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Asia’s Sailing Soul: Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

• April 21, 2022

With its Kellett Island clubhouse set in the heart of Victoria Harbour, the storied Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is an icon in the sailing world. Yet although RHKYC embraces its fascinating history dating back to the mid-19th century, Asia’s biggest and most active yacht club remains committed to positive changes. Words: Guy Nowell Photos: RHKYC & Guy Nowell  

RHKYC’s main site at Kellett Island

The history of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is long and illustrious, beginning with the first regatta of the Victoria Regatta Club in 1849.

Thereafter, in the best Hong Kong tradition of acquisitions and mergers, it involved the Yacht Club, the Victoria Regatta Club, a German gymnasium, the Hong Kong Corinthian Sailing Club, the Victoria Recreation Club (which still exists) and the Hong Kong Yacht Club.

The club runs the busiest racing calendar in Asia

In 1894, after a polite request, Buckingham Palace advised that “the Queen approves of the Hong Kong Yacht Club having the title of Royal” and the warrant was granted that authorised members to “fly the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty’s Fleet, with the distinguishing marks of the Club thereon”. The RHKYC had arrived.

The Club has been housed in numerous premises over the years: Yau Ma Tei, Wanchai, North Point and Causeway Bay. Kellett Island, the present home of the Club, was an island in 1937 when the Hong Kong Government gave permission for RHKYC to use the land, although it has long been absorbed by advancing reclamation.

The main bar captures the club’s history

The present clubhouse was built in 1939 and commissioned in 1940, only to be shut down by the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941. Today, the Kellett Island clubhouse remains very much ‘headquarters’ for the RHKYC and houses plenty of tributes to the Club’s fascinating history.

Denis Martinet, current Commodore of the RHKYC, says: “Our history is very much alive and well, and an important part of the Club’s ethos. Our history is hanging on our walls, literally. We are still racing for trophies that mark occasions – or remind us of people – that have marked the pages of our story.

RHKYC Commodore Denis Martinet

“But we are not mired in the past. We are a dynamic and evolving organisation that moves with the times and always seeks to remain relevant in both social and strictly sporting terms.”

The Kellett Island facility includes two restaurants (fine dining and casual), three bars, squash courts, a bowling alley and pool table, snooker room, swimming pool, gymnasium, children’s playroom, Youth Club room, changing rooms, and all the administrative offices that keep the place going.

The pool is among popular facilities

In addition, it has probably Hong Kong’s best repair and maintenance boatyard for private vessels and a large hard standing area that’s home to several one-design racing fleets.

SOUTH SIDE TO SAI KUNG

But that’s not all. Middle Island, on the south side of Hong Kong island, became part of the RHKYC portfolio in 1937. It was originally set up as a home for Comet class boats before the Rowing Section joined in, finding Deepwater Bay to be a more congenial location for rowing than the harbour.

The Middle Island clubhouse off HK Island’s south side

A year later, after a typhoon had demolished both the boats and the single mat-shed, a new brick clubhouse was constructed and still exists as the topmost level of the clubhouse facilities.

Middle Island remains the Club’s centre for rowing, which includes coastal rowing, outrigger paddling and SUP activities. Its F&B facilities include the city’s best barbecue deck and an enormous hard standing catering to the Club’s dinghies and sail training fleet, with room to spare to accommodate visiting World Championship fleets and other large-scale international events.

RHKYC has a strong junior sailing programme

The Middle Island Sail Training Centre runs a full menu of courses (pandemics permitting) for aspiring sailors aged six years old all the way to grown-up. In 2020 a grand total of 2,698 students completed courses ranging from Optimist beginners to adult racing. Middle Island is also the home of the Club’s dedicated junior racing squad, the RHKYC Sharks.

The Club’s third property, Shelter Cove, near Sai Kung, started life in the 1960s as the Shelter Cove Yacht Club and was ‘merged into’ the RHKYC in 1975. Shelter Cove is a small haven of peace and much beloved by the Club’s cruising members.

The scenic Shelter Cove site in Sai Kung

Its 120-plus swing moorings give access straight onto the beautiful cruising grounds of Port Shelter and all points east. The clubhouse itself offers F&B service, an ideal spot for a sundowner and changing rooms. The large hard standing accommodates two of the Club’s racing classes – the Dragons and the Sportsboats – and a car park.

