Fuel is a major expense (depending on the size of your boat, it can cost up to $2,000 an hour just to go anywhere), staff are expensive (a big boat like Octopus could have as many as 50 staff at the height of summer) and just parking the things can cost a small fortune.
At the recent Olympic Games in London, for example, prime berths in central London – where Frank Lowy’s boat was stationed – were going for as much as $15,000 a day.
So at the end of the day, the message is simple: If you are looking for a great investment, steer well clear of a super-yacht.
But if you are looking for a status symbol that screams “here’s how rich I am” then get your lifejacket and head for the nearest marina.
Here are five Rich List boat lovers:
Solomon Lew has not one super-yacht but two: the 54-metre Maridome and his other boat, Texas. The former – which reportedly sleeps 10, has a dancefloor and once sported a mini-submarine – hit the headlines after a crash with another wealthy entrepreneur’s boat in a Florida shipyard. Wendy McCaw, a mobile phone billionaire turned media mogul, has sued Lew over the crash, which allegedly left a damage bill of $US500,000.
James Packer has bought and sold a few super-yachts in his time, but the family favourite remains the Arctic P, a former ocean-going tug boat that was purchased by James’ late father Kerry. The Arctic P was reported to have been docked in Auckland last week, but St Tropez and Sydney Harbour are its more regular haunts.
The Lowy family’s vessel, Ilona, was last spotted at the Olympics, but has travelled the world from Europe to Asia and all points in between. The boat has some nifty features, including a helipad that converts to a hangar, a special expandable table that accommodates up to 14 diners and technology that allows the boat to be refuelled by helicopter.
Reg Grundy’s 70.5 metre super-yacht Reborn (formerly known as Boadicea) has five decks and can accommodate up to 14 guests. Clearly Grundy loves to entertain – the yacht features a 14-seat cinema, a stage and a piano bar. When the boat was built in 1999, it even featured a real grass lawn where the Grundy family’s dogs could lounge in comfort.
Like most things in Clive Palmer’s life, super-yachts have caused him a bit of controversy. In 2009, he was roundly criticised for buying a $5 million yacht for his daughter as a 15th birthday present. Still, Palmer could end up dwarfing the likes of Lowy and Packer – the Titanic 2 ocean liner he plans to build would be the ultimate marine status symbol.
James Thomson is a former editor of BRW’s Rich 200 and the publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
