pete Dorr]

I can't afford gas for the 59' "tender".

How many ports can these boats actualy visit - or is the standard mode to anchor offshore and ferry people & supplies back and forth.

[Concordia..41]

a helicopter pad on the main aft deck which doubles as a basketball court.
Another efficient use of space!!! :rolleyes:

[paladin]

and my Channel cutter could be used as a dink fer the kids.......

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Here are a couple more tidbits:

"...upkeep can cost millions of dollars a year... A new paint job alone can cost more than $100,000... Just filling the gas tank (of a 142' yacht) costs more than $12,000."

[skuthorp]

That's not a yacht, thats an EGO that floats!!

[uncas]

Heck, where in ***l does one " PARK " one of these things?

[gert]

any pics?

[mmd]

Octopus:

http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/november03/0803_Octopus.jpg

[Dave Fleming]

"rich boys and their toys"

Look on the bright side, those 'toys' keep a number of shipwrights, welders, shipfitters, outside machinists,painters, carpenters. cabinet makers, furniture makers, etc. working and feeding their families. Plus the full time crews.

[Meerkat]

Those are not yachts, they're independent floating mobile countries... think about it: who regulates them or what goes on on them in international waters?

[Oyvind Snibsoer]

Le Grande Bleu was laid up for the winter here in Bergen a few years back. Quite uncommon design actually, It looked more like a glorified offshore supply vessel than a mega yacht. Of course, it takes a fairly large aft deck to carry a 72' sailboat as your tender, although I estimated it to be only about 50' at the time. Fooled by the sheer scale of the thing, I suppose.

Quite a shippy design though, Le Grande Bleu looked far more purpose built for serious ocean cruising than most of its peers. Me, I'd settle for the tender tongue.gif

[StevenBauer]

Some other points from Bob's comentary in MAIB(Bob got this from a WSJ article):

There are more than two million millionaires in the US alone.

The average size of yachts was 80' to 110' in the 90's but is now well over 150'.

Dozens of boats longer than 200' are now under construction.

And the showing off with large parties offshore is seriously hindered by international maritime law prohibiting yacht owners from carrying more than 12 guests, excluding crew members, although some big boats can get permission for 36 guests.

There are 257 orders for starter yachts (80' - 100') scheduled for 2005, up from 139 in 2001, according to Showboats International magazine.

[L.W. Baxter]

Must be humiliating, having to settle for a "starter" yacht.

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Actually I find the whole thing sad. Bill Gates has all the toys too but spends billions on innoculating the third world countries against disease. What have these guys done to better mankind?