One of the first people who happened to own several superyachts at once was the 54-year-old co-owner of Microsoft Paul Allen.
What do you need to be to own a luxury yacht - a world famous actor or maybe a politician? In fact, actors and politicians do not even dream of such yachts as businessmen own, and some of the powerful of this world buy not just mega-yachts, but entire fleets of luxurious beauties in the category from 80 meters.
What do you need to be to own a luxury yacht - a world famous actor or maybe a politician? In fact, actors and politicians do not even dream of such yachts as businessmen own, and some of the powerful of this world buy not just mega-yachts, but entire fleets of luxurious beauties in the category from 80 meters. One of the first people who happened to own several superyachts at once was the 54-year-old co-owner of Microsoft Paul Allen.
At one time, luck came to Paul Allen in the person of Bill Gates, with whom they founded the famous software company together. Since then, Paul Allen (not to mention Bill Gates) has not left the lists of the richest people on the planet. The capital of the co-owner of Microsoft is estimated at more than 21 billion dollars. Forbes magazine calls him the third richest person in the world. As in business, megayachts have always been fiercely competitive. Twice Paul Allen managed to top the lists of the owners of the most luxurious yachts - as the owner of the world's largest yacht "Octopus", which was immediately supplanted by such superyachts as "Prince Abdul Aziz", "Du-bai" and "Pelorus", and as the first in the world owner of a fleet of megayachts. So, what is included in his star fleet?!
"Tatoosh" - dreams come true
Paul Allen bought his first megayacht in 2001, but initially the yacht was not intended for him at all. Tatoosh was built by the German shipyard HDW Nobiskrug for Craig McCaw, a billionaire cell phone industry pioneer. Having reached a record level of well-being, Craig decided to get his own megayacht, but soon gave up the pleasure of owning one. The yacht went into the water in 2000, and some time later it was bought by Paul Allen for about $100 million.
Tatoosh is a truly royal yacht with a length of 92.5 meters and a width of almost 15 meters. The vessel reaches a speed of 19 nautical knots (or 35 km/h) with the help of two 4400 horsepower engines. In 2001, it was no longer the largest in the world, but the co-owner of Microsoft didn’t care much about that. The yacht was designed by architect Klaus Kutsch; according to his ideas, a magnificent six-deck houseboat is ready to accommodate 30 guests and two helicopters. The captain's cabin and salon are located on the upper deck. Downstairs there is a magnificent walnut living room with a French limestone fireplace and an elegant dining room. On the main rear deck, under a canopy, there is a darkened pool about one and a half to two meters deep and next to it there are comfortable sofas for vacationers, although due to the canopy it will not be possible to sunbathe on this deck. The yacht has a cinema hall and a SPA center. The yacht has a double bottom with storage for guests' luggage. Several small escort boats and a mini-submarine are moored here on the lower level. In addition, there is a decompression chamber, as well as bathrooms, a sauna, and a jacuzzi with a bar. In the lower part of the yacht there are several more guest cabins, an engine center and staff quarters. In short, the Tatoosh yacht is a house on the water with all the amenities and benefits of civilization that a billionaire could need.
Paul Allen can go ashore by mooring his yacht in the port (if he succeeds), or he can use one of the helicopters or cross ashore with the help of one of the boats. The submarine could help the billionaire transport from port to port everything that would not pass customs inspection, if Paul Allen only needed it. However, there have been no such incidents yet. By the way, where do you think this strange name came from? The yacht is actually named after an island in the Pacific Northwest.
Blue abyss for Microsoft owner
The second yacht of the businessman is the 113 meter "Le Grand Bleu" from the shipyard Vulkan Bremen. The name translates as "The Blue Abyss". The yacht was designed by Klaus Kuch, already known to us, this time the architect is a real floating bulk with an abyss of technology on board. However, the Shipyard, as always, classified most of the information about the yacht, about what treasure Paul Allen owned, it became known only when the superyacht came into the possession of Roman Abramovich.
What is hiding on board this impregnable fortress? Two engines with a power of 4,600 horsepower each allow the megayacht to reach speeds of up to 17 knots. The huge yacht is accompanied by small boats, as if to emphasize its size. On board the yacht there is a spacious dinghy, and at the bottom of one of the sides there is an extensive garage for scooters and small boats. The upper deck is equipped with a take-off platform for a two-seater helicopter. You can’t just approach a huge yacht - the equipment allows you to detect mines and missiles. The yacht has an environmentally friendly wastewater treatment system.
However, the yacht, apparently, was destined to go hand in hand. Paul Allen did not enjoy the blue abyss for long - a year later he sold a huge clumsy beauty to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, after which he remade her to his liking. But the Russian oligarch did not ride a mega yacht for long either, in 2006 he presented Le Grand Bleu to his business partner Yevgeny Shvidler.
"Octopus" - aerobatics
The third yacht of the flotilla is "Octopus", which means "octopus". At one time, this "octopus" bore the title of the largest yacht in the world, as well as one of the most expensive. The Octopus cost $250 million to build. The Octopus was built in 2003 by the Lurssen shipyard. The 126-meter "octopus" was designed by naval architect Espen Cueno, he developed a steel frame, supplied it with two 8160 hp electric motors. and immediately eight diesel engines for 2500 horsepower each; the result was a yacht weighing about 10,000 tons. With all these indicators, the yacht developed a speed of no more than 20 knots, however, this floating entertainment center is not designed for racing. The dimensions of the yacht are simply amazing, it seems as if the architect did not know how else to equip the yacht so that it would be longer than the rest. And here's what happened in the end. On the seven-deck board of the Octopus, there are two helipads at once. They are so capacious that they can simultaneously take three helicopters for landing at once. In addition, the ship has a full-scale basketball court, several living rooms and dining rooms. On one of the decks there is a vast swimming pool and a personal recording studio of a millionaire. Seven boats are moored on the ship, if desired, guests can arrange races on the high seas, and then, moored to the yacht, take a cocktail and swim in the cool pool. The safety and comfort of guests is monitored by a crew of 60 people: sailors, technicians, cooks, servants; some of the sailors are the security forces of the Navy.
Initially, Octopus was equipped with a two-passenger mini-submarine. But the modest size of the submarine did not suit Paul Allen, and over time he bought a larger submarine - the new toy can accommodate 10 people, and it barely fits on board the monumental yacht, in addition, the submarine is controlled remotely. Now it is considered bad form to have a small submarine on a yacht, and the powerful of this world are acquiring large submarines. Paul Allen's large 10-seat submarine can hide at the bottom of the sea for two weeks.
To date, Paul Allen owns only two of the three megayachts. But this pleasure is troublesome. Every year the yacht loses 10% of its value, and in order to keep the fleet in order, the billionaire will have to annually invest in the repair and modernization of both yachts and all the utensils that are on their capacious sides. If we take into account the cost of the yachts left by Paul Allen, it is easy to calculate that 35 million are spent on repairs, not counting fuel and salaries for staff.
