Archive
Thank you for rating this article
The Streets of Monaco take to the open sea
2011-01-07 17:54
The Casino, the Grand Prix, the Yacht Show, or the Prince's Palace? Now you can have them all, in an extravagant but surprisingly elegant superyacht concept from the UK that could soon become a reality.
It’s the dream of many to moor their superyacht in Monaco’s classy Port Hercule, but what if the last berth is taken? Not to worry: the latest concept from Yacht Island Design recreates the streets of Monte Carlo - including the famous Casino - on deck, so there’s no need even to disembark: you can have a slice of the action wherever in the world you choose to put in to port.
Now, we all know that Monaco is pretty small, but even so to get the whole thing on board a 155m yacht has been something of an achievement, and the attention to detail in this admittedly foreshortened view of the Principality is nothing short of miraculous. Here on the port bow is the Prince’s Palace – which houses the master cabin of course - while the conning tower (which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Hotel de Paris) rubs shoulders, as in real life, with Casino Square. Did somebody say Grand Prix? Here on deck, F1 fans can recreate their favourite wins, taking one of the bespoke go-karts for a spin round the scaled down track.
Below deck, a vast palm-court atrium based on the Casino Gardens acts as one of three communal areas, while the VIP suites (see below) are done out in the best of Belle Epoque fashion, of course.
Although the yacht is only at the concept stage, Derbyshire-based Yacht Island Design are deadly serious about pitching this kind of land-to-sea fusion to the real market. The Streets of Monaco is the first of two planned vessels, the second of which is a more modest 85 metre affair modelled on a Pacific theme. The practicality of such ships has already come under scrutiny, but the fact is that with today’s technologies, such fantasies may well be the stuff not of dreams but of reality sooner than you might expect.
The 155-metre Leviathan has a steel and aluminium hull, driven by diesel-electric motors and can make a top speed of 15 knots, accommodating up to 16 guests along with 70 crew, though it’s not clear whether they will include Michelin-starred chefs. Now that would be something to crow about.