yacht

The bizarre case of the Drizzle, the yacht that is attributed to Amancio Ortega but in which no one has ever seen him on board

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Follow the trail of the yachts and private jets of millionaires It is not simple because as a general rule they appear listed under the ownership of companies that are lost in the business network of their holdings. When that millionaire is someone so jealous of his private life like Amancio Ortegathe challenge is even greater. One of the simplest ways to establish a relationship between a millionaire and his yacht is to “hunt” him on board while enjoying his vacation or, by coincidence in time. For example, if the superyacht launchpad appears suddenly in Mallorcaand coincides with the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is seen in luxury establishments or restaurants on the island, it is one more indication to relate the yacht to its owner. The founder of Zara has always cultivated an extremely discreet profile and that has ended up causing a peculiar situation: there is a superyacht valued at about 300 million dollars that much of the sector specialist attributes to Amancio Ortega, although No one has been able to document that he was even on board.. The key to everything revolves around a name: Drizzle. The first Drizzle was linked to Amancio Ortega The story starts in 2012when the Dutch shipyard Feadship handed over to Amancio Ortega the superyacht Drizzlea 67.27 meter long boat with capacity for 14 people in five cabins and built for a client who, as the shipyard itself explained on the yacht’s page, had already owned another Feadship previously. Indeed, the Dutch manufacturer was in charge of building he Value Bthe yacht that both Amancio Ortega and his family have been using for more than fifteen years as family summer yacht. Furthermore, the millionaire has been seen on many occasions aboard the Drizzle of 2012, so its ownership or the millionaire’s connection with this yacht is beyond any doubt. He Drizzle It became one of the most recognizable boats in the private fleet of the founder of Inditex and for more than a decade it coexisted with the Valoria B, which became the most used by his daughter Marta Ortegacurrent non-executive president of Inditex. The Drizzle by Amancio Ortega The sale of the yacht and rumors about a replacement The situation began to change in 2023, when the millionaire put up for sale his Drizzle for an estimated price of 76 million. The operation coincided with rumors that Amancio Ortega had ordered a new yacht at the Feadship shipyards, a project known internally as Project 1012 and was valued at more than 300 million. Peccadillo for someone with an estimated fortune at about 139.2 billion dollars. The project remained surrounded by secrecy during much of its construction, something common in the superyacht market, where the identity of the owners is usually kept hidden by very restrictive confidentiality contracts. Project 1012 at the Feadship shipyards The problem came when it was officially presented Project 1012 and the shipyard confirmed the final name of the vessel: Drizzle. Suddenly, there were two different yachts with exactly the same name. In this case, it was a gigantic 91.8 meter long superyacht that became the first boat from the Dutch builder to obtain Hybrid Electric Class certification. On one hand there was the Drizzle 67-meter original associated for years with Ortega and, on the other hand, a new Drizzle of 2024 of almost 92 meters, built more than a decade later and handed over to an owner whose identity was never officially announced by Feadship. The coincidence in name caused numerous observers to automatically assume that the new ship It was the replacement of the previous one and which, therefore, also belonged to the founder of Zara. Current Drizzle, 92 meters long and worth 300 million dollars There is a detail that doesn’t quite fit The problem is that the known public evidence does not clearly support this theory and, in reality, Nothing indicates that Amancio Ortega is the owner of that yacht. Unlike what happened with other vessels linked to the Galician businessman, there are no known photographs of Amancio Ortega using the new Drizzle delivered in 2024. Nor have regular stops of the superyacht been documented in tourist destinations that have historically been linked to the family vacation of the founder of Inditexwhich is characterized by having a great attachment to following habitual habits and routines, as demonstrated by its annual presence in the Galician estuaries as soon as summer begins. Meanwhile, the businessman’s most recent public appearances continue to be linked to the Value B. This summer, for example, Ortega has been seen beginning his holidays in the Aldán estuary aboard that vessel. The navigation logs place the new Drizzle operating mainly in the Mediterranean under the Maltese flag, and quite a few movements between different Mediterranean ports which indicates that the yacht is, indeed, being used. Moving a superyacht of these dimensions it is even more expensive to keep it in portso if it were not used, changing ports would be a waste. In addition, the portals specialized in yacht charter (rental) indicate that he Drizzle (the one from 2024) is not on the rental market, so these movements and Port changes have no commercial justification. In fact, while Amancio Ortega was enjoying his first summer days in the Aldán estuary aboard the Valoria B, the supposed new yacht that many attribute to him was preparing to arrive at the port of Monaco in what seems like an approach to take positions in busy Port Hercule ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. The lack of photographs of the millionaire on board his new yacht, the absence of official confirmations of his ownership and movements that do not coincide with the known habits of the businessman have ended up turning the new Drizzle in one of the most curious mysteries in the world of superyachts, in which Amancio Ortega continues to be the X of the equation to be solved. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega reaches an agreement for a million-dollar debt with a … Read more