BIGGEST AND BUSIEST

RHKYC has often been touted as the ‘largest yacht club in the world’ by membership. At last count, there were 14,147 members encompassing 43 nationalities, of which some 8,000 are presently absent from Hong Kong. That leaves over 6,000 active members in the SAR. Martinet points out that the composition of the membership has changed substantially since World War II.

Members dress up for the Nations’ Cup; membership totals 14,000

“At that time, there were no Chinese members at all,” he says. “In the 1980s, it was still 60 per cent expatriates. Today it’s more than 60 per cent local members, while we continue to work to bring down the average age of the membership. Our younger members are our future.”

In recent years, the Club has gone to some lengths to make membership as accessible as possible. In addition to the traditional Ordinary and Full memberships, the RHKYC offers both Corporate and Individual Debenture memberships, and Junior (18-32) and Short Term memberships. But be warned: there’s still a waiting list.

Races to the Philippines have been run since 1962

As well as sailing, rowing remains a core activity of the RHKYC. The Rowing Section is an active participant in local regattas up to national level and a frequent winner in all classes at the annual National Championships. When travel restrictions allow, the Club’s oarsmen and ladies are regular competitors at regional events throughout Asia.

For the sailors, the sailing and racing programme is practically non-stop. The season runs from September to May, but racing continues even in the ‘off season’.

The Club schedules 16 major regattas and races in a typical year’s programme including the ‘blue riband’ Rolex China Sea Race down to the Philippines (first sailed in 1962) and the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race (from 1996), which were held in alternate years before Covid prevented recent editions.

Filling in the spaces in the calendar are weekly races for the Etchells fleet and the Dragons, Pandoras and Ruffians, the Flying 15s, Impalas, Sportsboats and J/80s. Records for the 2020-21 season show that the principal Club events engaged 863 boat entries and 4,580 sailor entries.

Volunteers play a huge role in organising events

“It’s a packed programme,” the Commodore acknowledges, with no exaggeration at all. “You can’t do it without volunteers – thank you, all! – and it’s part of the Club’s culture that we never seem to be short of volunteers.”

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Mindful of its visibility as a centre of sporting excellence, the Club works exceptionally hard to be “green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly”. Since 2016, there have been no single-use plastic bottles on any of the RHKYC premises. None. And no plastic single-use takeaway containers, yoghurt pots or cutlery.

The Around The Island Race is Hong Kong’s most popular sailing event

Martinet is very supportive of all green initiatives. “You have to start somewhere. Members didn’t take long to get used to bringing their own water bottles when heading for the race course, and refilling them from the dispensers provided. Such initiatives are indicative of intent,” he says.

“All the Club’s major regattas and class races are conducted under Gold Status as certified by Clean Regattas – Sailors for the Sea. It’s just part of the Club’s Sustainability Policy, which serves as a roadmap for cultivating and operating a healthier, more sustainable yachting and rowing community.”

Rooftop ceremony after the 2019 Around The Island Race

The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is one of the very few sporting clubs around the world which can properly be described as ‘iconic’. Today, it stands as a proud and visible marker on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, enjoying commanding views of one of the world’s greatest harbours.

Unlike some other clubs in Asia, which are really marinas with an occasional regatta, the RHKYC is the real deal. It is, de facto, the doyenne of yacht clubs in Asia.

www.rhkyc.org.hk

Note: The original article appeared in Issue 64 of Yacht Style

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club going solar As part of its sustainability drive, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is set to install over 200sqm of solar panels at its main Kellett Island site in Causeway Bay.

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Address: Kellett Island, Causeway Bay; Middle Island, Repulse Bay; and Shelter Cove, Sai Kung Phone: 2832 2817 Website: rhkyc.org.hk

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

Founded in 1890, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club isone of the largest yacht clubs in the world. It was the only Hong Kong club that kept the €œRoyal€ in its title post-handover, although its Chinese name is simply the Hong Kong Yacht Club. Unsurprisingly, membership is contingent on an interest in rowing or sailing.

