10th & 13th largest yachts - the Russians are here!

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Do you have that first pic in high resolution?

Hi Mike,

You may find that your very best pictures are taken on overcast days. And speaking of black clouds overhead... I can't help think what a difference a decade or two of democracy makes. In my former life, a Russian vessel was a concern. Two was a threat to national security.

Wow,

Porto Cervo and Cala di Volpe must be filling up now. There are only so many Superyachts you can fit in one small island. Where do they all 'park'?

I see a new marina is being constructed in Montenegro but thats years away.

Nice photos,

Cheers

Fish

Hi,

Kinda funny to imagine when "The Season" finished a couple of weeks ago. A lot of shore based things will be closed by now.

I remember being in Porto Rotondo a few years ago, the end of August was on a Sunday, by the middle of the following week the place was a ghost town.

Hi,

Are all the shops and stalls open in the village type development that surrounds Porto Rotondo?

Scammers and bloody thieves.

Run by self-declared "Men of Steel" Moscow's "robber-baron" economy- fueled by historically high oil prices and second only to Nigeria in terms of online scamming & phishing -- has fostered yet another generation of Rasputins engaging in this round of "conspicuous consumption" that the uninitiated find so admirable.
Much like the fleets of parasitic, Gulf State wahhabists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi), such reprehensible and shameless behavior only signals the complete corruption and the impending doom awaiting their progenitors.
Admire them while they last - their day of reckoning fast approaches.
- Signed,
Karl Marx

http://www.economist.co.uk/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10765120
http://www.ired.com/news/mkt/oligarchs.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/...ttp://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-147274861.html
http://www.springerlink.com/content/81h6myy6pdjc6hng/
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=E1_JGRNGNT

I'm not sure it's that transient, even I would have to take a couple of weeks to waste-away $5 billion. But, trust me, I would try my very best.

When the Arabian oil cash started in the 60's/70's everyone said it would never last.........Ermmmm.......

History waits for no man

Tell that to the (former) Shah of Iran and trembling emirs of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and the sultan of Qatar. Guess they keep all their cash at their national banks making loans for regional development?
Right.
Think they are all well-respected and beloved at home:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a793231575~db=all~jumptype=rss
http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2008/05/al-qaeda-calls-for-naval-terror-cells.html
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/al-qaeda-plans-to-strike-israel-and-persian-gulf/39444/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15442751/
http://www.persiangulfonline.org/takeaction/news0205-3.htm
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=975
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/29/142237.shtml
Right.
Not to mention Saddam, no matter how good he looks today (yes that was his "mega-yacht" "Al Mansur" you see below. )
Funny how things werk out, eh?
Wake up.

Dr.Redman

Many of the old guard Arabs are dying out, thank goodness. One of my ex-bosses was the only Kuwaiti to take on the Royal family to have his own private investment bank, rather than State owned ones. Not nice or gentle, but done.

Just this week, an investor from Abu Dahbi has bought the English soccer team Manchester City for the usual millions, divercifying capital, as the Al Maktoums are doing in Dubai with construction of a tourist economy. So too is Oman.

These countries take time to change, as I feel Russia will ,over the next 30 years, change for the better.

Remember that Britain and the US were not perfect when they first got rich.

Mendacity

George Washington sayz hallo; as does Teddy Roosevelt.
Even the brits have a positive wurd or two 2 add.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution
Glad history figures into to it all.
Not a regular feature these dayz.
And not surprising that you have a stakeholder in it all.
As for fairytales, my bet is on "Toto".
And as for wagers on Russian "heroes" and Arabian "princes": give me 1:20 odds on the alternative, and I'll see you 100,000.
Thatz 20 MN to you,
Too rich for your blood?
The world wonders.

Indians and Chinese I suppose.

Waiter...waiter! I'll have what he's [points to Redman] having!

Only immersing a toe into the political-economic straits that the Russkies now find themselves in (their RTS market down roughly 40-45%; 5 or 10 Billion USD in foreign reserves thrown at the ruble to keep it alive; commodities markets softening around the globe...)---oh, heck, up to the ankle---Russia has, for the past couple of centuries, been a largely agrarian country, and only in recent times have become Lotto-rich by exporting petroleum products and bombs. Big whoop. They defaulted on their national debt only, oh, ten years ago, remember? No, probably not.

Now for the YACHT CONTENT: my question, for those readers who have had proximity to these Russ-yachties, is this--are they like the rest of us? Are they generous, pleasant folk to mingle with? Do they enjoy the telling of Sea Stories over a rum drink? Do they share information freely about the everyday issues that we yachties appreciate being made privy to? Not just the owners, but the crew as well....what's the general vibe from the boat?

Or are they just bad neighbor-thuggish-types that you hope don't pull up next to you on the quay?

On second thought, waiter, cancel that order.

My experience with them is that they are pretty much like you/me but with Russian/European values. As someone said...

you have nothing to fear but fear itself. ​

One time when I was invited for a drink in the afternoon, we stopped by a liquor store for what I thought would be a “single” bottle of Vodka, but to my surprise they picked up a whole case of the stuff, the 4 of them drank it like it was water within several hours (with no apparent drunken effect).
I had to lie and say that I drank too much the night before, in order to legitimise my modest intake of only 6 drinks. (They don’t like to mix it with anything either).

As to the wealth of the few, I don’t think it’s much different to the West’s:
Venture Capitalists, Corporate heads or Industrialists. (See Enron and a host of other corporate thieves).

Also best looking female Tennis players

P.S. I’m not Russian

Americans, so cute.

Cant tell the difference between rich, successful thugs and your neighbors?
Interesting.

Well, there's one key difference.

Clearly.

Excellent shots........Pelorus is beautiful.