They’re horribly flashy and cost a fortune to run – I’d hate to own a superyacht | Adrian Chiles

How can you enjoy a life on the ocean waves when it’s costing you £1,000 an hour?

I went to Barcelona for a few days early in the new year. It was nice – chilly, but with a suggestion of warmth in the sun. And there were colours to be seen that weren’t any shade of grey. I felt blessed, but a little guilty not to be back in the monochrome winter of my northern European homeland, sloping miserably back to work like everyone else. My privilege was weighing heavy. But then I saw the superyachts.

The first one I noticed was the 105-metre Lady Moura, which, according to its Wikipedia page, was the ninth-largest private yacht in the world when it was launched in 1990. A Saudi billionaire, Nasser al-Rashid, apparently paid $200m for it.

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