If you thought the blue zone in your city was expensive, wait until you see what it costs to moor a yacht at the Formula 1 GP in Monaco

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The Monaco Grand Prix is, by far, the most glamorous career of the Formula 1 World Championship. Not so much because of the fact that each of its curves keeps a memory of the most successful drivers, but because of the enormous showcase of luxury and opulence when celebrating with one of the most exclusive ports in the world. Not everyone can access the most exclusive spaces at the Monaco GP. Beyond the VIP stands, the real epicenter of luxury It is on the yachts moored in front of the circuit. The mooring of a superyacht during that weekend costs a real fortune, only affordable for the richest in the world. In fact, not even the world’s great fortunes, such as Jeff Bezos, They have a guaranteed position among the privileged few who can afford to watch the race of Formula 1 from the deck of your superyacht. Three million for a front row seat During the week of the Grand Prix, Port Hercule stops being a normal port and becomes a meeting point for the greatest fortunes on the planet and their yachts. Whether you like Formula 1 or not is secondary. The week before the Grand Prix, the parade of enormous superyachts begins, such as the Symphony by Bernard Arnault, founder of LVMH, who take positions highlighted in the Monegasque port. The specialized medium Yacht Harbor estimated that the 2017 test brought together yachts valued at more than 2,000 million euros in Port Hercule. Kismet superyacht, 122 meters long However, not having your own yacht is no excuse for not enjoying a front row seat at sea to enjoy the only Championship race that can be seen from the deck of a luxurious superyacht. Yacht rentals during the race test week skyrocket. The portal of boat rental luxury Cecil Wright offers those types of services and allows you to rent the Kismeta true floating mansion for the modest price of three million euros for one week. While on the streets of Monte Carlo the single-seater engines make the most of their performance, inside the Kismet Up to 12 guests can be accommodated in eight suites. The yacht is equipped with every detail so that guests only have to relax in its Balinese-inspired spa, which includes a hammam, sauna and cryotherapy chamber, waterfall shower and chromotherapy bathtub, gym and yoga studio. One of the covers of Kismet In addition, it allows you to experience all the excitement of the race from any of the jacuzzis on its luxurious decks, and all of this is attended by a crew of 36 people. “Parking” at a Monaco GP Once you have rented the right superyacht to blend in with billionaires and royalty, all that remains is to find a mooring for the yacht. Kismet. Port Hercule is the only port with adequate depth for mooring superyachts of that category. This port offers about 700 berths, but the most sought-after place is the so-called Trackside Zone, where the boats are located next to Quai des États-Unis, Quai Jarlan and the first two positions of Quai U. That is, in the mooring line closest to the circuitwhere the single-seaters pass just a few meters from these yachts. According to the table of Port of Monaco ratesthe price of the mooring is calculated based on how close it is to the runway and the length of the superyacht. Docking a yacht in the port of Monaco during the race ranges from 5,668 euros for a yacht of less than 19 meters in the Port of Fontvieille area, the furthest and without vision of the track, to tripling its price as we get closer to the track, with a mooring price of 16,087 euros for the same 19-meter yacht. Mooring Zone 1 is at the end of the tunnel straight, just when the cars must brake. Passing mooring zone 2, from which you can see the chicane of the Pool areato the Trackside Zone (zone 1) implies a price increase of 25.7%. During the Monaco Grand Prix, mooring a superyacht like the Kismet122 meters long, in the Trackside Zone (zone 1) It can cost around 160,000 euros only for docking during Grand Prix week. Its high price is justified because its proximity turns the Trackside Zone into a kind of floating stand. The yachts are in front of one of the most recognizable parts of the track, right where the cars leave the tunnel and launch towards the Nouvelle Chicane area, one of the classic images of the Monaco Grand Prix. It is a point where the drivers must reduce their speed to follow the curve and face the Pool section, so the millionaires see them pass at a slower speed and the single-seaters can be seen in more detail. Without a doubt, the most millionaire form of watch a formula 1 race. In Xataka | Madrid has been fighting for its F1 Grand Prix for years. Ozempic’s rich heirs also want a Grand Prix in their town Image | Flickr (CaterhamF1)

