Life on a superyacht sounds like the stuff of vacations, and it usually is. Unless you are Saudi billionaire Dr. Nasser Al-Rashid. In that case, you make the monumental 344-foot Lady Moura superyacht a floating home for your family. The 1990 Blohm + Voss luxury vessel was then the world’s most expensive and innovative yacht, reportedly costing around $200 million to build. With seven decks, his wife, and nine children (six sons and three daughters), the affluent owners built a sanctuary away from the mayhem of daily life. With Lady Moura as their permanent home for almost 30 years, the family anchored in glamorous ports, with Monaco effectively the yacht’s home port.
Today, the family isn’t tied to this mammoth 6,359-GT vessel, now owned by flamboyant Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas, and as much as it suited the Saudi billionaire, it suits him too. Last year, Salinas made headlines when his yacht was involved in a collision with Venus, the superyacht owned by Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs, a reminder that this vessel still attracts drama as easily as it once held a large family home.
But while the motor yacht may have sailed on to a new phase, it was a huge home to a large family and left an undeniably big impression on their lives. One wonders, for the members of Al-Rashid’s clan, is a boat only a boat? Let’s take a closer look at their life on board to understand that sometimes a boat is also a home.
The Family Of Lady Moura
Lady Moura was quite literally a ship name, born from the union of Al-Rashid and his wife Mouna (until their 1996 divorce). Even long-serving crew were treated like family. In fact, those who had been with them since the 1990s affectionately referred to the children as their very own.
The Arrangement Of Lady Moura
A massive family, many children, and an abundance of space shaped the layout of this seven-decker goliath. As it served as their primary residence, privacy was paramount. One entire deck was reserved exclusively for family living. Lavish as they come, the owner’s duplex suite occupied the forward section for the best vantage point and, according to Spear’s, even featured a walk-in safe.
For the younger clan growing up under the sun, sand, and sea, their personal sanctuaries were six junior suites aft, each complete with dressing rooms, bathrooms, and a cheerful, playful décor. For fun and games, the children headed up to the bridge deck, where a dedicated kids’ room doubled as a video-game lounge.
A lesser-known detail, before the children arrived, one 5,500-square-foot closet was devoted to over $1 million worth of haute couture garments from Chanel, Dior, and Versace. The space was perhaps later refurbished for family use.
The Amenities Of A Floating Home-
The $200 million Lady Moura, designed by the Italian-born Luigi Sturchio, boasted not one but two galleys, two laundries, a bakery, storage for twelve weeks of dry provisions, a formal 24-seat dining room that was reportedly used just three times, and even a certified sewage plant. “The owner’s intention was to make an impact,” says Captain Matthias Bosse, who first joined the yacht as staff captain in 1992. “He wanted to build the biggest yacht, at the best shipyard, with the most advanced technology in the world.” Bosse adds, “She was built to be a family home, not for cruising.” In addition to the lavish facilities, more than 60 crew members, including doctors, nurses, chefs, engineers, stewards, security staff, and a helicopter team, ensured Lady Moura functioned flawlessly.
The daily life of a not so ordinary home-
With so many people ensuring the day moved smoothly, it is safe to assume life aboard Lady Moura was kingly. Six chefs worked to serve the finest food to the Al-Rashid children. Their morning might begin with breakfast prepared in the yacht’s bakery, which ensured fresh bread and pastries daily.
After lessons, likely held in the lounge areas or study rooms, the kids were free to enjoy their beautiful home by riding elevators between decks, watching movies in the cinema, or dipping their feet in the indoor pool with its retractable roof. Like their wealthy mother Mouna, the children grew up with governesses, tutors, and childcare providers.
The nine Al-Rashid children thrived aboard Lady Moura throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. When adulthood arrived, many left the yacht to study overseas. Even so, the years they spent at sea felt like a real-life fairytale, lived on a vessel so lavish it might have been mistaken for a palace.
