Superyachts

[Time Out]

Chase vessel.....

Actually, a chase boat is just that, a tender too large to stow on board.

A support vessel is what carries the toys and crew that don't need to be on board the mother ship all the time, google Damen Support Vessel to give you an idea.

Having a 50m yacht and 50m support vessel can actually make more sense than a 100m, all depending on the owner of course.

 

[Time Out]

Almost all superyachts are available for charter in between owners visits.
On the downside they have a negative effect on marinas. The money involved causes marinas to accommodate more and more (bigger and bigger) eventually this has an impact on small boats, as they are pushed out.
Then there is the wake which can often be dangerous.
But all in all I’m usually fascinated when I see one.
But please, no more hideous designs

Actually, that is not correct.

Taking the global fleet over 30m (sail and power) adds up to around 5,500 superyachts of which only 1100 ish are for charter.

 

[Daydream believer]

A 100 m long superyacht is hardly disappearing! If I wanted to get somewhere unnoticed, I'd chose something a bit smaller - my Catalac would do nicely, though perhaps a bit too distinctive. An AWB then. Or my private jet if I were in the superyacht income bracket

Perhaps my use of the word "disappear" was not quite right
If one is operating in a country with "difficult" political environment, or where hostilities might break out, That is where a few MAY have made money through somewhat devious means; then having a super yacht where one can move one's base anywhere at will ( visas accepted) can be a boon. Obviously the mega rich will have money salted away in various locations & homes in different countries. However, a "mobile" home can be a big advantage, I would suggest.
Imagine hostilities between the super powers in the Phillipinnes, Taiwan etc. Which could be a flash point. Would one want to be a in the USA, China, India, Japan, Australia, or that part of the world? There are an awful lot of billionaires based there.
I would Up sticks & head as far away as possible. Not sure where though-- Any ideas?
Where would we keep our super yacht?

 

[Wansworth]

Galicia……nothing ever happens here?

 

[Zing]

Actually, that is not correct.

Taking the global fleet over 30m (sail and power) adds up to around 5,500 superyachts of which only 1100 ish are for charter.

Where do you get your info from?

 

[LONG_KEELER]

But please, no more hideous designs

But how will they be noticed ?

 

[Time Out]

Where do you get your info from?

Several places, Boat Pro is one.

I’m also in the industry

 

[Bajansailor]

I would Up sticks & head as far away as possible. Not sure where though-- Any ideas?
Where would we keep our super yacht?

I remember seeing (on Marinetraffic) Rising Sun skulking in the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines for some time (at least a month or two?) in the early stages of the pandemic last year - I think her owner was hoping that it would all 'blow over' fairly quickly, but eventually he had to admit defeat.

Ship RISING SUN (Yacht) Registered in Cayman Is - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8982307, MMSI 319011000, Call Sign ZCII7

Rising Sun (yacht) - Wikipedia

No doubt it was very nice for her owner, as he could still work remotely with the satcom, but I felt rather sorry for the crew who were effectively imprisoned there, with no way of getting back home to their families.
Although there is the possibility that some of the crew also welcomed the isolation, as so much was not known about Corona then.

 

[Bouba]

I remember seeing (on Marinetraffic) Rising Sun skulking in the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines for some time (at least a month or two?) in the early stages of the pandemic last year - I think her owner was hoping that it would all 'blow over' fairly quickly, but eventually he had to admit defeat.

Ship RISING SUN (Yacht) Registered in Cayman Is - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8982307, MMSI 319011000, Call Sign ZCII7

Rising Sun (yacht) - Wikipedia

No doubt it was very nice for her owner, as he could still work remotely with the satcom, but I felt rather sorry for the crew who were effectively imprisoned there, with no way of getting back home to their families.
Although there is the possibility that some of the crew also welcomed the isolation, as so much was not known about Corona then.

At the beginning, anybody on a boat, be it lone yachtsman or cruise ship, was not allowed to leave their vessel

 

[mullet]

I remember Rising Sun being anchored off Antibes with U2 blasting out of the speakers on the aft deck, loud enough for the whole town to hear. I asked whoever I was with, “What kind of — plays U2 that loud?” Turns out it’s the sort of person who has U2 playing their music for him, on the aft deck of his boat.

 

[Zing]

I remember seeing (on Marinetraffic) Rising Sun skulking in the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines for some time (at least a month or two?) in the early stages of the pandemic last year - I think her owner was hoping that it would all 'blow over' fairly quickly, but eventually he had to admit defeat.

Ship RISING SUN (Yacht) Registered in Cayman Is - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8982307, MMSI 319011000, Call Sign ZCII7

Rising Sun (yacht) - Wikipedia

No doubt it was very nice for her owner, as he could still work remotely with the satcom, but I felt rather sorry for the crew who were effectively imprisoned there, with no way of getting back home to their families.
Although there is the possibility that some of the crew also welcomed the isolation, as so much was not known about Corona then.

Lots of people were trapped. It was an utter nightmare.

 

[LittleSister]

I know nothing about superyachts, but a former colleague's son was a crew member on a ludicrously rich American's big yacht. I got the impression that it involved an awful lot of hanging about, and not a little polishing.

The tale that sticks in my mind, though I've forgotten the exact details, was when they had taken the yacht down to the Carribean (or somewhere like that) so the owner could spend Christmas (I think it was) on it. He then decided he wanted to be on it in the South of France for Easter (or whatever).

They duly sailed it across the Atlantic to the Med and readied the boat for him. As the holiday approached he changed his mind, and decided not come to France after all. So they sailed it back across the Atlantic again to wherever he thought he wanted it next.

I guess it all makes work for the working man (and woman) to do!

 

[Bajansailor]

@LittleSister I think that a lot of super yachts are operated in the fashion as you described above.
Many years ago (1987) I was a member of a delivery crew of a lovely 98' Philip Rhodes designed motorsailer called Astral from Antigua to Newport Rhode Island via Bermuda.
Ship ASTRAL (Sailing Vessel) Registered in United Kingdom - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 0, MMSI 235105994, Call Sign 2HRG8

She was owned then by a very wealthy New Yorker. She had 6 permanent crew, and 2 extra hands were taken on for the delivery - no roller furling in those days, the headsails were hank on, and she needed 6 crew on deck to drop and tame the genoa.
The Captain told me how the previous summer they had taken Astral from Newport up the St Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes, so that the owner and his family could have a 2 week holiday on board - and then they had another very long passage back down the St Lawrence to Newport (as she was too big to go up the Hudson river at New York).
And the owner's family only spent a few weeks onboard during the summer of 1987 before she was sent back down south again for the winter.
I remember even 34 years ago, her monthly running costs were approx US$ 20,000 - and she did not do any charters.
Even our marina berth in Newport back then was US$180 a night.

Astral is now engaged in a very different life, rescuing migrants in the Med with these folk.
Virtual Tour

 

[Stemar]

Turns out it’s the sort of person who has U2 playing their music for him, on the aft deck of his boat.

Lots of people were trapped. It was an utter nightmare.

I feel their pain ?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Sailing away: superyacht industry booms during Covid pandemic