The club offers sailing courses to non-members, though priority is given to members. Sitting under the umbrellas on the terrace of its Middle Island clubhouse is surely one of the most relaxing spots in Hong Kong. Junior memberships at a reduced fee are also available.

Short-term memberships have no entrance fee but a higher monthly charge applies. To be eligible you must be over 29, demonstrate experience and active participation in sailing or rowing and confirm that you expect to reside in Hong Kong for no more than two years. Short-term membership cannot be extended, and may only be enjoyed once.

Facilities: Sailing, rowing, dragonboating, moorings, berths (Shelter Cove), restaurants; Kellett Island has four restaurants, a swimming pool, bowling alley, squash courts and hardstands.

Entrance fees: $91,800 (ordinary single), $137,700 (ordinary married) to $2,250,000 (corporate nominee).

Monthly fees: vary up to $2,130, according to membership type (including building levy and minimum food and beverage charge).

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Tatler Asia

The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

Slip on your Sperry’s and sling your jacket over your shoulder—this is the place to be for yachties and rowers alike. At each of the club’s three waterfront locations, you can enhance your skills with a variety of courses or rent the club’s dinghies at your leisure

 Once you are back on dry land, schmooze with like-minded individuals as you sip on specially curated and subsidised wines.

There are plenty of other facilities for landlubbers too, including restaurants, a bowling alley, gym, pool and squash courts. 

Wine and dine: There are an array of dining establishments, including fine dining at the Compass Room, casual coffee shop fare, a bar and deck, and BBQ and a-la-carte dining at Middle Island and Shelter Cove.

For the family:  This is a great place to encourage your mini-me’s love of the water with fantastic courses starting from the age of 6.

Little non-sailors have been kept in mind throughout each location too, with playrooms, playgrounds, pool parties, board games and other fun things for them to do.

Joining and Membership Fee: For the cheapest fees, you’ll need to prove your experience in sailing or rowing and show your willingness to participate in activities with the club.

For ordinary membership, you’ll need a proposer from the club. Expect to wait between two to six weeks. 

An   ordinary single membership is HK$91,800 while an ordinary married couple membership is HK$137,700.

There's also an individual debenture membership at HK$1,875,000 and corporate nominee membership at HK2,250,000. Monthly fees range from HK$2,000 to HK $4,260.

No. of Members: 13,300 (5,800 active members, 7,500 absent members worldwide) 

Tatler Tip: Pull an all-nighter at the lavish Regatta Ball. Time will fly as you enjoy endless champagne, the finest delicacies and live entertainment.

If you’re still standing at 7am, paste on a smile for the infamous "Survivors’ Photo".

The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Kellett Island, Causeway Bay; Middle Island, Repulse Bay; Shelter Cove, Sai Kung; rhkyc.org.hk

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Sailing Hong Kong: So much more than just a glittering Asian metropolis

• August 19, 2020

Cameron Dueck explored beyond the beaten track around the waters of his hometown, Hong Kong

The old and the new: a traditional junk crosses the glassy waters of Hong Kong Harbour. Photo: Baona / Getty

We had just dropped the anchor in a small bay, and I was standing on the deck of our Hallberg-Rassy, surveying the turquoise water and shore that rose steep and green around us. At one end of the bay stood a ramshackle cluster of old British military buildings and an abandoned pearl farm, now covered in vines that were reclaiming the land, while through the mouth of the bay I could see a few high-prowed fishing boats working the South China Sea.

I felt drunk with the thrill of new discovery, even though we were in our home waters. I was surprised that I’d never seen this gem of a spot before, and it made me wonder what else I’d find.

Hong Kong has been my home for nearly 15 years, during which I’ve hiked from its lush valleys to the tops of its mountain peaks and paddled miles of its rocky shoreline in a sea kayak. I pride myself in having seen many of the far-flung corners of this territory.

The little-known beauty of Hong Kong’s Sai Kung district. Photo: Siu Kwan Lui / EyeEm / Getty

I’ve also been an active weekend sailor, crewing on racing yachts and sailing out of every local club. But as crew on a racing yacht I followed a predictable routine – sail out of the harbour, make a few laps around the marks, and back the clubhouse for beers. I could have counted on one hand the number of nights spent at anchor in Hong Kong waters.

