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Gigayacht spotted in Portland Harbor attracts attention

by Ariana St Pierre , WGME

PORTLAND (WGME) -- A $400 million gigayacht floating in the Portland Harbor is turning heads.

According to the Press Herald, a yacht is typically at least 30 feet long, a superyacht is 80-100 feet long, a megayacht is 200 feet, and a gigayacht is over 300 feet long.

The yacht, named Rising Sun, is owned by billionaire entertainment mogul David Geffen, according to CBS News.

CBS News reports the boat's original owner, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, sold Rising Sun to Geffen in 2010.

The Rising Sun reportedly has 82 rooms, including a gym, a basketball court, a wine cellar, a spa, and a movie theater, according to CBS News.

• Also read: 'It's amazing:' Nearly $70M middle school set to open in South Portland

It can reportedly accommodate up to 16 guests and 45 crew members.

Geffen’s gigayacht is the 20th largest in the world, according to the Press Herald.

It’s certainly an eye-catcher at five stories high and 453 feet long.

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The Luxury Features of This Massive Yacht Anchored in Portland Harbor Will Blow Your Mind

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The monstrous ship anchored in Portland Harbor isn't a new ferry service to Canada. It's not a cruise ship loaded with hundreds of tourist passengers. It's not even a Coast Guard vessel, despite the military appearance of the navy blue hull. T he massive gigayacht currently anchored in front of Fort Gorges in Portland Harbor is actually one of the world's largest private yachts.

Le Grand Bleu's current owner is Eugene Shvidler , a Russian-American businessman who built his wealth in oil. He received Le Grand Bleu as a gift from his business partner Roman Abramovich in 2006. The original owner, who designed the massive ship for himself in 2000, was American businessman and telecommunications tycoon John McCaw Jr.

Le Grand Bleu is among the top 25 largest yachts in the world, measuring in at 371-feet long. Here's a comparison for you -- The CAT, the Maine to Nova Scotia ferry that has a capacity of 700 passengers and 200 cars, is only about 350-feet long . According to SuperYachts.com , Le Grand Bleu carries a crew of 35 and can accommodate 20 guests for a "relaxed luxury yacht experience".

On closer inspection of the impressive vessel, you'll see several decks and lounge areas at water level, including this sitting area on the aft-most deck of the ship. B ehind the comfy couches and you'll see an enormous fish tank. Staircases connect the multiple levels of decks and windows with many of their shades drawn wrap around the cabins. All that can be seen of the interior is some elaborate wood paneling near a dock on the starboard side.

The yacht boasts two more yachts stored on it's aft deck, including a 73-foot sail boat and a 68-foot powerboat. You know, for when you want to leave your gigayacht to hang out on a smaller but still generously sized yacht.  The yacht has also been photographed in other ports with a helicopter on top. The helicopter was missing on Sunday, August 7, 2017, when these photos were snapped in Casco Bay. The owner was probably just flying to Hannaford real quick for some essentials.

The gigayacht claimed the attention of many local boaters on Sunday after the thick Atlantic fog rolled out of town overnight. It's hard to miss the thing as it's anchored between the East End and immediately in front of Fort Gorges. At some angles the ship totally obscures the view of the historic fort. This isn't the first time Le Grand Bleu has blocked a historic landmark. In fact, the ship garnered media attention and local criticism when it was anchored in New York Harbor obstructing views of The Statue of Liberty.

You can track the position and travels of Le Grand Bleu online . For now, waves continue to break on the hull of this enormous private yacht in Casco Bay.

View full size images of Le Grand Bleu in the gallery below.

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A $400 million gigayacht floating in the Portland Harbor is turning heads.

A yacht is typically at least 30 feet long, a superyacht is 80 to 100 feet long, a megayacht is 200 feet and a gigayacht is more than 300 feet long, according to the Portland Press Herald .

The vessel is owned by entertainment mogul David Geffen, the Press Herald reported.

The yacht, named Rising Sun, has 82 rooms, including a gym, wine cellar, spa and movie theater, according to the Press Herald. It can accommodate up to 16 guests and 45 crew members.

Geffen’s gigayacht is the 20th largest in the world, according to the Press Herald.

It’s certainly an eye-catcher at five stories high and 453 feet long.

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Maine is known for its waterfront, and places like Portland are certainly no stranger to massive cruise ships and luxury yachts.

But a boat that has been docked in Portland for the last several days is certainly turning some heads.

The "Rising Sun" is owned by billionaire media mogul David Geffen. The so-called giga-yacht is one of the 20 largest yachts in the world.

It is 452 feet long, and five stories high with 82 rooms, a spa, a movie theater, a wine cellar and a full-sized basketball court. It staffs a crew of 45 people.

Many people have been heading to the Portland waterfront just to get a look.

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Portland Press Herald: Lavish and looming, gigayacht bobbing in Portland harbor attracts curiosity and contempt

Some people view it as a symbol of wealth-hoarding. Others see it as a tourist attraction. Some believe it's merely a sign of a changing Old Port. To entertainment mogul David Geffen, the 82-room, $400 million gigayacht floating in the Portland harbor is merely a part-time home.

