The economic uncertainty and stagnation plaguing the major economies of the world has had practically no effect on the yacht industry, particularly the high end superyacht segment. No wonder, a total of 262 super yachts worth US $3.5 billion were sold across the world last year. One of the stunning vessels with breathtaking design and cutting edge technology cost as much as $300 million. Earlier this month Istanbul hosted the World Superyacht Awards which is considered the Oscars of the luxury boating scene. The prestigious awards judge both motor and sail yachts in various categories. Superyacht owners and experts from the industry form the panel of judges. Çırağan Palace Kempinski hotel was the venue of the grand awards event where each winner was given a King Neptune statuette, custom-made by Baccarat. We have brought together the major award winning vessels here for you.
Motor Yacht of the Year &
DISPLACEMENT MOTOR YACHT OF 1,300GT TO 2,999GT
M/Y Tango:
Made by Feadship, the structural and naval architecture has been provided by De Voogt NA. Eidsgaard Design was responsible for both exterior styling and interior design. It was considered the most comprehensive superyacht as it has an elegant appearance combined with premier engineering and construction. The layout and the interiors are one of the most distinguished and comfortable. Its four powerful engines manage to achieve top speeds of 21 knots. A full-beam main lounge, a sun deck with Jacuzzi, a spa deck complete with gym, massage salon and contra-flow pool are some of the highlights of the Tango. It also boasts of a 30 feet tender built by EYOS Tenders, Compass Tenders and Edmiston.
DISPLACEMENT MOTOR YACHT 3000GT AND ABOVE
M/Y Serene:
Serene is listed as the ninth largest yacht in the world and was the only entry in this category this year. Yuri Scheffler, CEO of Moscow-based firm, Soyuzplodimport currently owns the $330 million superyacht. The seven deck yacht with 48,439 sq. feet of covered space is considered one of the most technically advanced superyachts ever constructed. Built by Fincantieri Yachts, the exterior styling has been done by Espen Øino International and the interiors have been done by Reymond Langton Design. Two helicopter landing pads and a saltwater pool are some of the highlights of Serene.
JUDGES’ SPECIAL AWARD – INTERIOR DESIGN WITH THE WIDEST APPEAL
M/Y Numptia:
The interiors of the yacht have been done by Salvagni Architects. Interior walls, ceilings and floors of Numptia are adorned with gently curved whitewashed teak. Hand-woven oriental carpets and architect-designed exterior furnishings are not only unique but very appealing. Spa deck, complete with sauna, Turkish bath, gym, massage area and hair salon is the most popular with the guests. Glass elevator, custom made swimming pool and the helicopter pad are the other highlights of the most elegant yacht.
DISPLACEMENT MOTOR YACHT OF 500GT TO 1,299GT
M/Y Kaiser:
The yacht with an all-steel hull has an aluminum superstructure. Kaiser is a great example of German engineering. Built by Abeking & Rasmussen the interiors have been designed by Bannenberg & Rowell Design. The interiors possess a very Germanic combination of timbers, metal inlay panels, detailed marquetry and tile. The 60 meter yacht achieves a top speed of 16 knots.
DISPLACEMENT MOTOR YACHT OF BELOW 500GT
M/Y Helix:
The four deck yacht is not even one year old. It belongs to the F45 Vantage custom yacht series being made by Feadship. One thing unique about the yacht is that it has the master and guest cabins on the main deck which allows every room excellent views. The interiors which are nautically themed have been done by Sinot Design.
THREE DECK SEMI-DISPLACEMENT OR PLANING MOTOR YACHTS
M/Y Satori:
Satori has been built to very high standards in all areas. It is very stylish and fit in very well in a James bond movie. Exotic materials like chiseled glass, palladium leaf ceilings and LED-backlit onyx surfaces have been used liberally and give the yacht a sophisticated look. It is one of the fastest yacht in its size and category. It has been built by Heesen Yachts.
TWO DECK & OPEN SEMI-DISPLACEMENT OR PLANING MOTOR YACHTS
M/Y Shooting Star:
The panel of judges believed that the Shooting Star is a well rounded performance yacht with an attractive interior and high quality construction. The carbon fiber hull makes the yacht very light and its two powerful jet drives make it the fastest in its class. Made by Danish Yachts the Scandinavian styling is evident throughout. The yacht has a 11.5 feet Williams Jet Tender to reaffirm the name Shooting Star.
