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What Do You Know About Yachts?
It’s been a long time that the term “yacht” is in our dictionaries and we use it to refer to some sorts of boats/ships. But do you really know why we call some of them “yacht” while others remain normal boats/ships? Is there something about their size, length or height? Or we just call them yacht because they are more beautiful than the rest? Well, I’m sure you need to read this article to find out how & why yachts are different from other boats/ships!
Yacht is a word which is originally derived from early modern Dutch (i.e. jaghte), meaning ‘fast pirate ship’ or ‘hunting ship’. But since we don’t call pirate ships yachts anymore, it’s pretty much easy to say that its meaning has changed. Now, there’s an invisible connection between the term “yacht” and “luxurious lifestyle”. Does anyone know why? That’s right, because yachts are so expensive. Having a yacht in your backyard — better said backramp — shows that you have some green power! If you take a closer look at the topic, you will soon realize that only the rich can buy a yacht these days and the connection between these two terms mentioned earlier — yacht & luxurious lifestyle — is not that invisible.
Since the day this term became a part of our vocabulary, yachts were the rich’s toys and everyone knew that having one of those boats would cost much more than they could afford. Back when kings were running countries, you had to be a blue-blooded to have a yacht and things are not really changed since then. In other words, there are not much blue-blooded people left in our world, but there are lots of green-blooded ones who are the only candidates of buying a yacht! however, these gorgeous boats are still a popular topic for all of us — even though we can not buy one, probably forever. So read on to find out more about yachts, their history and a list of greatest yachts ever!
Dusty History of Yacht & Dutch
As mentioned earlier, yacht is rooted in Dutch and its origin is “jaghte”. Most people believe that yachts became famous during the arrival of Charles || of England. He was gone for several years and during the celebration of his return, a yacht named Mary was given to him as a present. It’s been said that Charles || was so in love with his new toy that he spent most of his time to study other sailboats in order to build more yachts. He actually did so, and there are 20 yachts through history that are built by him. Mary (i.e. Charles’s first yacht) was faster than normal sailboats and this extra speed tempted England’s young king to use it as a way of entertaining himself.
Soon after Mary, other yachts started sailing and due to the fact that most of them were faster than other sailboats, racing became popular among those blue-blooded sailors who had yachts. For more than a century, only blue-blooded rich sailors with their expensive yachts could attend races and it was considered a kings’ competition. But things wasn’t meant to be like that forever and other rich people — who were not blue-blooded — started to attend these competitions with their own yachts. It’s been also said that, since 1800s, yacht racing became more popular and not only higher ranked people but also normal rich citizens who owned a yacht, attended to competitions.
Yacht racing which had become an interesting part of sailing during 1800s started another stream that was called “yacht clubs”. As you may know, there are still some yacht clubs all over the world with the intention of gather yacht owners — for different reasons. But back then, yacht clubs were so important and being a member of them could mean that you are a higher ranked and/or very wealthy person. There were also some yacht clubs that used to held different competitions to make some money. New York Yacht Club, for example, was an American yacht club with the intention of making money out of British yacht competitions. John Cox Stevens, the founder of NYYC, wanted to attend yacht races in Britain, thus he gathered a crew of his friends to sail towards GB. His yacht’s name was Gimcrack — probably the first American competitor in British competitions.
When Yachts Became Modern & Monetary
Yachts are not mainly used for racing anymore and their number one purpose is to satisfy wealthy owners. Do you remember that one of the starting questions on this article was about identifying yachts? Well, here is the answer: Yachts are sailboats built in order to fulfill owners’ pleasure-related needs. Yes that’s right; yachts are sailboats designed for pleasure and welfare of the rich. You can call any sailboat a yacht if it’s being used with such purposes (i.e. pleasure, welfare etc.).
