Ummmm... BIG Boats
I'd like to have a boat. I'd dig jumping into a clean, slick machine with a chipper crew and have them take me out into the blue oceans. I'd love to hop on board my white vehicle and end up in Baltimore. Or Rio de Janeiro. Or Madrid.
So.... what about people that have so many boats they need to keep outdoing themselves with each new iteration? I mean, if you start with a canoe, you're going to want a row boat soon enough. Then a jet ski. Then... well... you get the idea.
And that is what's happening with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, whose boats keep getting more an more mind-boggling. Lets jump back to June, 2009, when he launched the longest yacht in the world: the Dubai, measuring 168 meters (551 feet).
Excuse me, but that looks like a destroyer. Now, what does this massive boat have? Um, how about two heli-pads, a pool, a cinema, a library, a restaurant, a private garden and a master bedroom that spans an INSANE 465 square meters (5,000 square feet). Of course, it wouldn't be complete without some Russian paranoia: This yacht has a missile defense system that can jam incoming missiles and it has a secret underwater entrance for the yacht's very-own submarine. You can never be too safe. It cost $350 million.
Well, that was back in June. Abramovich has since dumped the Dubai on someone else and he has proudly launched his NEW boat, three months later. This is his new baby, the Eclipse.
Oh, the Eclipse cost $1.2 billion. ONE POINT TWO BILLION USD.
So.... what about people that have so many boats they need to keep outdoing themselves with each new iteration? I mean, if you start with a canoe, you're going to want a row boat soon enough. Then a jet ski. Then... well... you get the idea.
And that is what's happening with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, whose boats keep getting more an more mind-boggling. Lets jump back to June, 2009, when he launched the longest yacht in the world: the Dubai, measuring 168 meters (551 feet).
Excuse me, but that looks like a destroyer. Now, what does this massive boat have? Um, how about two heli-pads, a pool, a cinema, a library, a restaurant, a private garden and a master bedroom that spans an INSANE 465 square meters (5,000 square feet). Of course, it wouldn't be complete without some Russian paranoia: This yacht has a missile defense system that can jam incoming missiles and it has a secret underwater entrance for the yacht's very-own submarine. You can never be too safe. It cost $350 million.Well, that was back in June. Abramovich has since dumped the Dubai on someone else and he has proudly launched his NEW boat, three months later. This is his new baby, the Eclipse.
Oh, the Eclipse cost $1.2 billion. ONE POINT TWO BILLION USD.
The new Eclipse makes the Dubai look like a tricycle. It's not that much longer, it tops out at 170 meters (557 feet), but it does shame Dubai with regards to amenities. It matches the two helipads, the missile defense system, the boat nestled in back and the mini-submarine, but adds another swimming pool (making two), several hot tubs, a disco room, six-foot movie screens in all of its 11 guest
cabins and missile-proof windows.The boat has another improvement that's quite... um... unique. Apparently Abramovich is concerned about privacy, which is funny because the boat doesn't really "blend in." So, since missiles are under control, the boat had to boost its defense by including a system that impedes with any cameras aimed towards the ship.
What?
Yes, this boat has the ability to locate a camera's CCD and shoot a bright light at it, killing any photographs being taken. Is this boat going could join the future Russian navy? i mean... that sounds insane. Lucky for Abramovich, he, himself, will be able to take some pics of his baby; The system isn't live at all times.
I can't wait for real pictures of this boat to circulate. Opulence. Opulence. Opulence.
I don't even own a bike.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say he may be compensating for something.
I think that's a crowded limb, JMS.