A boat that is worth $381 million more than the most expensive home for sale on Maine Listings docked in Portland on Monday night. Though it's not a boat, it's not a yacht, it's not a superyacht and it's not even a megayacht. It's a gigayacht and it's the 20th largest in the world, according to the Robb Report, a chronicler of all things luxurious.

The yacht, named Rising Sun, is one of Geffen's vacation homes. Geffen is the music and film producer behind The Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and DreamWorks – the animation studio that produced, among many hits, "Shrek," Shrek 2," "Shrek the Third" and "Shrek Forever After." Fifty-nine years after he launched his entertainment career, Geffen has landed himself at No. 229 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $9.14 billion.

Geffen is also pals with many celebrities, and he's brought many of them aboard Rising Sun, including Paul McCartney, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts.

Doug Sargent, a New Jersey resident, is similarly unimpressed by Rising Sun.

"It's not interesting, it's too blah," Sargent said. "Buy that boat? It's so far beyond comprehension that that's not even one of my thoughts."

However, Sargent said there are some upsides to a visitor like Geffen. Perhaps Geffen and his guests are spreading the wealth in the Old Port.

"I hope he's helping the local economy," he said.

Sargent, 79, lived in Portland until he was 13 years old and has watched the Old Port transform over the course of his life. It's people like Geffen who have given the Old Port the money to change for the better, he said.

Whether the arrival of the Rising Sun has positive or negative impacts on the city, lobsterman Rob Rutter is ambivalent. He's making the same amount of money for his catch even when people like Geffen visit Portland.

"I didn't even think that yacht being in town was going to make a story other than 'it was here,' " Rutter said.

It's not entirely clear where Rising Sun is floating while it awaits its next journey. According to Portland city spokesperson Jessica Grondin, it's not at any of the city's docks or moorings. Dionne, the Portland Discovery Land Sea and Tours deckhand, said it's likely at Fore Points Marina, "a safe, deep harbor, specifically designed to host megayachts" that opened in 2019. Office Manager Lauren Whitney would neither confirm nor deny whether Rising Sun was on its docks. Its current coordinates, according to Marine Traffic, are in an area where there are no other marinas but Fore Points.

If so, Geffen would pay at least $3,624 a day for the dockage rate, according to the company's website.

What say Geffen? Does he like coming to Portland? How long will he be here? How much is he spending on the ship? Is he spending any money in the Old Port? Where does he stand on the ongoing Hollywood writers and actors strike?

Who knows – a reporter tried but could not get in touch with him.

"This is not possible, he doesn't take any calls," said an unnamed receptionist at the David Geffen Foundation. "Thank you for trying."

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Massive yacht turns heads along Portland waterfront

PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) - Maine is known for its waterfront, and places like Portland are certainly no stranger to massive cruise ships and luxury yachts.

But a boat that has been docked in Portland for the last several days is certainly turning some heads.

The “Rising Sun” is owned by billionaire media mogul David Geffen. The so-called giga-yacht is one of the 20 largest yachts in the world.

It is 452 feet long, and five stories high with 82 rooms, a spa, a movie theater, a wine cellar and a full-sized basketball court. It staffs a crew of 45 people.

Many people have been heading to the Portland waterfront just to get a look.

Copyright 2023 WABI. All rights reserved.

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David Geffen's 82-Room Megayacht Docks in Portland, Maine

The picturesque harbor at Portland, Maine hosts a number of luxury cruise ships in the fall months, but rarely does a privately owned vessel of a similar stature grace its waters. Thus when the world’s 10th largest yacht, David Geffen’s 453-foot long Rising Sun  docked there recently, it caused quite a sensation. The five-story, 82-room yacht took up enough space for several smaller boats at the city’s Ocean Gateway International Marine Terminal. Originally commissioned by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison from Germany's Lürssen shipyard in 2004, the yacht cost about $250 million to build. The Rising Sun features luxe accommodations for 12 people, in addition to 30 crew members, and features a gymnasium, spa, sauna, wine cellar, private cinema and basketball court that converts to a helipad. 

Geffen and Ellison were originally co-owners of the yacht before Geffen took full control of it in 2010. It it is the largest yacht in the world owned by a U.S. citizen. It is not known whether Geffen was on board the yacht when it arrived in Maine, but here’s where a few other billionaires docked their yachts recently: 

• Russian Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko brought the world’s “coolest” megayacht — a 390-foot, $400 million vessel designed by Philippe Starck and dubbed the A  — to Auckland, New Zealand.
• Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich brought the 536-foot  Eclipse , the second largest yacht in the world which cost around $800 million, to the southern Croatian island of Mljet.
• Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen arrived in Iceland aboard the 414-foot Octopus , the 13th largest yacht and the largest expedition yacht in the world.

