New Zealand’s richest man, Graeme Hart, is a serial superyacht owner. That experience brings with it certain benefits that go a long way toward making seafaring seamless. Just as car owners struggle with parking, so do yacht owners, only on a much larger scale. The billionaire, worth an estimated $10 billion, commissioned his 337-foot superyacht Ulysses with an unusually specific mandate.
The reportedly $275 million motor yacht had to remain under 3,000 GT so it could more easily berth in coveted Mediterranean ports.The vessel, which boasts four Jacuzzis, a winter garden and even a hospital, did not compromise on luxury while downsizing from its predecessor. The 71-year-old billionaire went from a 380-foot vessel to one measuring 337 feet, sacrificing roughly one-eighth of the length but more than half the enclosed volume.
Hart’s former Ulysses, now named Multiverse, measures 6,862 GT, while the current Ulysses was completed at precisely 2,999 GT. Put simply, the new yacht is only around 12 percent shorter but more than 56 percent smaller by enclosed volume. The result is that the stunning Feadship vessel is currently sitting comfortably inside the port of Antibes, according to MarineTraffic, with Hart’s newly converted support vessel U-81 operating nearby. Clearly, the strategy has paid off. Hart is now putting this masterstroke of yacht design to work, enjoying the peak Riviera summer moored right inside Antibes rather than being forced to remain offshore.
His experience running a packaging empire may also have come into play. After all, not everyone can ace the ultimate packaging challenge of effortlessly fitting a nearly 7,000-GT lifestyle inside a 2,999-GT envelope, then placing much of the overflow aboard another ship. Kudos also goes to Feadship, which created the necessary space by redesigning the engine room. The shipyard replaced the two-level engine room normally expected aboard a yacht of this size with a single-deck machinery space, freeing valuable enclosed volume for guest accommodations and amenities.
The guest experience did not have to bear the full brunt of the downsizing, allowing the new Ulysses to retain much of the luxury associated with its far larger predecessor. On learning about all the niceties aboard the pleasure craft, it certainly seems like a remarkable achievement, one that allows owners of such magnificent vessels to enjoy the Mediterranean at its best, moored inside its glamorous ports rather than staring at them from offshore. Ulysses looks especially lovely shining under the Mediterranean sun. It features a swimming pool extending through the full height of the main deck, while forward lies a helipad with a helicopter hangar beneath it.
As many as eight hull openings, approximately 1,100 square meters of exterior glass and 20 sliding exterior doors give a pretty good idea of the yacht’s scale and lavishness. It also has 12 glass windbreaks and a 15-meter tender-garage door, the largest Feadship had installed when the vessel was unveiled. Whatever Ulysses does not need to carry itself can find a home aboard its shadow vessel. The present U-81 began life as the 251-foot offshore supply ship FS Cygnus before undergoing an extensive Dutch conversion and emerging as an 80-meter-plus support vessel.
The support ship effectively doubles as a floating warehouse, aviation base, tender garage and logistics department. This heavy-duty toy box can carry large tenders, Jet Skis, utility boats, aviation equipment, provisions and other bulky items that would otherwise consume valuable space aboard Ulysses. In other words, Ulysses serves as the glamorous floating residence, while U-81 handles much of the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Hart did not necessarily give up the toys and equipment associated with a much larger explorer yacht. He simply moved much of that burden onto another ship.
Hart is not the only billionaire to have realized that bigger is not always better. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison reportedly became frustrated with the limitations of his enormous $490 million megayacht Rising Sun. The yacht was so large that it sometimes had to dock beside oil tankers and cruise ships or remain anchored outside glamorous Mediterranean ports. Ellison eventually sold his mammoth yacht and moved to the considerably smaller, $160 million superyacht Musashi instead.
Serial superyacht owner Graeme Hart sold his former U-81 to Mark Zuckerberg (now Wingman) and immediately recycled the moniker for his brand-new $100 million support vessel. The new U-81, converted from a former offshore oil and gas supply vessel named FS Cygnus, was rebuilt in the Netherlands to accompany the Ulysses superyacht.