Amancio Ortega has boarded his yacht

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summer is approaching and, while most of us mortals strive to try to fit with some dignity into the same swimsuit from last year, the millionaires they tune up their yachts to go to sea. In the same way that Mercadona marks the beginning of Christmas when he takes out the nougatsAmancio Ortega has once again done what usually marks, for many, the unofficial start of summer in Galicia: go sailing along the Aldán estuary aboard your yacht Value B. As and as I advanced he Vigo Lighthousethe millionaire 90 years old has taken advantage of the high temperatures that have been recorded in recent days to be seen on the decks of his family yacht accompanied by his wife, Flora Pérez, and a small group of friends, on a weekend getaway that once again puts the Value B at the center of your summer plans. A summer that begins in Aldán The image repeats almost like a ritual: when the Value B bows out over the Rías Baixas, Ortega’s summer is inaugurated. On this occasion, the navigation started in the Aldán estuary, in Cangas, a place that the Ortega family frequents on a daily basis. privacy offered by its small ports and in an environment that many describe as one of the quietest corners of the Galician coast. As and as detailed The Worldthe millionaire founder of Inditex spent a few days of rest enjoying the sea from the yacht that anchored in front of the Aldán dock and the old warehouse of the Ameixide canning factory, a very common scenario in the businessman’s discreet escapades. He Value B was designed by the Dutch Feadship in 2018a company that also built the Drizzle, its previous luxury yacht that the millionaire sold. He Value B It was built to move easily along the Spanish coast, something that fits with the use that the Ortega family has given it for years. The yacht has a classic profile, three decks and five main rooms, a layout that prioritize private use and short stays on board with family or friends. It is 47.3 meters long and requires a crew of nine people to operate it, offering a range of 4,000 nautical miles at a maximum speed of 14.5 knots. That is to say, it is not a yacht for long voyages, but rather to navigate comfortably and discreetly along the Galician coast, inviting its occupants to come ashore to enjoy its beaches and Galician gastronomy. His previous yachthe Drizzlandwas 67 meters long, which complicated its mooring in the small Galician ports that the founder of Zara usually visits on his summer voyages. Discreet yes, but without forgetting that there are millionaires on board Although Ortega does not use this boat ostentatiously, something he does not do in no aspect of your lifehe Value B It does have several characteristics typical of a high-end yacht. Amancio Ortega paid 30 million euros for the Valoria B and has established its base in the port of Sanxenxo. The decks of the Valoria B are more open than usual, so that even from the interior lounges, you can enjoy the landscapes of the Galician coast. The spaciousness of its main decks, finished with noble woods and high-end fabrics, invite you to share time with friends and family. He Value B It also has a large swimming platform at the stern, making it easy for guests to access the water and enjoy a variety of water sports. Guests can take advantage of the yacht’s collection of water toys, including jet skis, paddle boards, and snorkel gear. The name of Value B pays tribute to Valoria the Good (Valladolid), the hometown of Amancio Ortega’s mother, and also, the name recovers the line of the first Valoria yacht that the family had before moving on to other larger boats. This continuity helps to understand why the businessman continues to link this yacht to his Galician summers. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega reaches an agreement for a million-dollar debt with a Scottish restaurant: the restaurant had to close in 2020 Image | Feadship, GTRES

We thought that buying a yacht was a luxury. The real luxury that they don’t tell you is another: maintaining it

