VI Standpoint.com: Branson’s “Necker Belle”

Branson’s “Necker Belle”
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standadmin on 08/06/2011 12:22:00

It’s often said that the boy with the biggest stick wins the fight. The same
might be said at regattas — a kind of stick fight among the wealthy elite…
albeit on a much grander scale.

And, well, Richard Branson busted out quite a stick at this year’s British
Virgin Islands Spring Regatta, raising questions over whether the sailing sport
has turned into a pissing contest, in which the richest guys will always fare
the best.
Branson’s boat, a 105-foot catamaran named “Necker Belle,” is the largest
multi-hull boat to ever run the race, according to Luxuo. It’s available for
charter in the Caribbean for $100,000 a week (what a bargain!) and even carries
a submarine for three.
But, with a record-busting watercraft like this, one does wonder whether the
contest has come down to a game of dollars rather than skill.
“Size does matter,” Derrick Fries, a professor at East Michigan University
and a sailing expert, told us. “Speed is always improved with length… [for
example] all good swimmers are very tall.”
Fries said that while the Necker Belle’s clunky size could adversely affect
maneuverability, the boat’s large mast size “helps with speed.”
One source who wanted to stay anonymous described the mogul boat battle more
bluntly:
“The next rich person who builds a sailboat or catamaran [at] 150 feet will be
faster than anything smaller.”
That being said, Branson still didn’t win the race even with his giant water
toy.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British baron,
best known for his Virgin Group of over 400 companies.
His first successful business venture was a magazine called Student at age 16.
In 1970, he set up an audio record mail-order business. In 1972, he opened a
chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores.
Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s as he set up Virgin
Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.
Richard Branson is the 5th richest person in the United Kingdom and 254th in the
world according to Forbes' 2011 list of billionaires, with an estimated net
worth of approximately £2.58 billion (US$4.2 billion).