KEY POINTS:
Just before Christmas the latest addition to an elite fleet of New Zealand-made floating status symbols for the super rich slipped into the Waitemata Harbour.
Red Dragon, a massive 52m grey sloop, took 21 months to construct at Auckland's Alloy Yachts and was described by her owner, retired Belgian food tycoon Baron Guy Ullens, as "a work of art".
Baron Ullens' description of his new toy as a form of art is not one he would have used lightly. The septuagenarian is both a passionate yachtsman and an acclaimed art collector. Six months ago he sold 14 Turner watercolours for £10 million ($26 million) at Sotheby's in London.
Having spent something in the order of $50 million on Red Dragon, Ullens joins a small but growing clique of multimillionaires and billionaires for whom one of the ultimate ways to show off their riches - aside from hanging masterpieces on the wall - is with a floating gin palace longer than half a rugby field.
"Private yachts have been growing steadily larger over time," says Alloy Yachts managing director Tony Hambrook.
His company was the first in New Zealand to build a 50m-plus yacht, a milestone it achieved in 2002 with the launch of the 53m ketch Salperton. Red Dragon was Alloy's fourth project over 50m, and the yard is currently building a 58m sloop, Kokomo, and a 52m ketch, Mondango.
"The trend towards larger sailing yachts has been facilitated by increasingly sophisticated sail-handling systems, which enable relatively small crews to handle very powerful rigs and sails," Hambrook says.
What do the mega-rich buyers of superyachts get for their multimillion-dollar investments? Essentially a self-contained floating haven designed to cater to their individual tastes and hobbies.
"Typically, the owners of these yachts enjoy getting away to remote places, where they can relax with family and friends. However, many of them need to stay in touch with business interests, so worldwide communications systems, including internet connection, are important," says Hambrook.
"The yachts need to be self-sufficient for long periods, so, in effect they have all the infrastructure of a town or village. They must be able to generate their own electricity, convert seawater to freshwater and store it, treat and hold sewage and waste, maintain on-board climate control in a wide range of conditions, store and refrigerate food and supplies and carry sufficient fuel to keep going for long periods."
For Ullens, whose business interests include owning the global Weightwatchers brand, the idea of building a vessel capable of long periods of self-sufficiency at sea obviously appealed.
As well as boasting an owner's bedroom suite, three guest suites and five crew cabins (all with ensuite bathrooms), Red Dragon has a gymnasium and a desalination plant capable of supplying the yacht with up to 16,000 litres of fresh water a day.
Also on board are two 50-inch LCD TV screens and ten 20-inch screens - part of a sophisticated centrally controllable music and video entertainment system.
"In terms of entertainment, the yachts typically carry large digital music and movie libraries and have access to satellite TV," says Hambrook.
"The entertainment systems can often be individually accessed in the guest cabins. Some owners, however, discourage the idea of guests (or offspring) lounging in their suites watching TV while paradise beckons outside. So, a number of recent projects have stipulated no in-cabin TVs."
He says yacht buyers are increasingly requesting on-board gymnasiums, and vessels of this type will also be decked out with an array of water-sports equipment, including sailing dinghies, windsurfers, kayaks, waterskis, scuba gear and fishing equipment.
Jeweller Michael Hill clearly had remote island adventuring in mind when he commissioned his new 34m luxury "expedition-style" motor yacht, VvS1, which was launched in April.
As well as the usual spacious entertainment areas and sumptuous bedroom suites, VvS1 (a name taken from the clarity scale used to classify diamonds) also includes a large gamefishing cockpit complete with live bait tanks and fridge/freezer units.
Also on board the VvS1 are two smaller boats including a 6.5m tender which can be used for "serious fishing and expeditions away from the mother ship".
But if size matters in the nautical show-off world of the self-made businessman, then billionaire Graeme Hart's towering 58m yacht Ulysses is the current trophy holder in this part of the world.
Hart's boat, bought for US$20 million nine years ago, is now reportedly worth around US$100 million ($130 million) after a massive refit following a fire which gutted the vessel in 2002. Ulysses has seven staterooms to accommodate 14 guests, plus nine crew cabins.
Even Ulysses, however, looks like a small-fry vessel on the global superyacht stage. When Larry Ellison spent time in Auckland in 2003 overseeing his syndicate's challenge for the America's Cup, the Oracle founder and mega-rich yachting fanatic's 74m vessel Katana was one of the head-turning attractions at the Viaduct.
Ellison now has an even bigger toy: the 138m Rising Sun, which cost him more US$200 million, and which, according to urban legend, grew in length by 18m during the construction process just so Ellison could have a bigger boat than Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who owns the 128m Octopus.
Rising Sun's features include an indoor swimming pool, cinema and wine cellar.
The allure of being able to travel the world in your own six-star floating mansion is certainly compelling. But for those interested in sampling the luxury yachting life without committing themselves to a multimillion-dollar investment, chartering a superyacht is the obvious option.
Given that annual running costs on a large private yacht are typically 10 to 15 per cent of the vessel's purchase price, owners often seek to recoup some of the expense by hiring their yachts out when they are not making use of them themselves.
Hill's motor yacht, for example, is available for US$79,000 a week plus provisioning costs.
For those on a slightly tighter budget, entrepreneur Barry Colman's 30m motor yacht Liberte can be chartered for $5000 a night (a mere $35,000 a week) - which, as the yacht's marketing material points out, works out to be a modest $1250 per couple per night for eight friends wanting to share a nautical experience on the four-stateroom vessel.
However, if you do have a few million burning a hole in your wallet and a thirst to join the superyacht brigade, there are plenty of marine brokers happy to match you up with the vessel of your dreams.
Hambrook says Alloy Yachts can accommodate up to four yachtbuilding projects simultaneously. The next available start date is in 2010.