RAISED PILOTHOUSE SEMI-DISPLACEMENT OR PLANING MOTOR YACHTS
M/Y Aurelia:
Aurelia’s design and color scheme seems to be inspired by automobile racing. Bannenberg & Rowell have persisted with the theme. Gulf Oil company’s racing team colors bright orange and blue have been painted on the exterior. The guest cabins are inspired by race car designers Ugo Zagato (Aston Martin green), Nuccio Bertone (Lamborghini orange) and Battista “Pinin” Farina (Ferrari red). The yacht capable of a top speed of 30 knots has been built by Heesen Yachts.
SAILING YACHT OF THE YEAR &
SAILING YACHT IN 40M+ SIZE RANGE
S/Y Vertigo:
The sailing yacht scored because of its stylish exterior lines and high quality construction. The award winning yacht provides the optimum balance between performance sailing and world cruising. The ketch-rigged aluminum alloy fly bridge super yacht has been designed for extended cruising. Oak, walnut, stainless steel and leather have been used extensively to give it a modern and contemporary interior including a high tech classroom. It took seven years and 800,000 man hours for Alloy Yacht to build this vessel.
JUDGES’ SPECIAL AWARD – A NOTABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT OF SAILING SUPERYACHTS
S/Y Hetairos:
The over 60 meters ketch rigged yacht has been built by Baltic Yachts. The interior design of Hetairos has been inspired by the colonial-style Raffles Hotel in Singapore. This super light yacht has been made from prepreg carbon skins over a Corecell and Nomex core. Even in interiors the lightest possible materials like hardwood veneers layers atop carbon foam/fiber and honeycomb cores have been used.
Owning a yacht definitely adds a new dimension to your lifestyle. New entrants to the millionaire’s club want to acquire a luxury yacht to announce to their peers that they have arrived. The boat shows attracts millionaires and billionaires in large numbers looking for the ideal super yacht. However even if you don’t own a luxury yacht you need not despair as some of the finest vessels are available for charter rental. Just sometime back we had talked about the Super yacht Adastra and its high tech features. We now have another super yacht called Mabrouk available for charter rental this season.
The 38 meter long yacht has a minimalistic design with straight lines. The interiors are luxuriously done with the best of materials. Color has been used intelligently to infuse life in the interiors. Milan-based Porfiri Studio has designed the interiors of the yacht. The main deck has a bright and spacious room. The lounge like space boasts of Zebrano wood floors and wall paneling. The classy space features Two long, sumptuous sofas and a set of Tulip chairs. The aft deck has a central table placed perpendicular to the beam of the yacht. People sitting around the table have the most wonderful vista views.
The main deck has been divided into several smaller segments to provide dedicated areas for different activities. A silver leaf divider has been used to create the dining area. The main table is made of glass and together with fresh green leather chairs it makes a great impact. The master suite is also on the main deck. As one can expect from a yacht of this class the suite locate in the fore is the most luxurious space on the yacht and features white padded leather wall, the Zebrano paneling, the sumptuous gold leaf ceiling and much more. The master bath attached to the suite is equally lavish and spacious. The stunning bath complements the suite perfectly.
The guest accommodations have been created on the lower deck. There are four cabins that can provide luxurious accommodation to a total of ten guests. The yacht has ample space even if you have a large family. The guest rooms also do not compromise on the luxury quotient and are up to mark when compared to the master suite. The state rooms with two king sized and two double beds boast of spacious bathrooms with modern fittings and fixtures.
Ryan Seacrest the American Idol host very recently revealed that he and his girlfriend Julianne Hough, who has been dating Ryan since 2010 are living together. He was a guest on the Howard Stern Show. The 37 year popular TV personality must be really serious about his girlfriend as he has bought her a new pad for a cool $49 million. It is no simple home but a Beverly Hills estate, formerly owned by another popular TV personality Ellen DeGeneres. TMZ reported the details about the property. It is a 2.87 acres palatial grounds with the main house built on 9,200 square foot. The estate boasts of three guest homes and several sprawling wildlife ponds.
