What will soon be the largest pure sailing yacht in the world has been fitted with its masts: "Y721", the mega yacht owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been standing in the Greenport shipyard in Rotterdam with three impressive masts since the weekend. The operators of the Facebook page "Dutch Yachting" show the luxury ship in a video and numerous pictures on their page. In addition to the masts, the bowsprit has now also been installed.
The three masts had been brought to the shipyard on pontoons in the previous days. Y721" had already changed location on Tuesday and was towed overnight from the responsible Oceanco shipyard in Rotterdam to the competitor Greenport ( YACHT reported >> ). It is not yet known when the Rekord will go on its first test drive and what its real name will be.
Dispute over bridge passage
The Bezos yacht made a lot of headlines in the run-up, and not just because of its record size. Originally, the ship was to have been completely finished at Oceanco, but would then have had to cross the historic Koningshaven bridge in Rotterdam city centre for delivery. However, this is too low for the masts that have now been installed, so the shipyard and owner wanted to have the centre section temporarily dismantled. This brought the citizens of Rotterdam to the barricades, as the bridge, known as "De Hef" because of its H-shape, is not only a listed building, but also has great symbolic significance. After the Second World War, it was the first bridge over the Meuse to be rebuilt. Some opponents of the dismantling campaign had threatened to throw eggs and the like at the yacht if it was delivered.
Due to the great excitement, Oceanco ultimately refrained from submitting a corresponding application and secretly towed "Y721" to another shipyard last week. This involved a major diversions, presumably to avoid pictures of the half-finished ship under the Koningshaven Bridge. A little later, the masts were also brought to the new berth and then erected using large cranes. The sailing fans from "Dutch Yachting" managed to take a barge to the berth and take a look at the yacht from the outside. The video clearly shows some of the details, such as the elegantly integrated hatches and openings and the dark wood staircases. At the same time, you can see that some things, such as the ceiling panelling, are still missing.
Conventional masts instead of Dyna-Rigg
Contrary to earlier predictions, "Y721" is not equipped with a dyna-rig. Many of the current private tall ships are equipped with a so-called dyna-rig, free-standing masts with curved yards. The development originally came from Wilhelm Prölss in the 1960s. The Franconian wanted to use it to propel cargo ships. Bezos' boat, on the other hand, was equipped with conventionally rigged masts with two pairs of spreaders each.
Once completed, "Y721" will be the second largest sailing yacht in the world at 127 metres. Depending on the interpretation, it may even be in the top spot, as the current record holder "A" is a motor yacht with sail support, making its categorisation controversial. The cost of the new build is between 250 and 400 million dollars. Even though "Y721" is repeatedly associated with Jeff Bezos, his ownership has not yet been officially confirmed.
The final name is also not yet known. However, Bezos - or whoever the owner is - seems to have already decided on a christening name: In the video and in the pictures from "Dutch Yachting", a cover can be seen at the stern, under which the future name could be hidden.
