# Mirabella V trys Simpson Lagoon Bridge!



## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

The Facts:

*Mirabella V*, 2004, Length 75.2 m (247 ft), *Beam 14.8 m 49 ft*, Weight 1004 tonnes.

*Simpson Lagoon Bridge*, St Martin *width 16.75 m 55 ft*. , Weight: Attached to the Earth

Skipper: Some Aussie Dude.

Reason for Entry: Dude looking for new job????????????

Audience: Cruisers  in dinks and viewing platform at Yacht Club 

Action: See Photos Below

Photo 1: "The Bow was easy...."
Photo 2: "Cap'n the puffy thing won't fit!"
Photo 3: "If you look up you'll see the spread.....ers...!"
Photo 4: "Witnesses"
Photo 5: "Fat ass."


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## cormeum (Aug 17, 2009)

Plenty of room!


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

"Here mate, hold my beer and watch this!"


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

That thing really is a bit of a 'see what I can buy' white elephant. It's not particularly attractive, esp amongst the many gorgeous classics you find at the various Caribbean ports, and it's too tall for most any harbour bridge worldwide.


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## rmeador (Jan 16, 2010)

That is such an awesome boat. I seem to recall seeing Mirabella IV for sale recently. If I only had a spare $7M or so...


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

Faster said:


> That thing really is a bit of a 'see what I can buy' white elephant. It's not particularly attractive, esp amongst the many gorgeous classics you find at the various Caribbean ports, and it's too tall for most any harbour bridge worldwide.


It's certainly a status symbol, but I disagree with your opinion. I think she's a beaut!


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

That's INSANE!!! What do they use for rigging, bridge cable???


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## velero (Dec 19, 2001)

I was going to charter her for a week @ 300,000/week (2007). I called 300 of my friends and asked them if they would join me. Ok we had a plan - then I went back to the website and it said that the max number of guest was *14*!!!!! OMG.

Mirabella V, Ltd. - Construction Diary

Sailing Yacht - Mirabella V - Vosper Thornycroft - Completed Superyachts on Superyacht Times .com

It was probalby good that the plan did not work I cant imagine calling a diesel truck to fill her up at $5 a gallon with twin 1066hp engines and 15,000 gallons fuel capacity. The asking price is 29,000,000 euros/50.000,000 US


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## velero (Dec 19, 2001)

Then I wanted to charters this one because the beam is only 42ft and could easily passs thru the Simpson Lagoon bridge....... and then I woke up!!!!

Maltese Falcon


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

If you ever get the opportunity to read the book about the "Maltese Falcon" entitled "Mine's Bigger" its a real education. My wife purchased the book for me last fall and I couldn't put it down. The specifications of the craft are beyond belief and the cost was mind boggling. 

Cheers,

Gary


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## Sabreman (Sep 23, 2006)

You have to try extra hard to make boats this ugly.

1' clearance isn't that big a deal for these vessels. Ships routinely pass through the Panama Canal with similar clearance. Of course, they have 4 or 8 locomotives holding them in the center of the lock.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

Mark,
Thanks for the fun photos. You could have named this thread "Mirabella VS Simpson Lagoon Bridge!" 
I'm with Faster on this as this boat is not to my taste, no matter how much money I had.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Those boats are obviously major technical achievements on many levels, esp the systems on the Maltese Falcon, but beyond that, I dunno.......

OK - these are for you fans:














































More to my liking:

Salperton










Sojourner










Endeavour










And others:


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

I'm sorry but anyone who says this is ugly has all their taste in their mouths (with respect).

She may be huge and not as pretty as a Catalina 23 (yeah right) but geez, that's a serious piece of kit. And I bet she's tooling along at a cool 25 knots right there.










If you want to see ugly, have a look at Athena, she's presently under wraps in Auckland for a repaint and refit, you can see she needs it real bad.










Thanks for the loan of the picture BTW.


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

Yep, that's kinda not pretty at all!


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

So if its ugly just 'cause its big, then how about this trashy looking boat.










Launched in Auckland today by local superyacht builder Alloy Yachts. She's 67 metres - how ugly is that?!?!?

If you care about really ugly things, read about it here:

67m Sailing Yacht Vertigo launched by Alloy Yachts - Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

Omatako said:


> So if its ugly just 'cause its big, then how about this trashy looking boat.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That right there is boatporn, pure and simple.


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

Looks like a luxury submarine at this point!


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## rmeador (Jan 16, 2010)

LandLocked66c said:


> Looks like a luxury submarine at this point!


I've always kinda wondered why there aren't luxury submarines. If I had a couple billion dollars, after I bought a superyacht or two (sail, of course), I'd probably buy a submarine. Also, Vertigo is my new favorite megayacht.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Probably just me, but I'd suggest that Joe Vittoria has better taste when it comes to tenders, than the Mother Ship...








