Superyacht's entertainment set-up worth as much as your home

The luxurious 48m superyacht Thalia is at the Viaduct for the cup. Photo / Paul Estcourt

It's half a rugby field of gleaming teak, mahogany and leather tiling, and its audio-visual system is worth as much as your house: meet Thalia, the latest addition to Auckland's waterfront.

The 48m ketch has berthed near the Viaduct Harbour to await the imminent arrival of its owner, Russian businessman Mikhail Khimich.

Mr Khimich has developed a strong affinity for New Zealand since a visit to Auckland to check on a 12-month refit of the ketch in 2008.

The Moscow-based entrepreneur has since bought Waiwera Water and Thermal Resort and will cheer the All Blacks from the company's corporate box at Eden Park during the cup finals.

Thalia will be his home during the tournament and the Herald was granted an exclusive tour of the yacht.

The superyacht - with a steel hull, aluminium structure and clad with teak - is described by its Australian skipper, Luke Tempest, 31, as a "real sailor's boat".

The eight-person crew - including six New Zealanders - uses the boat's electric hydraulics to reach speeds of up to 17 knots.

Mr Tempest said that since 2008 the boat had "hung down around the South Pacific" cruising around Australia, Indonesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.

The yacht is almost self-sufficient. Crew make their own water, treat their sewage and even have a workshop to fix anything that could go wrong with the 1150-horsepower twin turbo engine.

But there's still plenty of room for luxury. There's satellite internet and TV, a gym, a huge galley for the full-time chef and a theatre room with a $500,000 audio-visual system - "quite small for these types of boats".

When the boat is anchored, guests can take out a 185-horsepower tender for a spot of wakeboarding or water-skiing, or bounce off a giant inflatable water trampoline.

Top-range fishing gear is kept on board - apparently black marlins are plentiful south of the Galapagos Islands - as well as diving gear.

Mr Tempest did not know how much Thalia cost to build in 1994 but said it would now be worth "somewhere in the mid-teen million euros".

Waiwera Thermal Resort general manager Dixon McIvor said Mr Khimich had not yet arrived but "he is due very soon" and would be attending the All Blacks' games.

"He's a New Zealand fan and with that comes the All Blacks and what we're doing with rugby across the board from grassroots level right through - it's a big interest with him."

Waiwera had invested in rugby at Mt Albert Grammar School and the North Harbour Silverdale Rugby Club, Mr McIvor said.

Mr Khimich wanted to turn Waiwera Water into the top premium brand water in the world and the 136-year-old company had started a rebranding campaign with a focus on its Kiwi heritage.

Mr Khimich felt strongly about New Zealand, especially about Maori culture, said Mr McIvor, and wanted to become a New Zealand resident.