Yacht Club in Antibes
There are usually ten or more boats in at any one time – and you are free to walk around to admire them, though don’t even think of boarding – strictly no admittance.
Pictured here, in 2003 Paul Allen’s 416 ft “Octopus” briefly took the number one position as the world’s largest yatch. Costing Allen a mere $200 million she has a permanent crew of 60 people, including several former Navy Seals, two helicopters, seven boats and a remote-controlled vehicle for crawling on the ocean floor. Its “James Bond” interior includes a dry dock for a submarine, which has the capacity to sleep eight for up to two weeks under water. Microsoft’s “accidental zillionnaire” Paul Allen – worth $20bn according to Forbes, third richest man in America – owns three yacht monsters – Octopus, Tatoosh & Méduse.
Nothing stands still. Octopus was toppled from its number one position by Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellisdon’s “Rising Sun” – a full 12 metres longer. Paul also owns the magnificent Villa Maryland on the Cap Ferrat, allowing him to host parties during the Cannes Film Festival that allow him to associate with Hollywoods most top celebrities. Not to be outdone, Larry Elisdon parked Rising Sun in the bay off the Croisette during this years Cannes Film Festival (2009) to host bigger parties. You mean you weren’t invited?
In the yacht-world size is everything, so no one retains the coveted number one position for long. The Crown Prince of Dubai ordered a 160 metre yatch “Platinum”. With oil reaching $140 a barrel the Crown Prince had to find even more extravagent ways to spend those petrodollars. Roman Abramovich then commissioned a new world number one built in Germany, over 300 metres in length. Within weeks of his new commission he was also rumoured to have lost $12bn in the meltdown of the Russian stockmarket, and ex-wife Irina since walked off with a mega divorce settlement including his then largest mega-yacht.