There is a trend in the world of yachts today that seems to suggest that bigger is better. This became the way forward some 15 years ago when Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, took delivery of Octopus in 2003. At 414ft it was then the world’s largest explorer yacht with room for 26 guests, a cinema, a recording studio, and -would you believe – a basketball court. It also has two helicopter landing pads and not one, but two submarines on board, one of which is big enough to seat ten people.
You might think that a yacht of 414ft is about as big as people might want to go, but just ten years after the launch of Octopus came Azzam built for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan with a length of 591ft. That’s the length of two football pitches. At present it is the world’s biggest superyacht, but who knows for how long it will hold that record?
However, not all today’s superyachts are being built just, it seems, as though to outdo the last one. Among yachts in build at present is Mystique which is being constructed in Germany and is a comparatively tiny 250ft. Nonetheless, it has an amphibious light aircraft, a submarine (let’s face it: you just HAVE to have a submarine these days if you are not to be a nobody), and a catamaran. In addition, it has a hydroponic garden, a solar powered fish farm, and a food laboratory! You might wonder why it needs a fish farm when you are sailing through nothing but fish and could just drop a line over the side.
Among the yachts in build are some which are moving towards eco awareness by using more fuel-efficient engines and hybrid propulsion systems. Some yachts in build are also designed to use the heat of gas from exhaust systems to heat water, which leaves the yacht cooler and you get hot water as well. Some of the newer explorer yachts that are designed to go anywhere have systems to make potable water, while a number of others process all their own waste so that nothing goes overboard and they are then able to visit protected waters.
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