Paul Allen's Octopus to Help British Navy

Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen is lending his magnificent 126m (414ft) expedition yacht 'Octopus' to the British Royal Navy in an expedition recovery mission to locate and raise the bell from the famous battle cruiser HMS Hood. The HMS Hood sank at the hands of the German battleship Bismarck in 1941 where 1,415 members of the crew were lost, the largest loss of life ever suffered by any British warship.

The last time HMS Hood and her bell were seen was 11 years ago in 2001 in a expedition to the site where she lies, in deep waters west of Iceland. If and when the bell is recovered it will be returned to the Royal Navy and then gifted to the Museum in Portsmouth to commemorate the loss of life.

The expedition will get under way later this month after the London Olympic Games finishes. Mega Yacht Global would like to wish the crew and the British Royal Navy the very best in the recovery of an important piece of British and world history. For more information on HMS Hood please follow the below link to the HMS Hood Association.

www.hmshood.com

Two Gates, Two Oceans

The two main Oceans of the world the Atlantic and the Pacific are join by two passages that MegaYachts and ships can navigate to go from one to the other. These passages are the Northwest Passage and the Panama Canal. these strips of water provide a fast and efficient route from one Ocean to the other. The Northwest Passage is more extreme and expedition and exploration style yachts only attempt this crossing with their re-enforced ice breaking bows.

The Northwest Passage has been navigated since the early 1900s and was first navigated by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen between 1903 - 1906. The Northwest Passage from west to east runs through the Bering strait, the piece of water that separates Alaska and Russia. From there it runs through the Chukchi sea, Beaufort sea and then through different waterways that go through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. There is between 8 and 10 different routes through the Archipelago, and from here the passage goes through Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait into the Atlantic Ocean. Only some of these routes can be used through out the year, it depends on the ice pack and how far south it has traveled. Up until 2009 the Northwest passage could only be traveled at certain times of the year and due to climate change there is now more water to navigate. Now yachts without ice breaking bows can attempt the passage but it is still left up to the expedition yachts.
MegaYacht Octopus 412ft owned by Microsoft's Paul Allen filed plans with the Canadian coast guard to attempt the passage in September 2010, and was then seen ancored at the northern tip of Baffin Island waiting for it crossing of the passage.
Another MegaYacht that is thought to be preparing its self for the crossing this winter is Big Fish in their trip to circumnavigate the globe. The other Passage between the Oceans is the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal was built from 1904 - 1914 and is 77km long which goes from the Atlantic Caribbean Sea to The Pacific Gulf of Panama. The construction of this canal was a revolutionary break through in shipping from east to west and west to east. The time was shortened considerably for the ships. The time for ship and MegaTachts to travel from New York to San Francisco has more than halved from 22,500nm to 9,500nm. Close to 1 million vessels have passed through the canal since it opened. The yacht that is maxed out to the limit of what the canal can hold is called a Panamax, so this is where the recently launched Hetairos by Baltis Yachts got its project name Panamax.
There are many superyacht that have made this short journey through the canal so they can go and explore the Pacific and what it has to offer. Some places that yacht will go to are the Galapagos Islands, South Pacific Islands and then on to New Zealand and Australia.
The first attempt at building the Panama Canal was from the French in 1880 but construction was stopped due to the workers suffering from disease. Then the American re-started the canal in 1903 and was completed in 1914. In December 1999 the control of the canal was handed over to the Panamanian Government and is now run by the Panama Canal Authority

The 3 Musketeers

The Three top names in MegaYacht Design will come to most of you not as a shock but as legends for the modern and artistic designs that they have produced over the years they have been in the yacht design industry.

We have Donald Starkey probably the most known of the three. Then we have Espen Oeino who has been at the top of his game for years. The final designer to form the 3 Musketeers of yacht design is Nuvolari Lenard with his sleek and sharp designs.

Donald Starkey has been designing some of the worlds most extravagant and well known yachts since the late 80s and over that time has gone on to win 26 design awards worldwide. This is why owners of yachts look to Donald Starkey for top class design in the interior and exterior of their yacht. one of his newest designs is the Westport 163ft Wabi Sabi, this yacht benefited from the interior design skills of Donald Starkey. Another yacht that Donald designed was the strong and bullish looks of the MegaYacht Luna 377ft built by Lloyd Werft and belongs to the growing fleet of MegaYachts owned by Roman Abramovich see the picture below.

Espen Oeino is a world renowned MegaYacht designer. He started his own design company in the early to mid 90s and has gone on to produce some of the leading yachts from the Lurssen shipyard. Some of his earlier yachts are the infamous Octopus 414ft owned by Microsoft guru Paul Allen and the sharp desgin of SKAT 233ft Lurrsen owned by Charles Simoyni another Microsoft guru.

Some of Espen Oeino's newest designs include CandyScape II 203ft from the Italian shipyard Viareggio and RoMa 203ft from Viareggio. See the picture below.

Nuvolari Lenard Design work alot with Oceanco shipyard and with Palmer Johnson. With these combination some of the worlds most elegant MegaYachts are produced. One of the wolds most famous yachts Alpha Nero 269ft Oceanco was designed by Nuvolari Lenard and the Palmer Johnson 130ft Hokulani. The newest design from Nuvolari Lenard is the newly launched Oceanco Seven Seas 282ft and was built under the yard name of Y706. this yacht will probably be seen around the Mediterranean this summer. See the picture below.

Watch out for new world class designs from these top designers.