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Owning a yacht is synonymous with luxury and opulence. It is not for less. Superyachts like the koru by Jeff Bezos or the Leviathan by Gabe Newell, they had a purchase price of 500 million dollars; he launchpad by Mark Zuckerberg about 300 million dollars. However, although buying a yacht seems the most difficultwho has been in the sector for some time knows that this initial disbursement will not be the only one, it is only the first. The true luxury (and what is really expensive) is what comes after and is repeated every year: the maintenance of that yacht. There is an unwritten rule that has been circulating around moorings and ports for decades to prepare future buyers for what awaits them. It is called the “10% rule“, and refers to the annual maintenance cost that a yacht requires: 10% of its price, each year. The inhabitants of the Caribbean island of Antigua they learned it the hard way. The price of a yacht does not come on the label When someone is going to buy a boat, it is usual to take into account whether they can afford its purchase price. That’s the easy part. You look at the price and compare it to your checking account. If it fits the budget, honey on flakes. However, there is a cost that not always taken into account in which the owner of a yacht (or any boat in general) should reserve approximately the 10% of the purchase price to cover all expenses annual operation and maintenance. Yes, 10% of the price each year. A 500,000 euro yacht will generate annual costs of around 50,000 euros; If the value amounts to one million euros, the figure rises to 100,000 euros per year. That 10% includes practically everything necessary to keep the boat sailing and in perfect condition: routine maintenance, regular repairs, average fuelannual insurance, mooring fees and, in the case of larger superyachts, crew salaries. Boat insurance alone already represents between 1.5% and 2% of the value of the yacht per year, which in a 500,000 euro boat translates into between 7,500 and 10,000 euros per year in premiums alone. At this point, it should be noted that these premiums are also calculated based on the location of the mooring. A yacht moored in the Mediterranean does not pay the same insurance as in areas like Florida where hurricane warnings and tropical storms are the order of the day. As the ship ages, the numbers change The 10% rule is stated as a reference guide for the entire life of the yacht. That is, it is an average in which some years the maintenance cost will be well below that 10%, while in other years it will far exceed it. However, above or below, the cost always remains close to that 10%: As and as they point out from WS Yatch Brokersone of the decisive factors, for example, is that this 10% varies as the age of the boat advances. When the yacht is new, the manufacturer’s warranties are in force, the mechanical systems are working well and maintenance costs can remain around 2% of the purchase price for the first few years. That 2% corresponds to fixed expenses such as insurance, mooring, or basic deck maintenance. As the years go by, parts wear out, warranties expire, and breakdowns become more and more frequent. For boats between 5 and 15 years old, the recommended percentage rises to 10%, with bad years that can reach (and exceed) 15% of the purchase value. The reason is that, as the market value of the boat goes down, its maintenance costs go up, so any calculation based on a fixed percentage loses reliability. That is to say, a 15-year-old yacht that has cost 100,000 euros second-hand will not (or at least not always) have expenses of 10% since its engine and hull begin to need major repairs due to years of use. That is, what the buyer has saved on the purchase price must then be invested in repairs anyway. Hence the 10% rule is a reference average applied to the entire life of the yacht (with its ups and downs), not a rule written in stone. The size, the crew and the place where you moor Size also determines the maintenance budget proportionally. From 25 meters in length, the yacht can now require professional crewand that 10% falls short to cover the cost of maintenance. A captain’s salary alone starts at around $50,000 per year, and a full crew for a large yacht easily exceeds $200,000 per year. On megayachts, managers usually plan 10% for operating expenses (which are included in the 10% rule), plus an additional 10% for onboard personnel, their maintenance, etc., which places the real maintenance cost closer to 20% of the acquisition price. This percentage does not apply to those yachts that, due to size, only require the services of a captain during the high season, thus reducing their annual cost. He port where it is moored It also has a decisive influence on the calculation of annual fixed expenses. It does not cost the same to moor in a small fishing town on the Catalan coast as in Puerto Banús or in the port of Monaco. In Spain, the monthly mooring fee for a boat between 12 and 14 meters ranges between 450 and 575 euros per month (about 6,900 euros per year), but it skyrockets in large tourist ports. to put a practical examplemooring in Marina Ibiza, the main recreational port on the island, for a yacht of about 15 meters in length costs between 25,000 and 30,000 euros per year, while if you opt for other secondary ports on the island, the price is reduced by half to between 10,000 and 15,000 euros per year. According to estimates of Ocean Independencea company specializing in superyacht management, the annual routine maintenance of a superyacht, which includes hull cleaning, fuel, engine inspection and electronic systems, ranges between … Read more

Larry Ellison promised them very happy with his new luxury yacht named after a Japanese goddess. Made a rookie mistake

