But will it float?

On one of the several sites dedicated to large yachts that I read regularly, I ran across this interesting (for lack of a better word) project/proposal. At 150 meters (492 feet) it's absolutely huge; it's about 8 feet shy of the size of a US Navy destroyer. It wouldn't be the largest yacht in the world, but one of the largest. However, there's more to a boat than its size.

So, impressive size aside, what's up with this thing? From the bow it looks as if someone has placed an offshore oil platform on top of Noah's ark. I realize these are just renderings, but did the designer ever think that this boat might have to deal with things on the open seas like, say, waves? I would not trust going anywhere more than a few hundred feet away from the dock on that thing. On top of that, it's just plain ugly. I realize that a very expensive custom yacht is supposed to be a personal statement by the owner. I'm still trying to figure out what statement this would make. I picture it pulling into port somewhere in the Med and all the owners of the attractive yachts sitting on their decks snickering at the owner and his new yacht. I can't help but think it looks a bit like it was put together with odds and ends and scraps left lying around, sort of a hillbilly megayacht if you will.

I do applaud the designer for trying to break out of the mold and come up with something different beyond the typical big white boat that resembles a wedding cake. I just wish he hadn't made it so ugly. There have been several concept yachts that have been turned into reality, such as Predator launched last year. While it's not pretty in the traditional sense it does have a grace and sense of power (which it has plenty 0f) about it. The interior is also truly a work of art. There's also the yacht launched last year simply called "A". It's one of those designs that is ugly at first but elegant in its simplicity and ends up being attractive to the eye. It's also about the same size as the Maharaja project. Again, it's nice to see owners taking risks with new designs, but I'm very curious if Maharaja will ever be built.

Boat showin'

After a very uneventful Saturday we decided to go to the boat show today. There are at least 2 boat shows a year here, the one in January at both a Lake Union marina and the stadium exhibition center. The one at the exhibition center is indoors and therefore warm and dry. The one outside is, well, outside so it's at the mercy of the weather. Today the weather decided to be very cold (in the 30'sF) and very cloudy.

We decided to start with the outdoor section of the show first, and it's a good thing we did. Not long after arriving, it began to snow. And then it snowed harder. Luckily we could just go on board a boat and get warm since they all (at least all the ones we chose to board) had heat going inside. We toured several very nice boats, including one rather spectacular 86' trawler style by Nordhavn. I have a few pics of the interior in the slide show below. We eventually got tired of the cold and decided to catch the shuttle to the other venue. It was nicely warm inside, but there weren't that many interesting boats to see. The few large boats that were there actually had lines to get into, and they weren't that impressive after all. They were big, but not finished well, nor did they have very interesting layouts. There were only two sailboat large enough to have cabins and they were rather lackluster. Oh well. I wish we'd stayed at the outdoor venue...scratch that; I wish the outdoor venue had been warmer with less snow.

In any event it was a fun, but cold day. I always enjoy rummaging around on boats, and critiquing what the builders/designers do. It's also nice to get to go onto boats that I could never afford. Several of them had loan terms posted. With only $400, 000 down our monthly payment would be a low $6500 a month. Nice to know that there are still people who can afford that kind of fun. Or maybe they can't. That would explain why some of the boats we saw at the show in the fall were there again this time with lower asking prices!