Jared Paul Stern

Jared Paul Stern, JustLuxe's Editor-at-Large, is the Executive Editor of Maxim magazine and has written for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, the New York Times' T magazine, GQ, WWD, Vogue, New York magazine, Details, Hamptons magazine, Playboy, BlackBook, the New York Post, Man of the World, and Bergdorf Goodman magazine among others. The founding editor of the Page Six magazine, he has al... (Read More)

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Who Owns the $400M 82-Room Gigayacht Floating in This Maine Harbor?

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We're no strangers here in Maine to seeing the ultra-wealthy dock their massive floating mansions on the docks at one of hundreds are amazingly beautiful ports. Even though we're used to it, it's still remarkable when a yacht of THIS size shows up.

According to many people on Facebook, Instagram and even WGME, a gigayacht has docked in Portland. Now, to be fair, I had no idea what a gigayacht even was until I read a little further into it.

The Portland Press Herald explained in part that "a yacht is typically at least 30 feet long, a superyacht is 80-100 feet long, a megayacht is 200 feet, and a gigayacht is over 300 feet long."

The yacht, currently docked in Portland Harbor, is a whopping 453 feet in length, WGME reported , and is run by a crew of 45 people and features at least half a dozen decks, has a built-in wine cellar, movie theater, fitness gym and is equipped with more than 82 rooms.

But, how how does a yacht of this size COST? I mean, it has to be a few thousand bucks, right?

In fact, this astonishing piece of nautical equipment cost a staggering $400+ million to build, according to WGME.

Who has that kind of money and the desire to build such a floating palace? None other than David Geffen.

But who the heck is David Geffen?

According to Forbes , Geffen is the cofounder of Dreamworks Animation and "the founder of record labels Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records."

Forbes states that as of August 2023, he's worth over $7 billion. With a B.

For a little more insight into just how LAVISH this sailing paradise is, check out this YouTube video we came across that provides even more info (and pictures!) of this epic gigayacht.

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The Super Yacht Docked In Maine's Portland Harbor Can Be Rented For $1.2 Million A Week

Michelle's life is a colorful map of exploration and adventure. From the iconic streets of New York to the sunny shores of Florida, the jagged coast of Maine to the rugged terrain of Montana, she's been fortunate to call some of America's most beautiful states home. Beyond the U.S., Michelle's wanderlust has taken her on a motorcycle journey through India, led her to teach English in Hanoi, and saw her studying Spanish in Guatemala. Michelle graduated with a communications degree from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and in addition to a career in advertising has worked with OnlyInYourState since 2016, where her love for travel and storytelling converges. Alongside writing and exploring, Michelle finds joy in photography, staying active, and time with her family. For questions, comments and inquiries please email: [email protected].

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We’ve all had the same thoughts. You look out over the water and see about 10 boats we’d like to enjoy. From small sailboats to mega-yachts, they’re all perfect and they all offer that Vacationland life we love. It’s fun to imagine what each one looks like on the inside, but it’d be a whole lot more fun to actually one ourselves! If you’ve spent any time near Portland Harbor this summer you’ve probably seen that at least three giant boats have made a home here. And one of them can be chartered just for you!

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You can learn more about the KISMET by checking out the Moran Yacht & Ship website . But if $1.2 Million a week isn’t in the budget right now, there are plenty of other unique options to explore. These 10 unique places to stay in Maine will give you an unforgettable experience .

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Our View: Portraits of homelessness bring reality into sharp relief

Reporting by the Maine Sunday Telegram pierced through city-wide noise in Portland with a corrective focus on people and personal accounts.

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Of the many online comments, letters to the editor and op-ed submissions this paper has received on the crisis of homelessness in the city of Portland, few have given appropriate consideration to the experiences of the people living on our streets and in our public parks.

Many of the solutions offered – by lay readers and policy-types alike – have been preoccupied with infrastructure, funding, toilets, trash, policy transfer from “the other Portland,” and so on.

How I became homeless

Recently, more voice has been given to the concerns of frustrated Portland residents living near homeless encampments about safety, sanitation and the ability to enjoy public space. These views, often presented as representative of “taxpayers,” should be heard.

But they have no business being heard above the concerns, ideas and general outlook of members of Portland’s homeless community, which were the subject of a compelling set of profiles published in last Sunday’s newspaper ( “How I became homeless,” Aug. 20).

Complete with audio clips online at pressherald.com, the stories told by j Rancourt, Nikki Cassetta, Edward Stewart, Amber Lesperance, Allan Hill, James Spanos and Mona Miller, taken together, bring to life the difficulty of living without a place to call home; the extent of the challenges that have to be overcome on a daily basis; and the very, very fine line that exists between relative financial and residential security and none at all.

Each of the people interviewed spoke with courage about their situation, often going into rare personal detail. Many of the accounts are heartbreaking. The before-and-after arc, the “how,” in most cases, is nowhere near as stark or uncommon as may be assumed by those of us who look on from passing cars or neighboring windows. Advertisement

Despite the toll of coping outside, grappling with the ins and outs of the shelter system and living with total uncertainty about the future, many of the people profiled expressed a closely held hope for a chance to start over, to get back on their feet.

