New superyacht for Alinghi's Ernesto Bertarelli?
by Sail-World on 14 Sep 2011
VavaII is substantially longer than the original Vava owned by Ernesto Bertarelli SW
British media are reporting the that a stylish super-yacht said to be worth much more than £100million has been built in Plymouth for a super-rich client.
At 96 metres long, Vava II is the largest private motor yacht ever constructed in Britain
Although details are being kept top secret, it is understood to have been commissioned by Swiss pharmaceutical magnate, and two times America's Cup winner, Ernesto Bertarelli, says the Western Morning News.
His £6.8 billion fortune makes him the 81st richest man in the world, the fifth richest in the UK and his British born former Miss UK wife, Kirsty, the richest woman in the country.
The latest Vava is ranked the 33rd biggest in the world and which dwarfs his previous boat, the 47.30-metre Vava, built in 1996. However it is still well short of 33rd America's Cup rival, Larry Ellison's Rising Sun, the 8th largest in the world with a length of almost 138 meters (453 ft). It reportedly cost over US$200 million to build.
Vava II has just been christened at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth, where about 200 workers have been involved in a two-year construction project after the hull was built in Appledore, Devon.
Formerly known just as Project-55, the vessel has exteriors styled by Hampshire-based yacht design firm Redman Whitely Dixon and interiors by renowned designer Remi Tessier. But the engineering was all carried out in Plymouth, by workers employed by Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd.
The contact had remained with that firm when the luxury yacht brand Devonport Yachts was acquired from Devonport dockyard operator Babcock by Falmouth-based Pendennis Shipyard in February last year.
The creative design was the work of Devonport Yachts, however, and managing director Stephen Hills said the vessel was 'an absolute credit to the capacity of the South West as a super yacht building location'.
Vava II will start sea trials next month (OCT) with the yacht being delivered soon after.
For the full story http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/100million-super-yacht-biggest-built-Britain/story-13320665-detail/story.html!click_here
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