Our yachting correspondent Edward Kay takes a tour of the new mega-yacht Solandge during the 2014 Monaco Yacht Show
Do you have £1,000,000 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, how about a week cruising on a new mega-yacht named Solandge?
Solandge is 279-foot long and spans six decks. Completed in 2013, this stunning vessel has a cruising range of 6,000 nautical miles due to having fuel tanks with a capacity of almost a quarter of a million litres of fuel and can achieve a maximum speed of 17.5 knots. She comfortably accommodates 12 guests (who are doted upon by a not so insubstantial crew of 29). The basic (bareboat) charter fee for her is £800,000 but by the time you’ve added fuel, food, drink, port fees and 10% tips you’ve literally sailed past the £1,000,000 mark.
What do you get for that? My tour – taken during the 2014 Monaco Yacht Show – began on a massive sun deck where I found huge bars, televisions and a barbecue. Moving on, you’ll naturally find the obligatory Jacuzzis, gym, steam room, sauna, swimming pool, massage room and cinema, but there’s also even a hairdressing salon and a “beach club” with a full compliment of water toys (including scuba gear, sea bobs, jet skis and dinghies).
The interior spaces, designed by Aileen Rodriguez, are staggering. Opulence abounds with inlaid floors, walls and doors, silk curtains and recessed lighting; forty-nine different granites and marbles and thirty-three different types of wood have been used. The art collection, equally, is museum worthy and every piece of furniture and joinery has been custom made.
Each of Solandge’s six staterooms features a different colour palette with floor to ceiling windows and the master suite, occupying the whole of the third deck, has ‘his’ and ‘hers’ bathrooms, a study and 180-degree windows onto a private terrace with yet another Jacuzzi.
The most unusual and spectacular feature of this mega-yacht, though, is ‘The Tree of Life’, a golden tree rising 50 feet from the tank deck to the bridge deck. Herr Lürssen, the president of the firm of shipbuilders that created Solandge, the Lürssen Shipyard, was very proud to inform me that despite rough conditions during sea trials not one of the 1,200 crystal lights fell off.
I’d say £1,000,000 for a week on Solandge is £1,000,000 very well spent.
Solandge is available to charter through Fraser Yachts: + 44 (0) 20 7016 4480.
Edward Kay is a businessman and the yachting correspondent for The Steeple Times. He spends as much time on the water as he possibly can.
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