The grandeur and scale of a superyacht are best appreciated when the vessel sails through the narrow Dutch canals. It’s a heart-stopping, nail-biting experience, but rarely has context and contrast been so beautifully captured. The 328-foot Project 824, owned by Starbucks cofounder Howard Schultz, painted a stunning picture of size and stature as it glided through the tight waterways.
The Feadship-built beauty was first spotted last year amid the charming Dutch countryside, heading to the shipyard’s Kaag facilities for outfitting. This time, the yacht is on a thrilling journey to undergo sea trials in the North Sea. Though sheathed in secrecy, a few intriguing details about the mighty Feadship have surfaced. Most notable is exterior designer Jarkko Jämsen’s brilliant work, now visible in full glory. The interiors are crafted by French studio Liaigre, known for understated elegance.
The four-deck vessel boasts an impressive internal volume of around 3,000 GT. A closer look reveals a swimming pool and beach club aft, alfresco dining areas, a bar, wraparound windows, and rectangular cutouts along each deck’s overhang, allowing natural light to flood the lower decks.
More features will likely be revealed as the luxury vessel nears completion. For now, the sight alone is spellbinding. With a beam of nearly 45 feet, Project 824 maneuvered through water-locked canals that, at points, are only 46 feet wide, making the operation incredibly delicate.
It’s mesmerizing to see the superyacht dwarf everything around it, towering over church spires, windmills, and making the cars on nearby roads look like toy models. One image shows a crew member on the foredeck who, without a sharp eye, could easily be missed.
The contrast is striking: the opulent lifestyle of a billionaire gliding past quaint Dutch villages where even the homes are barely half the size of this floating mansion. Ordered in 2021, the vessel features a diesel-electric propulsion system with ABB pod drives, promising efficient and low-vibration performance. While this tightrope act lasts only moments, there’s something poetic about watching the Starbucks boss’s $150 million yacht inch through ancient lanes, especially while sipping a cold brew in a roomy, beautifully designed Starbucks outlet, just like the one I’m writing from.
Starbucks, success, superyachts, sum up Howard Schultz’s brewed legacy
Isn’t it remarkable? A man who grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, born into a working-class family, and the first in his family to graduate college, now commands a 328-foot floating palace. Under Howard Schultz’s leadership, Starbucks grew from 11 stores to more than 28,000 in 77 countries, employing nearly 350,000 partners and serving over 90 million customers a week.
Schultz’s perspective on employee welfare and benefits was shaped by a formative moment, his father broke his ankle on the job and was fired without medical coverage. It’s a moment that never left him. After stepping down in 2018, Schultz, alongside his spouse Sheri, turned focus to the Schultz Family Foundation.
He has also authored several books, including Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time and From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America, offering a deeper look into the values and journey that shaped him.