Super Rich Buying Even Bigger Yachts

Whilst the economic crisis has crippled many yacht makers and affected some levels of yacht sales, new figures suggest that the top end of the market has remained robust. An impressive 11 new vessels, some the size of cruise liners, will join luxury yachting web portal superyachts.com’s annual top 100 ranking by length this year. The unexpectedly high number of top-end super yacht sales in 2011 compares favourably with nine new entries the previous year.  Super yacht sales are usually defined as the purchase of a private vessel measuring more than 100ft or 30m in length Last year’s largest entry was Topaz, a 147m yacht built by Germany’s Lürssen Yachts for an unknown owner. This super yacht sale is believed to have been made by a member of the ruling Al Nahyan family of Abu Dhabi.

Topaz will rank equal fourth in length overall. At the top of the list is Eclipse, the world’s biggest private yacht.  It belongs to Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who also owns Chelsea Football Club. It was built by Germany’s Blohm + Voss. Surprisingly the economic crisis that has gripped the west since 2008 does not seem to have made a dent in the number of mega yachts for sale. Indeed the size of super yachts continues to increase to match the ambitions of wealthy east Europeans and Gulf Arabs. According to superyachts.com a yacht measuring 62m would have easily earned a significant place in the Top 100 in 2007. However in 2011 the 100th yacht is 76m long. For Fraser Yachts full selection of mega yachts for sale please visit the main website.