If cultural historians were asked to freely associate with the prompt: “The Gilded Age” (roughly 1870-1890), they might say, ‘corpulent men, cigars, huge houses furnished with booty from European castles, lavish parties with elegantly dressed attendees, and lots of servants.’ To be historically accurate, their lists should include enormous yachts crewed by scores of mariners.
Take, for example, Kanawha, a 471-ton, 200-foot-long steam yacht built in 1899 for Baron Henry Rodgers, whose fortune was from the extractive industries of oil and coal mining. Kanawha required a 39-man crew.
Or Coronet, a 131ft sailing vessel launched in 1885 for Rufus T. Bush. The yacht had a marble staircase and a grand piano in the main salon. The New York Times covered this beauty front page when she won a trans-Atlantic crossing.
The super-rich owned hundreds of other epic steam-powered and sailing yachts. Their yachts were a socially necessary symbol of wealth, and membership in the NY Yacht Club required inclusion in the upper crust.
This love of fast, luxury yachts did not end with the demise of the Gilded Age. The Roaring Twenties saw the building of scores of commuter boats—sleek, high-speed vessels that transported tycoons in New York, Chicago, and Boston from their country homes to their downtown offices. Their upkeep required legions of mechanics, carpenters, and captains.
That legacy of fantastic wealth and unlimited budgets lives on in today’s yachting world.
There must be something compelling about having your own floating palace; it unites people across the ages, like Rodgers and Bush with Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. The latter two recently built yachts worthy of the Gilded Age. In these endeavors, they have put aside their high-tech toys (spaceships) to engage in an age-old passion…man at one with the sea.
While Bezos and Zuckerberg are not in the old extractive industries of oil, coal, and minerals, numerous cultural observers contend they are in the new ones, i.e., by capturing attention and impressions, selling data, and fueling the hyper-consumerism machine.
Bezos’ Koru (Māori for new beginnings) is a 417ft, three-masted vessel. Built by top Dutch yard Oceanco, she is reported to have cost $550 million. Her numerous decks belong more on a mid-size cruise ship than a private craft. Estimated running costs are $25 million a year, some of which pay a crew of 40. On a recent flight to the Caribbean, I met one of her captains, who, due to the NDA she had signed, could only offer, “There’s nothing like Koru afloat anywhere in the world. If you can think of an amenity, she has it. There’s splendor everywhere, from the engine room to the master stateroom.”
As the largest sailboat in the world, Koru requires a support vessel to store the helicopter, water toys, extra food, relief crew, and support gear. The Albeona vessel is only 246ft and operates with just a 20-person crew. Running costs are around $10 million.
Not to be outdone, Zuckerberg’s $300 million Launchpad just came out of build. He went for power over sails. Like Bezos, a Dutch shipyard, the world-renowned Feadship was commissioned. Zuckerberg did not have to wait the usual four years as a now-sanctioned Russian oligarch began the yacht. At 387ft, she can accommodate 29 guests, who will be cared for by a crew of 49. A key feature is her helicopter landing pad near the lavish swimming pool. To relax from the journey, there is a jacuzzi and movie theater. There’s also a gym.
Her support vessel is the $30 million Wingman, which stores the submarine. Using the standard yachting rule of thumb, the estimated running costs for Launchpad will be $30-40 million, with an additional $7 million for Wingman. Both have been spotted in the usual nautical haunts—the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Despite the cost, these yachts will not prevent prying eyes, as, ironically, the privacy-breaching technologies that have made Bezos and Zuckerberg rich also make them susceptible to all sorts of privacy violations. Telephoto lenses, drones, and speedboats with tracking devices enable paparazzi to supply us with endless photos of them and their mates in bathing suits and at dinner parties with boldface-named guests. Frankly, they would have more privacy on a Wyoming ranch.
There is something so powerful about yachting that its popularity spans centuries and cultural dimensions. The Gilded Age tycoons, in their suited finery, have nothing in common with the hoodie and jeans wearing Bezos and Zuckerberg. And there is little resemblance between the social register, private-club-going, ultra-snobs of the past and their everyman persona heirs of today. Save for the lure of the biggest and boldest luxury yachts afloat.
