1 Eos – 305 feet (including bowsprit) – launched 2006
Built by Lussen in Germany and designed by Bill Langan. Constructed of aluminium. Maximum speed 16 knots.
The schooner was built, under conditions of great secrecy, for the television pioneer, film maker and Internet mogul, Barry Diller. Although in this list she figures as the world’s largest yacht, it depends whether her bowsprit is included in the equation. Eos is a vessel you either love or hate, depending on whether you appreciate the blending of the old with the new, or whether you class it as a miss-match or mutation. She is named after the Greek goddess Eos, the “Bringer of Dawn”, who rises from the ocean each morning to open the gates of heaven to allow Apollo to ride his chariot across the sky. She features a figurehead of von Furstenberg sculpted by Anh Duong, a French born American artist, known for her self portraits.
Not a lot is known about the vessel’s interior. It is believed to have a glass staircase and impressive panoramic views astern. The interior accommodates 16 guests in the height of luxury, with 21 crew members to sail and maintain the boat. She carries the usual array of water toys such as small powerboats and jet skis and is valued in excess of $150 million US.
In 2012 the yacht caught fire while near Oslo in Norway. The owner and his wife were fortunately ashore at the time, but the crew and later the Norwegian fire department were able to extinguish it without any personal injuries, although a significant amount of damage was done to the top floors of the vessel.
Dream Symphony – not yet launched – but due to beat them all!
Due to be launched in 2016, Dream Symphony is set to eclipse the top 3 largest sailing yachts in the world by a massive amount, at an incredible 462 feet overall. Designed by Ken Freivokh and Dykstra Naval Architects (who also designed the iconic Maltese Falcon), she is being built by Dream Ship Victory in Turkey.
She will be built primarily of wood, laminated to reduce weight and to cope with the stresses involved. The wood is Iroko, an African hardwood which is tough, dense and very durable. In some places in the world it is held to be sacred, inhabited by powerful spirits. In Yoruba, the felling of an Iroko tree is said to result in devastating misfortune and special rites have to be performed before the tree is cut down. Hopefully this will not be the case with Dream Symphony. Glass fibre is also being used as an external protectant to provide sufficient strength and stiffness to withstand the forces of hydrodynamic and rigging loads. She will carry four masts, with a staysail-configured sail area of 5,000 square meters. There will be two decks with a swimming pool/helipad in the stern areas.
It will be interesting to follow her progress and see what records she will break. Watch this space!
And finally:-
Lists are always controversial; what do you include or miss out, how do you measure those you’ve listed? I apologise if I’ve neglected to mention one of the boats on your list; perhaps you can let me know and that could be the subject of another article.
Having read about these bigger and better yachts, which certainly make a statement and are undoubtedly intended to go one better than everybody else – is that really what sailing is all about? There is a lot to be said for sailing a boat that we can safely operate short-handed. A relatively small 30- 50 foot yacht can go more or less anywhere and anchor or moor up in far more locations than a super-mega-yacht and you don’t have to be a billionaire to own one.
Author - Dee White