BATTLE OF THE SUPERYACHTS
Jostling to rule the Thames, tycoons and their boys’ toys
WITH the sun shining on the water, there’s nothing quite like messing about on the river.
And if you happen to be a multi-millionaire, that means showing off the kind of boats which separate ‘the haves from the have-yachts’.
Yesterday two of the flashiest gin palaces on the planet were jostling for attention on the Thames, dwarfing other boats by Tower Bridge and drawing astonished gazes from passersby.
The £113million, 323ft-long Aviva, which belongs to Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis, 81, turned heads earlier this week when it struggled to perform a U-turn.
Now it has been joined by the £75million, 244ft Elandess, which belongs to another super-rich Briton, Sir Lloyd Dorfman, 65, the founder of the Travelex foreign currency chain.
Needless to say, both yachts boast plenty of luxurious features on their many decks which are hidden behind their sleek outer curves.
The yacht belonging to Mr Lewis, who is the 12th richest person in the country with a £4billion fortune, is said to have a walk-in wardrobe on board ‘as big as your average holiday home’.
And when guests tire of admiring their clothes, they can always play a match on the yacht’s indoor tennis court. The Spurs owner has two children and lives in the Bahamas. He accumulated the bulk of his wealth after betting against the pound during the 1992 Black Wednesday crash.
As for the Elandess, it is said to have a 26ft x 8ft swimming pool on the sun deck and a ‘Nemo Lounge’ below the waterline for underwater viewing.
The yacht’s name is believed to be inspired by the first name initials of entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Lloyd, thought to be worth more than £720million, and his wife Sarah, who live in London.
Both super yachts were built at German shipyard Abeking and Rasmussen.
But for all their glamour, neither quite measures up to the very biggest and most expensive yachts in the world. In multi-millionaire circles, there’s always someone showing off in another league all together.
Russian tycoon and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, for example, boasts a sumptuous yacht called Eclipse. It is a staggering 533ft, has two helicopter pads, 24 guest cabins, two swimming pools, three launch boats and a mini-submarine – and is valued at more than £1 billion.