CyberNotes: Largest, Most Extreme Yachts!

Million Dollar Monday

They appear to get bigger and bigger every year, and range in size from “just” a yacht to “gigayachts.” While they are getting bigger, they’re also becoming the next “must have” toy for the insanely wealthy people to own.  Of course the list of insanely wealthy people also increases every year which means that if you’re in the yacht business… it’s probably going pretty good right now!

Plans have been drawn up for what is being considered the most extreme Superyacht. Pictured above, here’s why it’s extreme. We’ll start with passenger load. According to Yachting Magazine, there are luxury staterooms for up to 28 guests.  Along with the guests, there’s room for 11 personal staff and a crew of 48.  You’re kidding me? Two crew members per one guest? Moving on…  There’s a hot tub, swimming pool, sun decks, a helicopter pad, and tenders stored in “garages” which are built into the side and main hulls of the vessel. While the inside sounds impressive, the outside looks equally as impressive. It can “sprint” across the seas at 50 knots, and casually cruise at 40 knots. Not too shabby.  And the price tag? Your guess is as good as mine.

According to Forbes, there are 6,000+ yachts which are over 80 feet in size that roam the seas. That number has doubled from just 10 years ago.  I can only imagine what it will be like in another 10 years…. I’m picturing traffic jams on the high seas! Besides all of the upscale amenities, they also come with some of the latest technology: conference calling, video conferencing, and email by way of high-speed data links. In the same article on Forbes, it mentions that the last expensive yacht on their list is 24 million while the most expensive was over 103 million!  All of the upkeep and maintenance is estimated at another 10% of the cost per year. I can only imagine having that kind of money…