It’s this type of resilience and optimism that must be drawn on by all parties as we continue to refine our response to widespread homelessness, ensuring that steps taken to remedy the crisis are as compassionate – and informed – as possible.

We’re going to need a bigger … slip fee

Much ado yesterday about the 82-room luxury “gigayacht” that cruised into Casco Bay on Monday night (“Lavish and looming, gigayacht bobbing in Portland harbor attracts curiosity and contempt,” Aug. 23). Owned by billionaire media magnate David Geffen, the five-story, 453-foot-long Rising Sun dwarfed every other vessel near the coast on Tuesday, drawing the attention – and in some cases, the ire – of passers-by.

Gigayacht bobbing in Portland harbor attracts curiosity and contempt

The vast boat, a regular visitor to Portland, has itself been dwarfed in recent years by new environmentally unfriendly counterparts. Ten years ago, it was in the top 10 largest yachts in the world. Lively demand for increasingly elaborate superyachts during and after the pandemic has knocked it back to 20th position. No matter, a visit from a double-height maritime cinema, somewhere between 45 and 60 staff members and some extravagantly polluting diesel engines is enough to get a lot of people going.

The vessel’s stop in Portland reminded us of a legislative proposal this year by Grayson Lookner, D-Portland, to charge megayachts that opt to dock in Maine a “slip fee,” per foot, the proceeds of which would go mostly to investments in the state’s waterfront. The spirit of the bill, with an eye on climate preparedness and coastal preservation, rightly acknowledges the superyacht’s status as a super polluter.

The bill is with the Special Appropriations Table, having passed both the House and the Senate this year. With revisions, if needed, it should be brought to fruition.

Questions over affordability and anxiety about loss of business are at best far-fetched. Crafted correctly, we’d be talking about a drop in the operating-costs bucket for owners, many of whom are devoted to spending time in Maine in any case. A lengthy report published by the New Yorker last summer summed it up nicely: “For the moment, a gigayacht is the most expensive item that our species has figured out how to own.”

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

The world’s biggest yachts – what’s behind the growth of the gigayacht

• Helen Fretter
• March 14, 2017

The last few years have seen launches of some of the world's largest yachts, truly gigayachts. Helen Fretter delves into the world of the gigayacht

Dwarfing not only any other yacht that happened to be on the River Eider, but even the buildings along the foreshore, the monolithic Sailing Yacht A made quite an impression when she was launched from the Nobriskrug yard in Hamburg in the autumn of 2016.

The 142m, eight-deck behemoth is the archetypal ‘gigayacht’, phenomenal not just in her dimensions but also in her radicalism.

The Philippe Starck-designed Sailing Yacht A , with her 20m freeboard, begs the question: is she even a sailing yacht? The last yacht to divide opinion, and attract the shock and awe of the non-sailing public in the same manner was Maltese Falcon , the glossy, experimental megayacht designed for Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tom Perkins.

But the Falcon was launched a decade ago, and Sailing Yacht A is just one of a crop of extraordinary gigayachts, or sailing superyachts of 80, 90 or 100m plus, to touch the water in 2016.

Besides the 142m Sailing Yacht A , another three-masted design was launched from OceanCo this autumn, the 106m  Black Pearl , which looks set to become the largest sailing yacht in the world – for a while at least. Black Pearl represents a modern evolution of the rotating Dynarig pioneered by Maltese Falcon . Meanwhile in the spring, the largest Bermudan rigged yacht ever launched, the 86m ketch Aquijo , powered through sail trials in preparation for a global adventure.

There are more in the pipeline also. Royal Huisman announced this autumn that they had been commissioned to design and build the 86m Project 400 , another three masted design, this one more conventionally rigged. A proposal for the 114m Endurance has just been unveiled, an explorer concept designed to be able to cruise unassisted for three months. There is also the 86m Komorebi , an experimental wingsail-assisted hybrid trimaran design from the French multihull experts VPLP.

Rise and rise of the gigayacht

Why the sudden flurry of these stratospherically ambitious projects? In truth, it is not that sudden – initial pitches for what ultimately became Sailing Yacht A were invited back in 2008, and pre-studies began in 2011. A decade between projects seems rather shorter when design and build takes at least five years – gigayacht owners may be exacting, but they also have to be extraordinarily patient.

The 141m four-masted Dream Symphony is currently in build out of wood in Turkey, and includes vast living accommodation, and a swimming pool that converts to become a helipad platform.

What is remarkable, though, is how rapidly the yachts have grown in size – raising the upper ceiling from 88 to over 140m in a decade. Dutch naval architecture firm Dykstra has been instrumental in many of the world’s most innovative megayachts, including Sailing Yacht A , Black Pearl , and Maltese Falcon .