Today’s yachts have lots of options, making it easier to live on water than ground for the owners. You can literally have anything you want on your yacht and they are not different from luxury houses. Modern yachts have separate rooms for guests, several bathrooms, jacuzzi, swimming pool(s), bar, restaurant, etc. The rich feel pretty comfortable while sailing with these beautiful sailboats and they usually have lots of staff to make everything even easier. Some of the world’s greatest yachts offer their passengers services including a luxury room, 24/7 room service, unlimited food & beverages, spa/jacuzzi, cinema, gym and a lot more.
Now, let’s take a look at world’s greatest modern personal yachts and find out whose toy are they. Read on our top 10 greatest yachts list which includes their prices too. Maybe someday you will be able to have one and make your own way to our future lists — of course if don’t have one already.
10. Christina O
Some of you may have not heard its name but Christina O have had lots of famous guests who are known to everyone. What if I say John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe had sailed on this luxury yacht? Would it emphasize its importance?
Christina O is not one of the world’s most expensive yachts because it costs $32.4 million dollars — even though it still needs lots of green power to buy Christina O. But comparing to other yachts, Christina O is a bit cheaper! However, it’s still one the world’s most luxurious yachts and has lots of interesting features containing a deck which can turn into a dance floor, a beauty salon, a library and a gorgeous dining room.
9. Lady Moura
Have you ever seen a yacht that has a real beach within? Well, if you think it sounds weird I have to introduce you Lady Moura: a yacht which has a beach — with real sand — inside her. You must be asking why would someone want to have a beach inside their yacht, right? That’s our question too. However, Nasser Al-Rashid, the owner of Lady Moura, seems to be happy with this giant yacht and its toys.
Lady Moura has a landing platform for helicopters and contains lots of luxurious features too. Not to mention that it has a swimming pool, one of the longest dining room tables, and a hydraulic platform as a portable beach to fulfill its owners special needs! (Lady Moura costs no more than $210 million dollars).
8. Dilbar
Alisher Usmanov, a Russian politician, spent $256 million dollars to buy Dilbar. Do you know what “Dilbar” means? It is equivalent of “coquette” which totally suits its beauty. Dilbar is one the most charming — and expensive — yachts on the planet Earth. Moreover, its owner is one of the most rich men in the world. This luxury yacht has a platform for landing helicopters and also a capacity to held hundreds of guests on her different layers of decks.
Alisher Usmanov can cruise this coquettish yacht around his personal islands to show off other rich men.
7. Al Said
Meet Al Said, the most powerful yacht ever. Yes you heard it right. Al Said is powerful as her owner: the Sultan of Oman! This luxury yacht is designed to be fast & charming at the same time. Al Said has a concert hall which can host 50 musicians and lots of guests. Seemingly, Qaboos Bin Said Al Said must have had $300 million dollars somewhere to spend for this amazing yacht.
Al Said contains nothing less than other luxury yachts and you can find everything you desire on her board. Sultan of Oman (i.e. Qaboos Bin Said Al Said) gave his name to this yacht to show his love for this charming lady of the sea.
6. Motor Yacht A
Another Russian billionaire is here to own one of the most beautiful — and weird-looking — yachts ever. His name is Andrey Melnichenko, and you may know that Motor Yacht A is not his only sea toy! Motor Yacht A, however, costs $323 million dollars and has strange — but luxurious features. If you were surprised to hear that Dilbar holds a real beach within herself, you will be shocked to know that Motor Yacht A has moving walls! Its three separate guests suites can join together in order to make a larger space. When walls are moved, there is no special suit but a large space.
Having moving walls is not Motor Yacht A’s only luxurious feature and it has everything that you can possibly imagine. A helicopter pad, three swimming pools, disco hall and a speedboat are just some its luxurious features and equipment.
5. Dubai
You might have guessed that why its name is Dubai, right? This super yacht is owned by on of the world’s richest men alive, Sheik of Dubai. He bought it several years ago and it’s not specifically designed for him. However, this yacht has become one of the luxurious symbols of Dubai. It contains lots of features including a helicopter landing platform, several guest rooms and a glass stairway.
