Yacht news

Jaime Botin, part of the Satander banking dynasty, had been caught transporting a Picasso painting on his 67-meter sailing yacht Adix back in 2015. Now Madrid courts have fined the Spanish billionaire for €52.4 million and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.Botin, an active art collector, purchased Picasso's "Head of a Young Woman" painting back in 1977 for his collection. In February 2013, he tried to sell the painting at a Christies' auction in London but the art work couldn't leave Spain at their culture ministry's decision.Spain has some of the strictest laws when it comes to national heritage. According to them, any work of art over 100 years old that is considered culturally important in the view of their culture ministry can be deemed a national treasure, requiring its owner to get a permit in order to transport it out of Spain. Botin's permit was denied back in 2012.In 2015, Botin, according to Bloomberg, had his driver transport the painting from his Madrid home to Valencia where his 67-meter sailing yacht Adix was docked. When setting sail in June 2015, her captain didn't include the artwork on the list of onboard items. Soon after it set sail for Corsica, from where Botin had chartered a jet to ferry it to Geneva where he intended to keep it according to the publication.Tipped off that Botin's permit for the export of the Picasso hadn't gone through earlier, they inspected the yacht and found the painting in the captain's cabin.Adix itself is currently in Australia, finishing up her refit programme at the yard Brisbane. The yacht is set to remain in the South Pacific up to the America's Cup in Auckland in 2021. The painting found onboard the yacht in 2015 had an estimated value of $27 million, with experts saying it could now be even more. It has since become the property of the Spanish State.With a net worth valued by Forbes at $1.7 billion, Jaime Botin is the largest shareholder of Spanish bank Bankinter and a member of Spain's most prominent banking families. His great grandfather had founded Spain's largest bank, Santander.

Richard Matthews, original founder of Oyster Yachts, has returned to its board as a non-executive director. This follows Richard Hadida buying the company in 2018. Matthews had founded the sailing yacht manufacturer back in 1973.Oyster Yachts built its first 32ft sailing boat in 1973. From there it gradually extended its range of sailing yachts finding its sweet spot in 56ft to 125ft units designed by Robert Humphreys. In 2008 the company was sold to private equity firm Balmoral Capital for £70 million, before the firm disposed of it to HTP Investments for £15 million in 2012.Following a failure of the internal hull structure on Polina Star III, an Oyster 825 model, which led to the yacht sinking in 2015. This led to a recall of 4 other units and a dent in the builder's cash flow despite a £83 million order book in 2017. The following year, the company went into administration, before being purchased by Richard Hadida.Hadida is mostly known for founding Evolution Gaming, a company that powers most online casino games and currently trades on the Swedish stock market with a market cap of near €5 billion. His fried, yacht owner and automotive mogul Eddie Jordan was formerly also involved in the takeover bid with Oyster but later backed out."It is hugely important to me personally that the founder of the brand [Richard Matthews] I hold so close to my heart has given it his seal of approval by joining our board." Hadida explained. "Having restored the company to its former glory with the support of a fantastic team – from talented craftsmen to dedicated management – this feels like confirmation that Oyster is once again synonymous with quality and excellence, just as it was when Richard founded it back in 1973".

Abeking & Rasmussen have confirmed the launch of their new 68-meter superyacht, Soaring. The yacht had emerged out of her shed earlier this week and has now been lowered into the water for the first time this morning.Designed by Focus Yacht Design and project managed by Superyacht Technical Services, the yacht, which is set to become available for charter in the summer 2020, comes in at a size of over 1,500 GT.Soaring's upper deck features its master suite with a private owner's aft deck and a library. The yacht's remaining 5 guest cabins will be located on the main deck and catered to by a crew of 17.

Yesterday, at the Boot exhibition in Dusseldorf, Il Cantiere del Pardo presented the new Grand Soleil 44 Performance. This is a project of Matteo Polly, the best designer in the offshore sector, rated, which is designed to become a reference boat in the racing sector ORC. The new Cantiere del Pardo challenge is called Grand Soleil 44. To win this bid, the shipyard turned to a designer who was best able to interpret the concept of a sports building on racetracks around the world in recent years. This new 44-foot kit complements the Grand Soleil Yachts Performance range, designed for more sporty owners looking for a high-performance boat that can deliver results even in a regatta, located between the GS 34, GS 48 and GS 58. As already noted on board the Grand Soleil 48, the GS 44 will also be available in two versions: the layout will be more suitable for cruising, with a different layout of the sail and deck plan to simplify maneuvers, the other will be more Race for the best on the regatta. Style and elegance complement the DNA of this new 44-foot footer, which feels a family of other models in this line. Despite the very light and sporty body, the liveliness of the interior is surprising in how much volume you can use and perceive. Following the trends of the latest Grand Soleil Performance models, even on 44-foot deck places, both for racing and for enjoying a boat on a cruise, they are truly remarkable, the dimensions of the cabin are significantly increased compared to all previous models. Among the distinguishing characteristics of the boat is the location of the mast in a rather opposite direction, which will increase the sail area for bow sails in order to maximize the characteristics taking into account the average Mediterranean conditions. A choice that also allowed the cabin layout to be promoted and thus have a larger cabin than previous models. The interior layout includes three cabins and two bathrooms. The spaces below the deck have a generous beam that offers large and comfortable volumes: the kitchen is located on the left, the dining room consists of a comfortable sofa with a dining table in the center, which can accommodate up to 8 persons. Master-suite, with a comfortable double bed, a sofa and a private bathroom, is really large for a 44-foot case with a sporty character. To make the interior even more comfortable, there is a wonderful natural brightness that penetrates through the various windows of the hull and onto the deck.