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In the world of technology, there are more or less discreet billionaires and then there is Larry Ellison. He millionaire founder of Oracle has made ostentation his watchword: has a private island (where he wanted to feed the world with a sophisticated 500 million dollar irrigation system), a long list of properties distributed throughout the United States and other countries such as Japan, an exclusive private jetand is also investing in the search for eternal youth. Of course, he also has boats: he currently owns the Musashi, which is his fourth superyacht. Love for ships and Japan. Ellison’s love for the sea dates back to at least the 90s, at which time he even became a sponsor of the BMW Oracle Racingwinner of the 2003 America’s Cup. His current superyacht is 88 meters long, cost him about 160 million dollars in 2011 and its name is clearly of Japanese origin. In fact, it is a tribute to one of the most famous samurai. Its interior also shows Japanese influences. In addition to the Musashi, in its history of boats with Japanese names there is the Sayonara sailboat, with which won several world championships racing, or the 75-meter superyacht Katana. But his first motor superyacht was the Ronin and it cost him some headaches. Ronin It means lordless samurai, but that was not his original name. It was conceived as Izanami. The impressive Izanami. In the late 90s Ellison set his sights on a superb second-hand superyacht called Izanami. Designed by none other than Norman Foster in the early 90s, built at the German Lurssen shipyard and commissioned by a mysterious Japanese businessman, it stands out for its defined geometric lines and its aluminum hull. It combines modernist architecture with great performance: at 59 meters in length, it was capable of reaching an impressive maximum speed of 34 knots. Inside, five cabins to accommodate up to 10 guests and 14 crew members in total. The mistake that no one saw coming. The name chosen by its original owner, Izanami, comes from Japanese Shinto mythology: the goddess of creation and death, consort of Izanagi. On paper, it fits like a glove: it is cultured, it is evocative… it fits for such a superb yacht. Larry Ellison paid 25 million dollars for it and was preparing to enjoy it when, docked in San Francisco Bay, in Sausalito, his name made a splash. If you read the name “Izanami” backwards you find a tasteless surprise: “I am a Nazi”, especially considering the German manufacturing and Ellison’s Jewish origins. Change of name and owner. The tycoon tells it in his authorized biography “Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle” from 2003: “When local newspapers started pointing out that Izanami was ‘I’m a Nazi’ spelled backwards, I had to choose between explaining Shintoism to reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle or renaming the ship.” He did the latter: Izanami became Ronin. Ellison enjoyed the Ronin until 2013, at which time He sold it to the Venezuelan banker Víctor Vargas and this one would later be sold to the Italian businessman Alessandro Del Bonothe CEO of the pharmaceutical company Mediolanum Farmaceutici. Today is for sale for 28.5 million euros. In Xataka | In 1988, Larry Ellison rented a Concorde and filled it with journalists just to say that Oracle 6 was going at supersonic speed. In Xataka | Larry Ellison has overtaken Mark Zuckerberg as the second richest man in the world. Their secret: building a home for AI Cover | Flickr and Lidija Jakovljevic

that buying a yacht is as cheap as a car

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The man who turned JD.com into the Amazon’s biggest Chinese rivalhas just announced his next project. This time it’s not about packages or deliveries in 24 hours: this time it’s about yachts. Yes, those luxury boats that until now only the richest could afford among the rich. However, his plan is not make yachts for millionaires. That can do any. The challenge is to manufacture yachts that any minimally wealthy family can afford. Their goal is to manufacture yachts at the same price as a car. The “Chinese Jeff Bezos.” Richard Liu is popularly known as the “Chinese Jeff Bezos” for having converted your company JD.com into an online commerce giant with its own logistics capable of overshadowing the almighty Amazon. According to ForbesLiu has an estimated net worth of around $5.5 billion, placing her as one of the China’s biggest fortunes. Liu wants to replicate that philosophy of scale and efficiency that he has honed at JD.com in a completely different sector: boat manufacturing. For this purpose, Sea Expandary has been created. a new company which will not be managed directly by him since he will have his own independent CEO. The planned initial investment is around 5 billion yuan (about $723 million), and the goal is so ambitious that it is hard to believe: that any salaried worker can have his own yacht, just as happened with the car decades ago. Price is what changes the rules of the game. The most striking fact of the proposal is the target price for the boats they manufacture. As I collected Asian outlet SCMP, Liu has stated that: “I hope that one day we can build yachts priced at 100,000 yuan (US$14,502), so that they can enter homes like cars do. Yachts must be difficult for ordinary wage workers and ordinary consumers.” To put that figure in context, according to boat insurance portal Admiral Marine, a small entry-level yacht can easily cost between $50,000 and $200,000. The ambition is that this boat will have enough space on board for a family and that its price will not be an obstacle for Chinese households to buy one. Making boats is complex. Building ships is not an easy task. The nautical sector continues to be one of the most artisanal and labor-intensive, with long production cycles and greater flexibility must be applied in the customization of finishes and uses. To reach that price, Sea Expandary would have to radically industrialize the process, limit the variants it offers to its customers and optimize the supply chain. Furthermore, the new company not only aims to be cheap, but also sustainable. Liu has announced that all Sea Expandary yachts will operate with what he has called new energy technologies that focus on the electrification of engines and renewable energy generation systems. This is a positioning that fits well with the industrial policies that China has been promoting in the renewable energy sector that is already is applying in cars. It’s a good business. The yacht market in China is in full boiling. According to the market outlook By the end of 2025 there were 9,850 vessels registered in the country, and more than half of the total fleet had been registered in the last three years. The Chinese Ministry of Transport said that growth is expected to continue over the next five years. The global yacht market, for its part, exceeded $9.83 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $14.98 billion in 2035, with compound annual growth of more than 4.3%. China is late to this sector compared to Europe or the US. However, China arrives with a more than proven competitive advantage: its industrial-scale production capacity, lower manufacturing costs and the support of public policies. Liu knows this, and he said it bluntly: “Only by doing this can we truly compete with the world’s leading yacht manufacturers in Europe and the United States.” In Xataka | The ultra-rich trade land for a superyacht during the summer: These are some of these floating mansions Image | Flickr (Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2018), Pershing