Managing director Thys Nikkels comments, “Ten years ago a big boat was a very different size than a big boat is now. I can still remember when I started working in ’91 a 40-metre yacht in those days was a big boat. In the mid-90s we started to design the yacht Athena , which we thought was the biggest boat we were ever going to see in our lives, as a sailing yacht she was 80 metres on the water.”

The largest single sloop rigged yacht in the world remains Mirabella V , launched back in 2003 and since renamed (and slightly lengthened during a refit) M5 at just over 77m. Rob Doyle, who worked on the project led by Ron Holland, recalls:

“We started designing her 17 years ago now. We hit a very natural sweet spot with Mirabella and that’s why it has taken so long for other boats to suddenly go over her length and over her rig height.

“ Mirabella still has the highest ‘P’ measurement [distance from boom to top of mast] and the longest boom in the world, though there are taller masts now.

“She set a bar and we didn’t realise we’d actually set it. It came down to a ratio of the rig weight to the draught and the keel weights, and everything else to be able to carry that amount of sail and that ballast to satisfy the rules.

“We pushed technology a lot – about 16 companies went bust over Mirabella  because the jump was so massive. We were jumping from a 64m to a 75m [yacht] and that jump was like learning to fly, then going to the moon!”

Article continues below

Video of Sailing Yacht A, the world’s largest sail-assisted vessel, during early sea trials

This video footage of Sailing Yacht A shows her with her towering free-standing masts and illustrates the jaw-dropping scale of the world’s…

A look on board the extraordinary 86m Aquijo, the world’s largest ketch

The largest Bermudan rigged ketch ever launched, the 86m Aquijo was designed by Bill Tripp and launched last year. The build came…

Ken Freivokh, who was responsible for the radical styling of Maltese Falcon , also points out that after the much publicised launch of the Falcon many buyers did not want to be seen to be emulating Tom Perkins’s unique style, preferring to wait, or opt for a conservative design. After the Falcon , Freivokh’s next radical Dynarig yacht was Black Pearl , which he began work on six years ago. At 106m Black Pearl dwarfs Maltese Falcon , with a 2,700GT volume that puts her just under the key 3,000GT limit.

Surprisingly, Dykstra’s Thys Nikkels says that the Dynarigs being built today are not markedly different to the one developed for Maltese Falcon a decade ago. “In concept it is not very different. In detail there are a number of improvements that have been made.

But Maltese Falcon was – for her time – years far ahead and she proved to be very successful in sail handling and sailing, so there are not many improvements to be done. Nowadays you just have different materials you can use, or different electronics and software systems that you can use for control.”

Maltese Falcon, launched in 2006, pioneered the Dynarig concept utilised on many of the next generation of larger gigayachts.

Sail handling

Meanwhile a decade of development in superyacht rigs and sail systems, means that Aquijo ’s owner could opt for a conventional ketch rig, which can deploy over 3,000m2 of sails in around six minutes.

Sail handling routines are necessarily different – the jib is furled when tacking. “Vitters organised a nice system that keeps just a nice amount of tension on the jib sheets furling in and out so that they are not flailing about,” explains Aquijo ’s designer, Bill Tripp. “So it’s not a dinghy tack, but it is safe and orderly.

“The spinnaker is on a fast furler and furls up in 30 seconds, making gybes less complex. There is the ketch choreography of bringing the main and mizzen in, but the steering is precise and there is no need to put too much sail up for the conditions.”

Aquijo master cabin

The forces generated on yachts such as Aquijo may be enormous – mast compression can reach around 580 tons – but are no longer beyond the realms of riggers’ experience. “When we started building boats like Saudade [the 2009 45m Wally], 14 tonnes was a very big load. Once we understood racing these boats, and understood they were controllable, you can take another step.

“We were delighted when sailing Aquijo upwind in a lot of breeze that the load on the mainsheet was showing around 12 tonnes. It’s 2:1 so that’s 24 tonnes. I’m not saying that’s not a massive load, but it’s similar to what we have on Saudade ’s big sheet 1:1, and we have years of experience with handling that.” Custom built 40 ton carbon and alloy winches help manage the sheet loads.

Tripp notes that a Dynarig was never considered as an option. “What you’re really asking is do you want the ease of sailing or do you want to be able to access something exciting? And we wanted both of them.

“Sailors tend to like the more fundamental experiences, and when the technology allows them to access those more fundamental experiences, well that’s a great joy.”

Aquijo is the world’s largest ketch, with a mainsail that can be furled or unfurled in around four seconds

Finding the limit

Just how big can a sailing yacht go? Five years ago plans were unveiled for a 101m sloop, with a single 125m carbon mast, which raised a few eyebrows and discussions over whether it might be possible. Malcolm McKeon worked on the proposal and says that it was the cost, rather than technical limitations, which put the brakes on the project.

“It was an evolving process. The owner has a 50m-plus sailing superyacht, and he wanted a new yacht big enough that he could put a reasonably sized chase boat on board. He wanted an explorer type sailboat that he could go to the Pacific on, and carry all his toys with him, and not have to have a support boat.

