Joining the Gucci-loafer set for a glimpse of superyacht life in Monaco (WP)

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/30/monaco-superyachts-oligarchs-rich/
https://archive.ph/qMrbY

Joining the Gucci-loafer set for a glimpse of superyacht life in Monaco
Sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs don’t seem to have hurt the big-flashy-boat industry.
By William Booth
September 30, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. EDT

MONTE CARLO — Welcome aboard at the Monaco Yacht Show, where the world’s superyachts are bought and sold. Warning: If you find the excesses of the 0.01 percent triggering, avert your eyes.

The scene here is like a parking lot crammed with water toys that cost a cool collective $4.3 billion.

The technical term for the size of these pleasure craft is “enormous.” The top class — the megayachts — are now 100 meters in length — that’s 328 feet, more than a football field from goal line to goal line. There are dozens of these boats on order.

You might think superyacht sales would be super down, what with global inflation, a real estate bust in China, threats of recession, trench warfare in Europe and — dare we say it here? — a planetary climate crisis. Surprise. You would be wrong.

It costs 600 euros ($635) for a day pass to the Monaco Yacht Show. Many well-heeled lookie-loos have come this week to stroll along the blue-carpeted docks and bump into a champagne tent.

And by well-heeled, we mean it. You must take off your shoes to board boats at the show — even if you are the prince of Monaco. So high-end footwear is strewn in front of the gangways, the ubiquitous Gucci loafers jumbled together with sneakers from Dior and Balenciaga that will set you back about $1,000 a pair.

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[kimbutgar]

1. In 2019 I was on a cruise and one of the ports was Monaco

I couldn’t get over the awesome automobiles and the Yachts were so unbelievable in their designs! The yachts cost more than I’d make in a lifetime.

[onethatcares]

2. work harder

and save your pennies........

[kimbutgar]

3. The upkeep on those yachts are insane

I had a friend who had a little boat with a cabin and he finally sold it between the monthly cleaning, docking fees and insurance he said the price was draining his bank account !

[Ace Rothstein]

4. Yeah, we were there this summer.

Saw a yacht with a helicopter on it in the sea.

[forthemiddle]

6. I was there last Sunday

Also on a cruise port stop. The whole town was buzzing about the upcoming Yacht Show.
The money dripping off everything was unexplainable.
It was a neat experience that I’ll never be closer to.

[Hekate]

5. I would like it if writers would stop using a football field as a measuring tool. It's a *boat*...

So how about compare it to the size of a battleship? Or an oil tanker? Or maybe one of those 5-story cruise ships?

Those super-yachts are a study in wretched excess. Here at the DU we have 4 or 5 people who periodically nag and shame us all for our carbon footprints — somehow I think the entire membership of DU can’t even come close to the wastage of a couple of those pleasure boats.

[onethatcares]

7. remember

a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. It also means "break out another thousand".

I've been on the throw side quite a few times, nothing above 21 ft long with outboards but you gotta use em or just employ a mechanic part time. The less you use them, the more they break down