Gasoline has risen so much that even Mark Zuckerberg has looked for a low-cost gas station to refuel his yacht: Gibraltar

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From the start of the war of Iran, filling the car tank has become one of those little dramas everyday things that we all know well. A few euros more, a sigh of resignation, and continue. But there is another refueling scale that makes your complaints at the gas station For those 10 extra euros that it cost you to fill the tank, it almost sounds like a joke. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook and fifth greatest fortune of the world, owns the launchpada 118 meter superyacht valued at about 300 million dollars. Since the US and Israeli bombs began to fall on Iranian soilfilling your fuel tanks involves an extra cost of $278,880 with each refueling. The most curious thing is that the solution that the tycoon has found is very similar to the one that any citizen with a foot in this price escalation has probably adopted: look for a low-cost gas station. The painful tank to fill Maintaining a luxury superyacht is not cheap, which is why only millionaires can afford it. He launchpad by Mark Zuckerberg has a fuel tank of approximately 420,000 liters. To put it in context, it is the equivalent of the capacity of about 7,000 medium-sized cars at one time. The yacht is equipped with four MTU 20V 4000 M93L engines which, sailing at a cruising speed of 16 knots, consume about 982 liters per hour each. That leaves us with approximate consumption of 4,000 liters of fuel per hour. That is to say, an equivalent consumption 560 cars traveling at 120 km/h or 73 buses. To this we must add that the launchpad He does not travel alone, he does so accompanied by his support yacht, the wingman. Expenses double. The Launchpad has four motors like this According to price data monitored by the specialized portal Ship&Bunker in January 2026, the average price per ton of fuel for yachts (MGO) was $715. Data from March 2026 on this same portal suggest that its price has skyrocketed to $1,379 per ton. This means that filling the fuel tank launchpad In January, Mark Zuckerberg had to pay a bill of just over 300,300 euros, while doing so today It would cost you about 579,180 euros. An extra cost of $278,880 with each refueling in just three months. Gibraltar: low cost gasoline for yachts Faced with such an increase, Mark Zuckerberg and many other wealthy yacht-owning tycoons have done what any neighbor’s son would do in this case: look for low-cost gasoline. In this case, the closest and best located is Gibraltar. As and how they stood out in The CountryGibraltar is not only a strategic rock between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean that Philip V delivered generously to the British. For superyacht owners who frequently cross the ocean, it is the equivalent of a motorway gas station as it is located on the most optimal shipping route to cross the world by sea. For superyachts that, like the launchpad, they just made Its periodic maintenance in the exclusive shipyards of La Ciotat (France), the Strait route is the shortest to go down to the Canary Islands and, from there, head to the warm waters of the Caribbean to meet its owner in Miami. The same thing happens with the reverse route, allowing ships to refuel without deviating from the most optimal route between both continents. He launchpadwhich is more similar to a small cruise ship than a pleasure boat, stops in Gibraltar regularly on its routes between Europe and America. It is not because of the pleasure of its views, but because of the price and the refueling infrastructure for superyachts, cruise ships and large freighters that has created Gibraltar. Its special tax status allows boats over 18 meters to refuel with duty free fuel, making it a mandatory stop for these giants of the sea. It is no coincidence that he is one of the bunkering points busiest in the world, with prices that, even after the escalation following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, remain lower than in many ports in northern Europe or the eastern Mediterranean. In Xataka | The difficult part has not been building an 80-meter, $200 million yacht. It has been taken to the sea without destroying it Image | Feadship, Meta