“The design started at 65 or 70m and it just grew and grew and grew until it got to 100m, and then it basically just got too expensive.

Recent sail trials on Sailing Yacht A saw the 1,464m2 mainsail unfurled from the 27.5m carbon U-shaped boom. Incredibly she is designed to heel up to a maximum angle of 12 degrees under full sail.

“The big problem with the large sail boats is the mast price goes up by a bigger proportion to everything else so the rig price becomes a much bigger percentage of the overall build. Technically it can all be done, it’s just the value of that part becomes a much more significant part and sometimes more difficult for an owner to accept.

“If somebody came to me and said they wanted to build a boat with a 200m mast I would think well, is that really possible? Certainly rigs up to 100m and a bit more I think are possible today, but where we’re going to go after that I don’t know.”

Rob Doyle points out that sailing superyacht owners pay around a 30 per cent premium over opting for a motoryacht, yet the boats lose around a third of the equivalent interior volume. However, for him the biggest limitations are the humans onboard.

“I think we are coming to a stage where we need a new type of rig, to be honest, to be able to safely deploy these sails without killing people. I think we are getting very close to where the metal meets the flesh at the deck level where the people and the guests are hanging around.”

With the ever-increasing winch and line speeds needed to handle the huge loads, serious hand and limb injuries can happen in the blink of an eye. “There is a moral hazard there that keeps playing on my mind,” says Doyle. “We are building very dangerous machines and we have to be very careful of people.”

The newly announced Endurance concept design is a 114m four-masted explorer design with a 6,000 mile range under power.

More prosaically, the bigger your gigayacht, the bigger the challenge of just getting on and off it. “Once you are getting to a stage where you can’t get into anchorages you are in constant fear of drifting – even putting down an anchor you need a huge amount of space around you.

“So then you anchor further out into the slop and the big waves, so the owners find it difficult to get on and off the boat, and suddenly other problems can overwhelm the project,” Doyle points out. One increasingly popular solution to that particular problem is a luxury landing craft.

Too big for the Panama Canal

It might seem counter-intuitive, but it is Aquijo ’s owner’s focus on the sailing experience that has enabled the designers of the 86m ketch to push the size limits of a traditionally rigged yacht.

“ Aquijo is a sophisticated machine and brings most aspects of a 1,600GT motor yacht with her,” comments designer Bill Tripp. “But she does not aspire to helicopters or submarines, the feeling of the boat is one of use. She is for getting out there, and for going out sailing. In Greece this summer, she would go out for an afternoon of sailing in 35 knot Meltemi because it is so much fun to sail at 20 knots, as if on rails.

“We have always done sailboats that can get under the Panama Canal bridge, and the biggest we were happy to do and put under the bridge was really 46m because after that we didn’t have big enough sails for the boat.

“Then five years ago we launched A Better Place , and the owner said ‘I’ll go around, I don’t want to limit my boat because of the bridges.’ With Aquijo they said, we want to go to these places anyway, so let’s get the best sailboat we can. So suddenly, instead of having this 63m limit on the rig, that all opened up and we could start doing a sailing boat that had a gross tonnage like some of the bigger motoryachts.

“I think we’re going to see more of that. You can look at the Strait of Magellan [an alternative route to rounding Cape Horn ], as a place that’s a really long way away or a place you really want to go.”

The three-masted Black Pearl  has an angular ‘Pacman’ bow with a wave-piercing reverse sheer lower section, and extended traditional foredeck above

The wish list

Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko is keeping his Sailing Yacht A tightly wrapped under non-disclosure agreements, but a few intriguing details have been released, including magnifying windows which appear larger inside than outside, and a gimballed crow’s nest, accessible by lift, 60m high in the curved mast.

An observation pod embedded in the keel with foot-thick glass gives a mesmerising – and frankly terrifying-sounding – view of the propellers, and there’s a three-man submarine.

Gigayacht designers have come up with some imaginative solutions to meet owners’ foibles and demands. Drawings for the 101m sloop incorporated an entirely retractable hardtop to the flybridge to give the owner his requested uninterrupted view of the sails and sky.

Plans for the Japanese-influenced Komorebi design feature a live tree on the aft deck. Watersports toys are old news – now tender garages are specified to house motorbikes, amphibious quad bikes, even custom-built marinised supercars.

On Aquijo , the headline feature is the ‘beach club’ on the lower deck. “For a sailing boat it is a huge area, they have a sauna, hamman [Turkish Bath], a rainfall shower, a relaxing area, this huge whirlpool in the middle, a little pantry, and enough space for gym equipment around the pool,” explains interior designer Robert Voges.

Beach club on Aquijo.

Voges says the trickiest element on the yacht was the flawless high shine steel mast claddings which run through the interior. “It is like a piece of art. The mast was going through the main saloon and guest corridor, and we didn’t want to hide it. So we decided to make a feature out of it with seamless stainless steel cladding with integrated LED strip lights from top to bottom over two decks.”

