Wow, I wonder if this baby is as unsinkable as the Titanic?

Say hello to the world’s largest sailing superyacht, built for Russian Andrey Melnichenko and currently on its test voyage off the coast of Germany. This monster has knocked a rather old record out of the park, the previous record holder being the 359-foot [109 metre] Sea Cloud launched in 1931.

The operative word here is ‘sailing’, other superyachts measuring in at as much as 180 metres but relying solely on engine power, whereas Melnichenko’s new toy will be a ‘sail-assisted motor yacht’.

Let’s take a moment to crunch some numbers courtesy of the Telegraph:

At 468 feet [143 m] in length and with three masts 300 feet high [91 m], Sailing Yacht A will feature eight floors and an underwater observation deck…

Believed to have cost more than £260 million (R5,5 billion), it was built by a German shipyard, Nobiskrug, and designed by Philippe Starck, the Frenchman known for his furniture designs and industrial style.

Powered by “two diesel engines and two electric motors which drive five-bladed adjustable pitch propellers”… the vessel can reach a top speed of 24mph [39 kmh] , while its cruising speed is 18mph [29 kmh].

It accommodates up to 20 guests with a crew of 54, and features a steel hull and a teak deck.

While the ship is ready to sail, the interior work, “where the cash really gets splashed”, will take several more months…

So just the R5,5 billion to get yourself one of these – I think we can admit that this might be out of reach for most of us. You can get a good jump start though if you grab yourself a ticket for tomorrow’s Powerball lottery draw, R3,1 billion for offer there. How you make up the rest is up to you, we won’t ask any questions.

[source:telegraph]