Ryan’s net worth is estimated at around $125 million and he is believed to earn about $45 million a year. He had been trying to sell his Hollywood Hills West estate since 2010 for $15 million. According to Los Angeles Times he managed to sell it finally last month for $12 million. His girl friend who featured in the show Dancing With The Stars would love the space the estate provides and can revisit her dancing routine. Ellen DeGeneres who has married Portia de Rossi have moved to a luxurious Malibu beachfront pad which earlier belonged to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Manhattan seems be relatively unaffected by the downturn in the real estate market. The luxury real estate seems to be flourishing in the area. The buildings that provide views of the Central Park command high prices and find buyers with deep pockets with relative ease. There is news of a big ticket transaction in Manhattan’s expensive Central Park South. Casino mogul Steve Wynn has added a new property to his large portfolio and instead of his favorite Las Vegas strip he has opted for Manhattan this time. The 70 year old billionaire who has been declared legally blind shelled out $70 million for a duplex apartment on the Central Park South.
It is not clear how he will enjoy it but the apartment affords some incredible views of the Central Park. The duplex apartment in the Ritz Carlton Hotel occupies two floors and is located on the 30th and the 31st floor of the building. The apartment is spread over a total area of 10,882 square feet. It was originally built as the hotel’s grand ballroom but was converted into a private residence that the billionaire plans to move into with his new wife who is much younger to him. He married Andrea Hissom, who is in her forties, last year in April in one of his casinos.
Over forty years after man landed on the moon the status of the space program is rather disappointing to say the least. Most of us can’t really do anything about it but an anonymous electrical and systems engineer going only by the moniker BTE-Dan seems to have done a lot of brainstorming on the matter and posted very elaborate plans for a full-scale, functioning Starship Enterprise. He has even provided a timeframe of twenty years in which his plans can be turned into reality. His projections are backed by detailed specifications, costs, mission plan and funding strategies. Dan disapproves of the International Space Station for its lack of gravity and cramped quarters. In his assessment the money could have been used more innovatively with much better results. In his opinion it is quite possible to build a full scale USS Enterprise that could function as a spaceship, a space station and a spaceport and accommodate up to a thousand people at a time.
Dan believes that the ship configuration of Enterprise in the movie and the TV series Star Trek is quite functional. However, the Gen1 Enterprise, the name he has given to his proposed craft, would be functionally very different. According to his estimates his craft would be capable of covering the distance between Earth and Mars in just ninety days and reach the moon in just three days. His proposed craft would have ample living space and generate a gravity of 1 g. To achieve this he has proposed a rotating magnetically-suspended gravity wheel. In order to prevent the body of the ship rotating he has suggested a counter-rotating ring. He also suggests that water, propellant, or other materials that would be needed aboard ship could be stored in the second ring. He has proposed a Universal Lander to function as a ferry when the mother craft operates as a space port orbiting around a planet. The lander would be designed to enable it to relaunch from planets with the rockets and fuel it carried on board without the help of any boosters.
It is easy to say that every adversity is pregnant with an opportunity but really difficult to actually turn the adversity around into a profitable opportunity. Josh Opperman is one of those rare young men who turned his broken engagement into a business opportunity. Six years ago, one day when he came back from work he found his Manhattan apartment empty except for the engagement ring his fiancée had left behind. It is easy to imagine his disappointment but he was even more shocked to find that no jeweler was willing to give him more than 30% of what he had paid for it.
He was disappointed, no doubt, but he wasn’t discouraged and was in fact inspired by the experience to start idonowidont.com which is an online market place for people like him looking to rid themselves of their once-prized wedding jewelry. I Do Now I Don’t has grown into a great platform for people interested in jewelry with a story or simply a great price. The range of jewelry available on the site is wide as you could find discards of millionaire matchmaking gone wrong. You have billionaires and the really rich also using the site to buy and sell. It is a convenient place for people who want to unload a diamond ring they haven’t worn in years. The site is transparent and safe with all its gemologist verification and escrow.
The high priced luxury real estate requires some marketing effort to find a suitable buyer willing to pay the asking price. Former “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Christopher Meloni seems to understand that well. He had listed in late February his three-bedroom apartment on the 60th floor of the Park Imperial on West 56th Street on Prudential Douglas Elliman. He must be aware of the pressures on the real estate market and decided to sweeten the deal for the prospective buyer. The listing promises that a brand new fully loaded 2013 Porsche Panamera Hybrid will be included with purchase price if a contract is signed by June 1.