One of the most radical projects in progress is the 141m Dream Symphony , a four-masted design currently in build in Turkey. Originally slated for launch this year, the project is progressing slowly – in part due to the fact the yacht is constructed of wood. Her design includes a large aft deck swimming pool that transforms into a raised helipad area.

This is the type of concept which seemed fantastical just a few years ago, but is now reality in the motoryachts world where designs like the 81m Alfa Nero have deployed it successfully.

“It’s a good solution because you usually have to drop down all the stanchions and any elements that are higher than the helipad itself, whereas if you lift the helipad you don’t have to lower the other elements,” explains Dream Symphony designer Ken Freivokh.

The 141m four-masted Dream Symphony

“The brief did not call for a resident helicopter that would have its own hanger – it’s just a ‘touch and go’. You don’t want to set aside space for a helicopter permanently that’s almost never there, so if you have a reasonably sized swimming pool why not use the base of a pool to just receive the helicopter, and then once the helicopter flies away you can put it back to normal operations?” Why not indeed?

No matter how grandiose your ideas, however, not even the vast volumes of a gigayacht can be entirely filled with art galleries and Reiki studios. Robert Voges explains that, like any other ship, “We have to start with all the emergency exits, the corridors, staircases . . . and from there we can work with the other areas which are left over.”

Ken Freivokh estimates that at least 20 per cent of the interior space has to be allocated to the back-of-house systems required to maintain the equivalent of a small hotel – air conditioning, waste, media, and other unglamorous elements behind the touch-screen luxury.

Edge of reason

At 12,700 GT, Sailing Yacht A has the vastest volume of all. But can she be called a sailing yacht? She carries three of the world’s largest carbon rigs – curved, unstayed, capable of rotating a maximum of 70 degrees – featuring in-boom furling that can deploy 3,747 square metres of sail area (67 per cent more than Maltese Falcon ) from a finger tip command. And yet she cannot help but look implausible.

The hull has a maximum beam of 24.8m and includes 24 shell doors.

No matter how innovative the technology on board, or how vast the expense, the elements will not bend to the will of man or millionaire. Various estimates have put her cost at $400-500million, or in the region of £320 to £400 million – to put those sort of figures in context, the bill for the London Olympics Aquatics centre came in at under £300m.

Sailing Yacht A will be ‘sail-assisted’, not wind-powered. Confounding, aggressive in her styling, she’s a yacht that has attracted scathing opinions as often as wide-eyed wonder. But what is the point of creating a gigayacht that doesn’t?

“It is a creative process with the owner,” comments Aquijo ’s designer Bill Tripp, “They have this idea that they can make something that speaks to them. They don’t write symphonies, and they’re not great painters or sculptors, but on the other hand money is vital energy, and they can create these things that wouldn’t exist otherwise.

“It’s great when someone says, ‘Life’s short, I’m just going to do this.’”

Bend’s Dick Higgins, survivor of Pearl Harbor, dies after life of honoring the fallen

• Updated: Mar. 20, 2024, 8:32 a.m. |
• Published: Mar. 20, 2024, 8:24 a.m.

Dick Higgins, an Oklahoma native, spent the last decade of his long life in Bend. (Photo: Bend Bulletin) Bend Bulletin

• Kyle Spurr and Mike Gordon | Bend Bulletin

In the sunset years of his life, Dick Higgins was fond of telling people that he was a true survivor.

It was no idle boast. He had lived through the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. He was a witness to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and lived to share the tale. He fought in World War II. He got COVID-19 when he was 99 and survived that, too.

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5 Top Rated Chainsaws You Can Find At Harbor Freight

A good chainsaw is an extremely useful tool. It can help you prune dangerously overgrown limbs as well as those that grow toward your house. The right one can even fell whole trees to be carted off and cut into boards or firewood. You might be able to get by using a reciprocating saw for smaller projects, but nothing manages heavy lumber like a chainsaw.

Harbor Freight is known for selling budget-friendly tools , and it has quite a few chainsaws in its expansive inventory, but they're all quite different. They're made by different brands and come in a variety of sizes. Some are gas-powered, while others are electric, so it can be easy for someone to get a little overwhelmed. One of the best ways to find the right Harbor Freight chainsaw for your needs is to take a look at the top-rated items on the company's website and then compare specs and reviews targeting the workload you need to handle. These are the five top-rated chainsaws available at Harbor Freight according to user reviews.

Portland 42cc 18 in. Gas-Powered Chainsaw

The highest-rated chainsaw sold by Harbor Freight is both the newest and most expensive in the company's catalog. The Portland 42cc 18 in.  is also the only gas-powered chainsaw that you'll be able to find on the discount tool store's shelves. It has a 42cc, 2-stroke engine that comes equipped with forged connecting rods and two piston rings. Its large, 18-inch bar promises to be able to cut logs up to 36 inches in diameter.

There are a few other features that help set this chainsaw apart as well. The description states that it has a spring-based anti-vibration system designed to make it more comfortable to use, even with the added rumble typically associated with gas-powered motors. It also has an inertia-activated chain break, a spring-assist starter, an ergonomic handle, and metal bucking spikes that help give you better control of the saw when you're using it.