Sheik of Dubai spent $350 million dollars to buy this beautiful sailboat. Dubai has a beautiful interior design too, which makes her an eye-catching yacht. You may see her cruising near Dubai’s beaches during your trip to this island.
4. Sailing Yacht A
Doesn’t it sound familiar? Well, there is a fair enough reason for this familiarity: Andrey Melnichenko. Seemingly the owner of Motor Yacht A wasn’t satisfied with his ex-toy so he decided to buy a more expensive one. Sailing Yacht A costs $400 million dollars — did you notice that these numbers are getting bigger and bigger as we move on to the next yacht?
This amazing yacht has a very special part which is designed for sea observations. So, Andrey Melnichenko can use this room to see the underwater when he became bored watching the blue surface of great oceans. Sailing Yacht A is one the most expensive yachts in the world and contains even more luxurious features & items than her older sister Motor Yacht A.
3. Topaz
One of the world’s largest yachts, Topaz, launched in 2012 to change all charts by its size. It’s also one of the most famous yachts thanks to its price and length. Since Topaz is a high-end yacht including every luxurious features & items, it costs no more than $527 million dollars.
Lürssen, a German company, is the name behind the creation of Topaz. Moreover, Topaz owns one of the best interior designs ever, done by famous designer Terence Disdale. This beautiful and lovely — but extremely expensive — yacht is currently in use and sailing all around the world.
2. Azzam
Christophe Leoni and Lürssen company came together to build a challenging yacht. They started working on the Azzam, the most complicated yacht built by this company — and maybe in the history of yachts.
The Azzam’s price is $650 million dollars and its owner is a serious rich man. This yacht offers everything that you could imagine to have on the sea. To name some of them: VIP rooms, swimming pools, dining rooms and on and on…
1. Eclipse
Two times more expensive than our last competitor, Eclipse is an enormously expensive yacht with the cost of $1.2 billion dollars! Yes billion dollars! Throughout our list you may have noticed that most of these yachts’ owners are Arabs & Russians. Thus, don’t get surprised to hear that Eclipse is owned by another Russian billionaire named Roman Abramovich.
It’s hard to talk about Eclipse’s features because this yacht has more than thousands of unique items. Bulletproof windows, specially designed laser shield — just to keep paparazzi away — several pools and jacuzzi, helicopter pads, and secret exits are just some of Eclipse’s amazing features. Eclipse is much more costly than its own rivals. Not to mention again that the closest competitor costs almost half of its value.
Bounce: Which One is the Largest Yacht?
As you may be wondering which of these mentioned yachts is the world’s largest one, we added a bounce section to indicate it. Read on to find out about the largest yacht sailing on our planet’s waters.
It’s Not the Most Expensive; But It’s the Largest One
The Azzam is largest yacht ever built with the length of 180 m (591 ft). This yacht was launched in 2013 and no one had been able to beat her record since then. Following, however, is a list of other large yachts that are in use right now:
- Eclipse 163.50 m (536 ft)
- Dubai 162 m (531 ft)
- Dilbar 156m (512 ft)
- Al Said 155 m (509 ft)
- Abdulaziz 147 m (482 ft)
- Topaz 147 m (482 ft)
- El Mahrousa 145.72 m (478 ft)
- Yas 141 m (463 ft)
- Ocean Victory 140 m (459 ft)2014
References:
- ASA | History of the Yacht (Part 1) | 2017 | ASA.com
- “HISTORY OF LUXURY YACHTS” | (N.D) | megayachtscharter.com
- Perry Rachael | 2015 | Top 10: The Best Luxury Yachts in the World | zizoo.com
- “Top 10 Biggest Yachts in the World
Dragos Baltateanu” | 2016 | boats.drivemag.com
- “List of motor yachts by length” | (N.D) | Wikipedia.com
