Lifestyle & Dreams
Yacht Auctions — Bid for your Dream
Pre-announcing a tranche of beautiful yachts available through worldwide government auctions. Coming soon to an auction catalogue near you…
Going once, going twice
Sold to that lady over there with stars in her eyes.
Yes, you’ve always dreamed of buying a yacht and sailing away to a tropical paradise.
Well, the good news is that very soon there will be some real bargains to be picked up and you could well make your dreams come true.
Auctions — a realistic yacht purchase process
I wrote recently about the Pros and Cons of buying a boat at government surplus auctions. It’s a well known approach for people who like to take a chance when buying aboat, and for those who really know what they are doing.
Of course there’s risk involved but if you are careful you can pick up a decent yacht for a song. Are you one of them?
And have you got the ready cash?
Some of these boats have been owned by drug runners and other criminals and have been the subject of seizures by the police, customs or other government agencies.
And soon we’ll see more of them in the catalogues of government surplus auctions.
What’s more, I predict that government surplus auctions are going to be a real growth business and if I could I would be investing in them right now.
Here are a few:
Eclipse (owner: Roman Abrahmovich)
According to Marinetraffic which tracks ships and yachts with AIS (Automated Identification System) a few days ago, Eclipse was in Sint Maarten in the West Indies. One assumes that the Dutch government will be interested.
Roman Abrahmovich also owns another megayacht, Solaris, currently in Barcelona.
God, it must be tough for these guys.
Can you imagine what $500 million would do to improve the lot of the people of say, St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. Just 1 superyacht sale could transform their lives.
It’s just the start
This week The White House announced that the following Russian oligarchs (and their close families) would be subject to sanctions:
- Nikolai Tokarev
- Boris Rotenberg
- Arkady Rotenberg
- Sergei Chemezov
- Igor Shuvalov
- Yevgeniy Prigozhin
- Alisher Usmanov
Alisher Usmanov and Dilbar
According to the BBC, he is said to be one of Mr Putin’s favourite oligarchs, and also one of the richest, worth an estimated $17.6bn (Forbes). A former professional fencer, the EU describes him as a “businessman-official” who helps the president solve his business problems. Yeh, I’ll bet. And the last picture I saw he was way out of shape. I can’t think what he’s fencing these days.
This oligarch’s megayacht ‘Dilbar’ reportedly cost $800 million. Yes, that’s right, Dilbar NOT Dilbert. It’s said to be named after his mother. Some family.
Just think, it could be knocked down at auction for maybe half that.
Looking at Dilbar’s ensign, it could be that she’s registered in the Cayman Islands. That’s another Caribbean island stuffed with private banks and poor people.
And then…
There’s all that property in London, Paris, New York and LA owned by oligarchs. And private jets too, although none of these have comparable price tags to the yachts.
But I’m just wondering. Who will be bidding for all these goodies when the oligarchs have no money?
I’m just remembering that you can also add football clubs to that list, although there might be a private auction for Chelsea Football Club (estimate £3 billion). Get Abrahmovich to do a job lot and throw in his £150m house in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, London, which is reportedly up for sale.
Maybe it’s more realistic to dream about bidding for a home in The Hamptons, Long Island, or a town mansion in Berkeley Square, London — with a jet and helicopter thrown in. You could consider a bid on an estate near Mar-a-Lago in Florida (I heard the area was popular with Russians) although I can’t think of anyone sane who’d want to bid for a place in that tacky neighbourhood?
The BBC again, on Usmanov:
In the UK, his main visible investments are in property. In London he owns Beechwood House, a £65m country house with grounds in the heart of the city, and just outside London in Surrey, he owns a Tudor mansion, Sutton Place. Both have been frozen by UK authorities.
And then you’d still have change from what a megayacht would have cost, even at auction.
So, as you’d expect, I’m eagerly tracking all the government auction sites.
And you? Will you be bidding?
If you’re getting the itch to follow that dream then bear in mind that the estimated annual running costs for Usmanov’s ‘Dilbar’ are $50 — $80 million. That’s his megayacht, NOT his mother. But you never know…
Not that I want to put you off bidding against me, but…
About me: I write on a variety of topics including humor, tech and travel, together with daily news events and the minutiae of daily life on a boat. I also write techno-thrillers…and about…
…changing my boat for something larger in the near future
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