There have only been 41 reviews of the Portland gas-powered chainsaw on Harbor Freight, but every single one of them has been either 4 or 5 stars, giving the tool a current average of 4.7 out of 5. Even the lowest-scoring reviewers haven't reported any serious complaints and have proclaimed that the saw is very good for the $179.99 price.

Bauer 20V 10 in. Cordless Chainsaw

Next up we have the Bauer 20V 10 in. Cordless Chainsaw . This tool is significantly smaller than the gas-powered Portland. It has a 10" bar and chain that won't be able to handle really thick trees, but which should be plenty for pruning most limbs and other smaller jobs. It runs on Bauer's proprietary 20V rechargeable lithium batteries, which are sold separately. This is certainly more convenient than needing an extension cord or having to rely on gas, but it does raise the overall price to get started unless you're already invested in the Bauer battery system. It's also worth noting that a 20V system definitely isn't going to generate a ton of power compared to the higher voltage systems commonly used in other saws. Fortunately, this choice is pretty affordable at $74.99.

In terms of features, it has an automatic, tool-free chain tensioning system, an automatic chain oiler, and an oil-level viewing window. It also claims to reach full throttle in less than a second.

This chainsaw has a 4.6 out of 5 average rating on Harbor Freight's website, with most reviewers claiming that it's an affordable tool great for small jobs. The chainsaw doesn't have many low reviews, but the few that it does have cite poor build quality and a lack of cutting power. Overall, it seems like a good tool for occasional light pruning, but probably not for someone who has a heavy workload.

Portland 9 Amp 14 in. Electric Chainsaw

The third highest-rated chainsaw available at Harbor Freight is the Portland 9 Amp 14 in. Electric Chainsaw . This is the cheapest saw in the company's current line-up, as it's currently going for just $49.99. You're going to need a good extension cord in order to use it, but that small inconvenience means affordability and utility. An electric motor also means that it's going to be a lot quieter than a gas-powered tool.

This saw has a 14-inch bar, which is a good size for tackling small-to-medium-sized cuts. Its 9 amp motor is on the smaller side, however, so it certainly isn't going to be the most powerful electric chainsaw on the market. It does, however, have an automatic oiler built in.

This Portland electric chainsaw has a 4.5 out of 5 user rating on the Harbor Freight website. Most of its reviews are positive and state that the tool is easy to use, easy to adjust, and more than adequate for limbs, small trees, and bushes. Most of the lower reviews are from people who received defective units, particularly regarding the chain oil reserve leaking. This doesn't seem to be a common experience, but those who do have this problem can take advantage of Harbor Freight's 90-day return policy . Overall, it appears to be a good option for people looking for an affordable tool that can handle light yard work, but it's probably not going to be your best option for big workloads.

Bauer 14.5 Amp 16 in. Electric Chainsaw

The fourth most popular chainsaw sold at Harbor Freight according to user ratings is the Bauer 14.5 Amp 16 in. Electric Chainsaw . The 14.5 amp motor offers a significant leap in power over the 9 amp Portland. That, combined with its 16-inch bar, makes it one of the larger and more powerful options that HF sells. This saw also requires an extension cord, however, which can be inconvenient when you aren't close to an outlet.

On the positive side, this saw has toolless chain tensioning, a built-in chain brake, metal bucking spikes, a transparent viewing window for monitoring oil levels, and an instant electric start.

This saw has a 4.5 out of 5 average rating on Harbor Freight's website. Most of the positive reviews cite its convenience and its price. They state that it's an affordable and easy-to-use chainsaw with plenty of power and a surprising amount of utility. The negative reviews for this tool seem to once again primarily come from users who received faulty units. It's hard to argue with the price, though. This larger and more powerful saw is a good deal at just $79.99.

Atlas 40V Brushless Cordless 16 in Chainsaw

Finally, we have the Atlas 40V Brushless Cordless 16 in. Chainsaw . This is the lowest-rated chainsaw on this list, but only by an extremely narrow margin. It still has a fantastic 4.5 user average on Harbor Freight and has plenty of features that could make it a good buy if it suits your needs. To start, it runs on a 40V lithium battery system. This means it has the capacity for roughly double the energy output as the 20V battery-powered Bauer, making it a good choice for those who want a cordless electric option that doesn't sacrifice power. Atlas also promises that its electric motor is brushless, meaning that it maximizes efficiency while minimizing heat. This saw also has a 16-inch bar, making it a good larger option for those who need to handle bigger projects.

On top of all that, it has a wrap-around handle with an overgrip mold for vibration reduction, a mechanical chain break, an automatic oiler with a viewing window, and an instant electric starter. Reviewers praise the lightweight design, the quiet motor, and the power output. The major complaint that seems to have pulled it down in the rankings is that the batteries don't last as long as many users would like. There are also a few reviews that cite these batteries overheating.