World’s Largest Sloop Sailboat – Sailing Mega Yacht Mirabella V.
Might as well start at the top. Regatta Gear markets international yachting apparel, and when it comes to the best place to wear our line of crew gear, there’s no place like a luxury yacht.
The term luxury yacht refers to very expensive, privately owned yachts which are professionally crewed. Also known as a Super Yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht. Giga yachts or Mega yachts are vessels over 100 meters in length. The world’s largest yacht is the 170-meter mega-cruiser Eclipse.
But the Regatta Gear team is partial to the sailing yachts, and there exist none finer a vessel in that category than the 75-meter Mirabella V. We know we’re biased, but we can’t help thinking how great its 16-member crew would look in our tees, vests, splash jackets, techno jackets, pullovers and sailing pants. It’s the sort of sailing craft our gear was made for.
The sloop-rigged Mirabella V was built and launched in 2003 as part of a fleet of super-yachts initially owned by Joe Vittoria, former Chairman and CEO of the Avis car rental company, and used for luxury private charters. Mirabella V’s build cost was somewhere between $50 million and $130 million. The yacht was designed for Vittoria by Irish-based, New Zealand-born yacht-designer Ron Holland. Vittoria ‘s specifications called for a yacht which would combine fast sailing with the sort of luxury previously available only in motor yachts.
Historically, yachts more than about 25 meters long were typically built with more than one mast in order to divide a vessel’s sail area into smaller and more-easily handled units. Today’s technologies have improved reliability of both larger sails and spars and simplified their handling, allowing Mirabella V to be constructed with the largest mast and largest jib of any sailing craft ever built.
Mirabella V can reach speed of 14.5 knots and has a range of 3,000 nautical miles. Her mast extends 88.5 meters (292 ft.) above the waterline, almost twice the height of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London. The compression load at the base of the mast is over 440 tons.
The boat has a master suite on the main deck and six cabins for as many as 12 guests. To avoid scuffing the teak wood decks, visitors are asked by the crew to remove their shoes. The boat’s lazarette, similar to a garage, has a 29-foot (8.8 meters)-long tender for transporting guests to shore. Also on the boat are jet skis, ski boats, kayaks and three remote-controlled models of Mirabella V.
Vittoria said in 2010 that he rented the boat for charters for up to US$420,000 a week, and the boat was usually chartered for about 12 weeks a year. All the Mirabellas, including Mirabella V, were subsequently sold and are now owned and operated by others. The Vittoria family has no connection with them any longer. Under her new ownership, Mirabella V is no longer available for charter.
Still, we can dream. Large enough to hold a double-decker bus in her hull, Mirabella V is not only big, she is also beautiful – particularly under full sail. To find out more about this queen of the seas (with some great photos included), go to http://yachtpals.com/largest-sailboat-4155.