In 2001, a yacht took refuge on a remote island in the Atlantic. Days later its inhabitants breaded fish with coca

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To the island of Sao Miguelthe largest and most populated of the Azores archipelago, is known as the ‘Green Island’ for its lush meadows. In 2001, however, the most appropriate thing was to refer to it as the white island. In one of those pirouettes of destiny that usually inspire Netflix scriptwriters (and in this case that’s how it was) began to arrive on the coasts of São Miguel, more specifically on those of the freguesia of Fish Taildozens and dozens of uncut bales of cocaine of extraordinary purity. The Atlantic brought them by surprise and without anyone in Rabo de Peixe being able to explain very well why or where they came from. What there is little doubt about more than 20 years later is that that episode changed history of the island. Not only because Rabo de Peixe was forever associated with surrealist images (it is counted that on the island there were families who they breaded mackerel with cocaine instead of flour), but for the mark it has left on a population of humble fishermen in which until then white powder was a luxury available to an elitist minority. Twenty-four years later, his story is back in the news thanks to streaming. Netflix has just released a new documentary about that episode, ‘White Tide: The surreal story of Rabo de Peixe’a launch that coincides with the premiere of the second season of a series inspired by the same event, the successful ‘Rabo de Peixe’. A drifting sailboat The Azores are a paradise on earth, but even the greatest of paradises can turn into hell. Antonino Quinzi saw this for himself at the beginning of June 2001, while steering a yacht of 12 meters across the Atlantic towards Spain. Although he was an experienced sailor and had recently completed the Canary Islands-Venezuela route, near the Azores he was surprised by a strong storm that damaged his ship’s rudder and threatened to set him adrift. Faced with such a panorama, Quinzi decided to postpone his original plan, which was to sail back from Venezuela to Spain, and seek refuge in some discreet cove of São Miguel. The word ‘discreet’ is not a minor nuance. To the residents of the parish of Pilar da Bretanha who saw how his yacht appeared on the horizon and sought shelter among the cliffs, Quinzi it seemed to them one more amateur sailor. One of the many sailboat owners who set out to sail the ocean without enough boards and end up finding themselves in trouble. In this case they were wrong. Quinzi was a hard-working Sicilian navigator and if he seemed to be stumbling along the coast of São Miguel it was because he was actually looking for a secluded place in which to hide the cargo he was transporting. On board his yacht, in addition to food and everything necessary for his long voyage, he hid hundreds and hundreds of kilos of cocaine from Venezuela. How many? Officially there is talk of half tonalthough there are those who remember that the ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and it would be strange for the Sicilian to embark on its ocean voyage without taking advantage of that cargo capacity. The fact is that Quinzi needed to reach a port where he could repair his yacht, but for obvious reasons he could not do so with the holds full of bales. To get out of trouble he decided to get rid of drugs. Some versions they count who used a boat to take part of the load to a cave, but had to abort the mission when he was surprised by some fishermen. Whether or not it is true, the fact is that to get rid of a large part of his cargo, Quinzi chose to another more radical solution. A wave of bundles Which? After ensuring that the bales would not be damaged by water, he placed them in fishing nets and then lowered them off the coast with the help of heavy chains and an anchor. Once he finished the task, he set sail towards the port of Rabo de Peixea humble and discreet fishing town located just over 20 kilometers from where he had hidden the shipment. The plan seemed perfect, if it weren’t for the fact that the same waves that had forced Quinzi to seek shelter ended up destroying the net that hid the coca bales. The result: dozens and dozens of packages began to emerge and the waves dragged them towards the coast. Guardian account how the first official notice was recorded on June 7, 2001, just one day after Quinzi’s yacht was seen lurking around the cliffs. While walking through a cove, a local came across a large black plastic sheet that hid what looked like dozens of packed bricks. He notified the police, who soon found that there were 270 bales that weighed nearly 300 kilos. Over the next few days, the authorities received similar notices from people who found bundles while walking along the coast. It is said that in just two weeks the agents seized more than 400 kg of drugs, which is not a bad balance if you take into account that the police estimated that the total shipment It was around 500 kg. But… And the rest? And above all, was the yacht actually transporting more drugs, as one of the Portuguese journalists who covered the event suspects? “The ship could carry up to 3,000 kg and no one would cross the Atlantic with only a small part of what it can carry,” argues Nuno Mendes, a reporter who traveled from Lisbon to cover the news. There was more or less drug, almost a hundred kilos or many more, what seems evident is that most of that unseized cocaine ended up in the hands of the inhabitants of São Miguel, where they barely live. 140,000 people. The focus is placed above all on the population of Rabo de Peixe, one … Read more

