To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. The ultra-wealthy have always bought enormous boats, but now those numbers are on the rise. If you are a living, breathing person with a small amount of disposable income, you have, at some point in your life, probably bought a frivolous thing that ended up being a waste of money. That thing may be a fancy pair of shoes, or perhaps a silly hat.
And for a handful of very wealthy people, that thing is apparently yachts — not just regular yachts, but superyachts. Superyachts are like regular yachts but bigger and therefore more expensive. Yachts are large, but superyachts are huge: Think feet or longer. If a yacht is a symbol of luxury and excess, a superyacht is a symbol of even more luxury and excess. Sales of these massive vessels are way up, Bloomberg reported last week , and the PPY price per yacht, a term I just made up also appears to be on the rise.
In addition to your standard yacht amenities, like swimming pools and helipads, these boats often come equipped with submarines and missile defense systems. Unlike real estate or blue-chip art , which can rapidly appreciate in value, superyachts tend to depreciate, and most owners lose money on resale. Even if you keep the boat docked for most of the year, you still have to pay to dock and maintain the superyacht, and you have to pay the salaries of its captain and crew. And through it all, shipyards have continued turning out mega yachts that experts say are growing larger as they gain in popularity.
According to experts and brokers, saw more yachts sold than ever before, with set to again break sales records. The ft m vessel is being built in the Netherlands by Oceanco, according to a new biography of Bezos by Bloomberg News.
That price tag does not include a smaller motorised "support yacht" that Bezos also plans to buy. The smaller yacht features a helicopter landing pad - Bezos' girlfriend, TV host Lauren Sanchez, is a trained helicopter pilot. The main yacht is unable to support its own helipad due to the three sailing masts on its deck. The smaller yacht is also expected to be loaded with other goodies, such as cars, luxury speedboats , and probably even a submarine, experts say.
The highly secretive superyacht project, known as Y, is due to be completed sometime next month, according to Bloomberg. It's likely that Bezos' order was placed several years ago, since custom-made ships like this can take around five years to build. Oceanco, the Dutch yacht maker, has not commented on the project.
They previously built the ft Black Pearl, the second largest sailing yacht in the world. There's no official definition of a superyacht versus a regular yacht , but in the industry the term generally refers to a yacht that is over 74ft long. Some dispute that definition, saying the term superyachts applies to ships over ft long.
Some brokers have even taken to the term "gigayacht" to refer to ships longer than ft. Bezos' yacht, coming in at over ft, is almost as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza if the vessel was laid out vertically.
It's just under half as long as the Eiffel Tower. Only a few jumbo superyachts like the Bezos vessel are completed each year, but high-profile projects are often done with such secrecy that builders are required to sign non-disclosure agreements. Therefore it's unlikely that we'll ever know if Bezos copied the decorative flairs of Russian oligarch and fellow yachtsman Andrey Melnichenko, who lined a spiral staircase on one of his yachts with scalloped, silver-leaf walls.
The industry has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years. According to the US National Marine Manufacturers Association, boat sales reached a year high in , reflecting how people were turning to the water for safe, socially distanced activities during lockdowns. The market for used yachts has also "just been nuts", he says. According to Tucker, there are 9, yachts over 65ft long that are currently on the seas - meaning those that have not sunk or that are being maintained on land.
Fewer yachts were chartered in , Tucker says, which he attributes to pandemic travel restrictions preventing normal tourism activities.
Sales dropped for a few weeks as lockdown orders hit the US last year, but then immediately skyrocketed. In June "it was like someone flipped a switch" as orders started rapidly coming in, says Bob Denison, who's been a yacht broker in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, since If you do not, it can be very stressful and miserable. Some crew members get lucky working for generous yacht owners, while others get treated like the help.
Some have treated me like family, and some have treated me like a servant. A chef on a foot motor yacht also said that working for a billionaire could be unpredictable, as every boat and owner is different. According to Mark, the captain of a foot yacht, billionaire owners are just like normal vacationers.
Kind of. She added: "A typical day involves turning heads, beds, and laundry for guests and crew, which can be a lot if you're a department of one. Food and beverage service three times a day. A lot of plans and schedules change on the fly depending on the owners and their wants and whims, which can be a bit frustrating. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.
Rachel Askinasi and Hillary Hoffower. Superyachts are luxurious, but working on them isn't. Insider polled superyacht crew members to find out what it's really like working for a billionaire on board. They said their days are spent fulfilling requests and keeping the yacht in top shape — but it really all depends on the superyacht owner. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
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