This Is Officially the World's Largest Superyacht And It Is Massive
This may be the yacht to end all yachts.
Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, the coal and fertilizer baron with an estimated personal wealth of $9.2 billion, unveiled a massive superyacht on Monday. Clocking in at 468 feet long and boasting masts near 300 feet high, 'Sailing Yacht A' — named as such to "ensure it is listed first in shipping registers," according to the Daily Mail — is reportedly the largest superyacht on the planet.
Here's a video of this bad boy in action from radio station NDR 1 Welle Nord:
Die Segeljacht "White Pearl" ist nach ihrer ersten Probefahrt wieder in ihrer Werft im Kieler Hafen eingelaufen. Sie gilt als größtes Segelschiff der Welt.
Posted by NDR 1 Welle Nord on Monday, September 21, 2015
This thing is an absolute beast, featuring eight stories, an underwater observation room, a helicopter pad, and God knows what other amenities. The Daily Mail's overview of the ship's schematics is particularly fascinating:
The epic vessel boasts a staggering eight decks and its keel incorporates one of the largest single pieces of curved glass ever made at 193 square feet and weighs a whopping 1.8 tons.
It dwarfs other famous super-yachts like The Maltese Falcon, which is 298 ft and weighs 1,367 tons.
Cruise speed of the ship is 18 mph, with a top speed of 24 mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck.The yacht will have a high-tech digital control system operated using a touch sensitive sheet of black glass in the bridge.
This will allow the crew to raise and lower the sails and even drop the anchor with a brush of their fingers.
Sure, it's a beaut, but you'll never, ever afford a boat like this. Melnichenko shelled out £260 million (or almost $400 million) for this luxurious behemoth, which is set to take its first se trial in Kiel, Germany later this month.
But that doesn't make it any less impressive: as Benjamin Maltby of global yacht consultancy MatrixLloydtold the Mail,"not since the days of mighty clipper sailing ships such as the Cutty Sark has such a large sailing vessel been built."