The asking price of the listing of the midtown Manhattan apartment is $12 million. According to a report carried by New York Post the Porsche with the apartment deal is sure to catch the attention of prospective buyers. It is a stunning apartment with a total living area of 3,000 square feet featuring three bedroom and four and half bathroom. The apartment had featured in one of the issues of Architectural Digest. The building in itself is rather high profile boasting of celebrity residents.
The luxury real estate industry loves new records as that’s what keeps it going. Manhattan, one of the most exclusive areas of New York always obliges as it boasts of homes and apartments that fetch record prices. The most recent example is of an apartment in a building located on 740 Park Avenue that was bought by Oaktree Capital founder Howard Marks for a record-smashing $52.5 million. It is one of the most exclusive buildings in the city with the list of former and current residents reading like a who’s who of New York. Marks and his wife, Nancy who currently live in Los Angeles will move into the sprawling Manhattan apartment that is spread over two floors.
The apartment boasts of 30 rooms, including two libraries, eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, six terraces and a dining room plus a special room with stunning city views for breakfast. This is no ordinary building or apartment as the maintenance alone is a mind boggling $412,000 per year. And it is not enough for you to have the money as a new buyer into the building must have the approval of the board of the co-op which is supposed to be one of the toughest in New York City. In the past they have rejected big and powerful names like Barbara Streisand, Barbara Walters the billionaire investor Nelson Peltz and the late actress Joan Crawford.
It was a common sight in James Bond movies to see 007 zip out with his cars into the high seas. His vehicles and fancy gadgets were specially designed because he was after all a secret agent ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. If you happen to be a Bond movie fan it will be your dream to own on a super luxurious sports car that can go invisible, store high end missiles to bomb enemies and if the need be also go under water and turn into a submarine in a jiffy.
Well, if it can go invisible and turn into a submarine we don’t know but we sure have a sports car for you that you can also drive on the ocean if the freeways traffic has started to get on your nerves. Called the Sea Lion, this car will help you relive every moment of a Bond movie. He price is also as expensive as Bond movie would be. The Sea Lion comes with a hefty price tag of $259,500. The car intends to win the title of the Fastest Amphibious Vehicle. It will have to compete with 25 similar vehicles in order to make this title its own. If you are the rich and loaded kid of a billionaire and need to experience some thrills on road and off road also then have a look at what the Sea Lion can offer you.
The Sea Lion, the world’s only Amphibious Car
The car is actually the brain child of Marc Witt who happens to be an avid car fan. It was his dream to build a car that would send people on the roads in a tizzy with its mind boggling speed and could also float into the ocean with the same amount of energy. He started work on this project in 2006 and it was his aim to break the record set by another amphibious car that could be driven on water at a speed of 45 mph.
Are you by any chance a billionaire loaded with cash? Do you enjoy sailing in a super yacht? And after indulging in all the pleasures of the rich and famous do you find time for issues such as environment sustainability and care about our blue planet? If yes is the answer to all our questions then we have just what you were looking for. A super yacht that is fancy meant exclusively for the affluent and also saves the planet from all the poisonous fumes that we emit every day.
It is the first eco friendly yacht that the world has ever seen and don’t think it will come with a price that just about anyone can afford. Meant only for billionaires whose bank accounts are over flowing with cash, this first go green super yacht known as the Columbus Sport it comes for a whopping $30 million. The yacht starching 130’ and hybrid is however not the first super luxury yacht despite its unique eco friendly features. It is Paul Allen’s’, billionaire and the co-founder of Microsoft, Octopus that is so far slated as the most fancy yachts of all time. It is said to be 414 ft long. The super yatch boasts of having a basket ball court and its own submarine. The weekly expenditure on this yacht is a staggering $384,000. Several parties on the yacht which also has a music room have been hosted in honour of billionaires and celebrities.
Anyway, our concern for today is not the money and the mindboggling expenditures on the world’s plushest yacht but a boat that also promises to prevent our blue planet from further damage. And Columbus does just that. Read on to know more about this floating paradise that is also eco friendly.
The Eco-Friendly Columbus
The Columbus, which is being manufactured by Italian boat builders Palumbo will be ready to hit the seas by 2013. Giuseppe Palumbo, the General Manager at the company’s Naples yard, has stated that the boat will combine superior technologies as well as eco friendly features.