a million-dollar luxury yacht sank just 200 meters from the dock

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What should have been a day to celebrate ended in disaster off the Turkish coast. A luxury yacht, valued at approximately one million dollars, sank for only 15 minutes after its launch in the Black Sea. The boat disappeared underwater just a few meters from the shore, while the owner and his crew managed to swim to land without major problems and without suffering any damage. The boat simply floated…but just a little. An ephemeral joy The ship called Dolce Ventowas going to be a nautical jewel, but a video that has gone viral due to the paradoxical nature of what happened shows that even the most expensive and luxurious projects can fail unexpectedly.

The difficult thing has not been to build a yacht of 80 meters and 200 million dollars. It has been to take it to the sea without destroying it

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Imagine living in a quiet town near Rotterdam, and when you look at your window you see a colossus for you, 14 meters wide and with the height of a three -storey building. It is what has happened (once again) to the inhabitants of the quiet town of Alphan (Netherlands). According to published the local media AD Those who have approached one of the channels that are going through the population have seen how A 200 million superyate of dollars Lawrence Strollowner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team 1 and head of Fernando Alonso, juggled to reach the sea sailing through narrow channels and raffling bridges and all kinds of obstacles in his odyssey. The megayate odyssey Feadship is one of the world’s main manufacturers in the world. From their shipyards in Aalsmeer they have left colossi like the Launchpad by Mark Zuckerbergwith 118 meters of length. All of them have had to go through that intricate journey of narrow channels, curves that test the expertise of the engineers involved in the transfer and several traffic cuts in the populations through which they pass. This type of operations are not simple. They require millimeter planning and the perfect execution of each step. Any calculation or maneuver error could have ended up damaging the helmet of a vessel valued at more than 200 million dollars or, worse, putting people’s safety at risk. The epic odyssey of PROJECT 714production name that the Stroll Yate has received, was recorded on video for the Dutch Yachting Channel. Some sections of the transfer were especially tense, such as the pass There were hardly a few centimeters of margin so that the superyate helmet scratches its pillars. The tight turns in the channels, as a chicane in an F1 circuit as in which their owner competes, also contributed their touch of tension during the hypnotic transfer to high seas. Project 714 Leaving the shipyards When even money can pave the way PROJECT 714 is neither the first nor the last supereyate that makes this journey, but its complexity reaches the extreme when it comes to large vessels such as the commission of the owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team 1, with an estimated heritage in 3.8 billion dollars, according to Forbes. The journey of Koru de Jeff Bezos From the Oceanco shipyards in Alblasserdam, it was a challenge the exit to the high seas through some channels similar to those that has had to travel the Spery of Stroll. On that occasion, the Dutch builder had to face A serious problem: A historical drawbridge built in 1927 was not high enough for the 70 -meter masts of the Koru to pass under its structure, so the construction company proposed to temporarily dismantle the bridge so that the sailboat could cross it. According to The published by the local medium Truuwthe refusal of the neighbors forced the refusal of the City Council, so the builder had no choice but make the journey without masts to complete the construction of the Koru in the shipyards that the company has in Greenport. A floating mansion Ad picked up some of the reactions of Alphan’s neighbors who came to see how Project 714 slid over the waters of their narrow channels. “This is quite impressive,” “is not normal”, “the closer, more impressive” or “we are in first class” are some of the comments that raised in its path the impressive mole of steel and aluminum. The luxurious yacht is designed to be A floating mansion destined for leisure and It has five covers, A beach club with pool in the stern, an sharp bow cover that could well host a helipad and wooden floors in all covers. When being in manufacturing phase, Feadship does not give many details about his Interior equipment and finishessomething that will be addressed after overcoming the navigation tests that it now faces. Which He has shared It is that the yacht has a more efficient diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system that reduces vibration and improve comfort on board. In Xataka | Ultrararicos change the ground for a superyte during the summer: so are some of these floating mansions In Xataka | Keeping a mooring supereate comes out very expensive. Some researchers have a proposal for the rich: donate them to science Image | Feadship, Aston Martin F1

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