Superyachting

VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Wed 8 Feb 2012 12:32
St Maarten is able to attract large numbers of superyachts because of its large protected lagoon. The wealth tied up here, on an otherwise quite poor island, is astonishing and constitutes a big slice of the economy.  A 'superyacht' is a vessel over 30m long. Last year there were only 173 new ones launched worldwide (cf the peak of 260 in 2008). But never mind, their combined length rose from 20km in 2010 to 23km in 2011. The super-duper rich appear to be doing OK.
The world's biggest private yacht, Roman Abramovich's 164m 'Eclipse', was launched in 2010 at a cost of $660m. It has such essentials as a hair salon, mini-submarine and not one but two helipads - presumably to avoid congestion on deck as guests arrive and depart.  You can charter 'Eclipse' if you want, for $2m per week (including 75 crew).