The hidden forces in yachting

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.

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".

Turkish shipyard Numarine has announced the sale of 5 yachts from its XP series, bringing the total in the series up to 10. Four of these will be 26-meters in length and one 32-meters."These achievements indicate the relevance and popularity of the series" commented Numarine founder Omer Malaz. "We are very pleased that five more international customers will be able to experience what high quality and impeccable Numarine style are."All built on the same platform with identical layouts, the four 26XP yachts will feature a spacious flybridge, a main salon on the main deck and 4 guest cabins on the lower deck. Interior designs and finishes will be customised to the owner's tastes.The only substantial difference between the units will be the hulls, with one of them being semi-displacement with MAN engines of 1,200hp each, whilst the remaining ones will be displacement units with engines of 560-800hp each also manufactured by MAN.The 26XP and 32XP series were both designed by Can Yalman with naval architecture by Umberto Tagliavini. The Numarine 32XP model was being marketed at just under €9.3 million whilst the 26XP was asking just over €3.8 million.

Italian shipyard Sanlorenzo has confirmed the launched of its 4th 52-meter yacht, Lady Lena. Purchased by her owner in 2018, she is set to be delivered in March 2020. Another four units of the Steel 52 series are currently under construction at the yard.Coming in at 499 gross tons, the 52 Steel was formerly the flagship series of Sanlorenzo before the introduction of larger models to the mix. Designed by Mauro Micheli from Officina Italiana Design, the first unit launched was Seven Sins.Amongst Lady Lena key features, similarly to her sisterships, is a 94-square-meter beach club which features two fold-out platforms on both sides of the yacht. A lounge area is located directly underneath a pool with a glass bottom aft of the main deck. Sistership Seven SinsPowered by twin MTU engines, Lady Lena will reach a top speed of 17 knots and cruise at 15 knots. At an economical speed of 11 knots, she will be able to cross the Atlantic with a 4,000 nm max range.One of the world's largest yacht shipyards, Sanlorenzo went public in December 2019 at a market cap of just over €550 million on the Italian stock exchange. In 2018, the group posted revenues of €327 million, a third of which came from its superyacht division.