Madoff's yacht "Bull" to be auctioned

Madoff's "Bull" is Port Gallice - Antibes Juan les Pins

"Bull", the Bernard Madoff's Leopard 27m is on the market with Wyles Hardy & Co.
The yacht will be auctioned on behalf of Grant Thornton UK LLP - the Joint Liquidators of Madoff Securities Intenrational Ltd.

This 2007 yacht is currently lying in Gibraltar.

Check out the detail of the auction here

Yacht tax for the Chinese owner too ?

People's Daily Online reported that Owners of yachts - a luxury that is gaining popularity among China's newly rich - will have to pay an annual vessel tax based on the length of their craft if a draft law is passed by the top legislature.

Liu Dianfang, chairman of the yacht industry association in Xiamen, in East China's Fujian province, estimated there are 300 luxury yachts in China that each has a value of 3 million yuan or more.

Read the post here

Charter: French VAT exemption

If you are interested in knowing a little more about the recent change in the VAT regulation, read the latest Yachting VAT note published by Moore Stephens Monaco here.
Publication > Yachting Publicatiuon > Yachting VAT note

Ben Ali's nephew yacht theft

According to the French newspaper Nice Matin, Moaez and Imed Trabelsi, ordered the theft of three yachts in France (French Riviera and Corsica) in 2005.
A french captain who helped to sail the yachts to Tunisia was jailed for several months, but Ben Ali's nephews have never been prosecuted...

Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/6x6rkgp

Picture of the day: San Lorenzo SL104

This superb San lorenzo SL 104 was spotted between the Lerins islands today.

Berezosky's yachts seized in France

French authorities have impounded two yachts believed to belong to fugitive Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said on Thursday.

Following the sale of the 360ft Darius in October 2008, Russian billionaire and former politician Boris Berezovsky was ordered by a British court yesterday to pay Edmiston Company a £6-million ($9.3-million) sales commission...

Read the article here

Russia: next charter destination to explore ?

The website Barentsobserver.com recently reported that the Russia aims at drawing more sailing tourists and opens up Russian waters for sailing boats and yachts under foreign flag.

Good to know: it normally takes about three months to get a permit to sail in Russian waters with a yacht or sailing boat under foreign flag...

Read the article here