For me, the true test of beauty in a yacht, is that she looks good from every imaginable angle... MIRABELLA V fails on that score, IMHO...

That's OK, he probably wouldn't think very much of my boat, either...


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

That's insane! How many little boats does that Yacht feed on a day?


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## Omatako (Sep 14, 2003)

rmeador said:


> I've always kinda wondered why there aren't luxury submarines. If I had a couple billion dollars, after I bought a superyacht or two (sail, of course), I'd probably buy a submarine. Also, Vertigo is my new favorite megayacht.


Not sure how much luxury is in the submarine bit but this yacht has one with internal access for a totally concealed escape if under attack.

Photos of the Largest Superyacht ECLIPSE - Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News

And if you think the owner should rather have a sailing boat, well he's had/got three or four of these so he probably just doesn't like sailing.


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## mstern (May 26, 2002)

I think Mirabella's owner was clear on his vision for V: he wanted the boat with the tallest mast. Everything else was secondary. Someone else in this thread mentioned the book "Mine's Bigger", the book written about Tom Perkins' quest to build Maltese Falcon. That book also talks about Joe's vision for Mirabella and several other contemporary superyacht sailboats. Very interesting reading for those who like to see how the other 0.0001% lives. When someone noted to Joe Vittorino that his charter fees for Mirabella were really high, he said something like "I only have to find a few millionaires to charter to". Nice.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Omatako said:


> -largest-superyacht-eclipse]Photos of the Largest Superyacht ECLIPSE
> .


Yeah, that was here too. Not inside the lagoon cos its too big. But its just a cruise ship type of thing. Not personal at all.

All the owners can say is they own it. They couldn't sail it (motor it - whatever). They couldnt even know where the keys are to turn the engine(s) on. So they may own it but they dont possess the space they bought... they would just sit their fat butts down like a restaurant anywhere in the world and have stuff shoved towards them by people they don't know, nor care about, until their lust for consumption is satiated. then they go home to work.

I prefer my life 

Mark


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

LandLocked66c said:


> That's insane! How many little boats does that Yacht feed on a day?


2,000lbs of sunfish a day. :laugher


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## Sabreman (Sep 23, 2006)

I think that the funniest part is the photo of Mirabella with the dark hulled boat next to her. The "poor" guy came in and had the most kick butt boat in the harbor until the white whale parked next to her. So she went from "wow" to "hey look at the cute little boat next to Mirabella".


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Sabreman said:


> I think that the funniest part is the photo of Mirabella with the dark hulled boat next to her. The "poor" guy came in and had the most kick butt boat in the harbor until the white whale parked next to her. So she went from "wow" to "hey look at the cute little boat next to Mirabella".


Too true...

I never said Mirabella was 'ugly'.. just the impression you get is 'huge', even monstrous. From a mile away she looks, like any sailboat, nice enough. But even a Roberts Spray looks good under sail from a distance.

The mere 150 footers manage to still look like yachts up close.

But wandering places like the Antigua YC (whose clubhouse is extremely modest compared to many NA clubs, esp considering the yachts they host year round), and inside Simpson Lagoon at St Maarten where you see 150 foot poweryachts lined up like weekend rental runabouts really hammers home the incredible wealth of the relatively few.

What could these people do for the world if they 'helped out' instead of 'helping themselves'? (I know - a totally other discussion so pretend I didn't write it......)


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## dhays (Jul 9, 2010)

Faster said:


> What could these people do for the world if they 'helped out' instead of 'helping themselves'? (I know - a totally other discussion so pretend I didn't write it......)


Well, they could develop projects that would employ shipwrights, engineers, mariners, service staff, marina employees... oh wait. Never mind.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

Gary...I read that book...some of the costs were staggering...I couldnt put the book down either

Dave


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## LandLocked66c (Dec 5, 2009)

chef2sail said:


> Gary...I read that book...some of the costs were staggering...I couldnt put the book down either
> 
> Dave


I bought the book and am reading it now! Pretty good so far...


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## jcalvinmarks (Mar 17, 2010)

+1 for _Mine's Bigger_. Even though it's a _Maltese Falcon_ book, Kaplan goes into a fair bit of detail about _Mirabella V_ and _Athena_ (since this is a _Mirabella V_ thread).

My problem is (as though it matters in the slightest bit what I think of it) whereas _Athena_ looks silly, and _Maltese Falcon_ looks unconventional (and I'm being charitable there), _Mirabella V_ is just too big. And not in an egalitarian "he's-earned-enough-money" or "how-many-people-could-he-have-helped" kind of way. It's just cumbersome. For example, if gybing makes you nervous, don't even worry about it on _Mirabella V_; she is forbidden from doing it by the insurance company. To go from a port tack run to a starboard tack run entails a 320°+ turn and a tack, a process which, if I'm recalling correctly, takes somewhere on the order of 10 minutes to complete.


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