Now, for the first time, I am cruising these waters at the helm of my own boat, and I am rediscovering Hong Kong as a cruising destination. My girlfriend, Fiona, and I have recently bought Teng Hoi, a Hallberg-Rassy 42F, and she’s opened our eyes to whole new side of our home territory.

Hong Kong is so much more than just a glittering Asian metropolis. The concrete and glass it is best known for are set against vast protected parkland and overgrown farming villages, including 263 islands and 637 square miles of sea. Three quarters of Hong Kong territory is dominated by white sand beaches, hiking trails, traditional fishing villages and quiet anchorages, all creating an excellent cruising ground. The biggest challenge facing us was deciding where to go.

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Our mooring next to Deep Water Bay, on the south side of Hong Kong Island, put us in the geographical centre of Hong Kong waters. To the west, we could explore Cheng Chau and Lamma islands, which contain lively vehicle-free villages of people who commute to the city by ferry.

Lantau Island, the biggest of Hong Kong’s islands, has miles of sandy beaches and a traditional stilt-house fishing village at its western tip. If we sailed south-west we’d reach the small, uninhabited group of Soko Islands that used to house a refugee camp for Vietnamese boat people.

This time we turned east, towards Sai Kung, a region known for its hiking, beaches and a slower pace of life. Many of the biggest of Hong Kong’s parks and protected areas are located in the north-east, and the water here is notably cleaner due to its distance from the Pearl River Delta on the other side of the territory.

Hong Kong’s uncrowded eastern waters

Our first day out was a light wind drift around Hong Kong Island to Po Toi O, a quiet village near Clear Water Bay, an exclusive residential area. We dropped anchor and eagerly launched our dinghy: this stop had a purpose. Field research led us to believe that Po Toi O offered some of the best seafood of all of Hong Kong’s many fishing villages, but we needed to double check our data.

Seafood may be more important to Hong Kong sailing culture than the wind itself. On non-regatta weekends fleets of racing boats congregate at the most popular spots for gluttonous afternoons, where sailors sit on cheap plastic stools, swill Chinese Tsing Tao beer and gorge on seafood.

Local seafood dishes such as pepper and chilli prawns, clams in black bean sauce, and steamed fish are the soul of Hong Kong sailing. At the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club bar a debate over which village serves the best deep fried squid is just as common as arguments over racing rules at the downwind mark. Despite the delicious dinner we enjoyed in Po Toi O, we were not yet ready to deliver a verdict. Further research is required.

The seafood dining at Po Toi O is famous. Photo: South China Morning Post / Getty

Next morning we awoke to an unexpected change in weather – dove-coloured skies and a stiff onshore breeze. Hong Kong weather is split into two distinct seasons, the north-east monsoon, from October to January and, from May to September, the south-west monsoon. The south-west monsoon is hot, rainy and muggy, with unpredictable winds that carry a heightened threat of typhoons. The north-east monsoon brings steadier winds and cooler, drier conditions.

We were catching the start of the north-east winds, so I scanned my charts for somewhere suitably protected. Just a few miles to the north-east was Snake Bay, a spot I’d heard of but never visited. It is deserted, except for a few weather-stained buildings nestled on the shore.

An entrepreneur leased part of the bay’s abandoned village about 15 years ago, and restored the buildings into an eclectic small hotel decorated with life-size animal sculptures. The business failed, the buildings returned to their decay, and now the sculptures have become decrepit monsters guarding the ruins.

Decrepit animal sculptures at Snake Bay

Storms from South China Sea

The bay sheltered us from the wind, but it had begun to rain, so we curled up in the saloon to read and listen to the raindrops hit the deck. By morning the skies had cleared. We raised sail, enjoying the steady winds and flat, inshore waters. But the open South China Sea showed a very different character.

During the north-east monsoon the wind and seas funnel south through Taiwan Strait, and passing storms can create dangerously rough conditions in Hong Kong. We beat into 30 knot winds and 3m seas for a few miles, reminding each other that this was what our boat was built for. But after a bout of good sense took over we gybed back towards the protected waters of Snake Bay.

“Actually I wanted to go for a hike in Snake Bay, but it was just too rainy yesterday,” Fiona said, making me feel even better for returning to safe anchorage. So we spent the afternoon clambering along overgrown hiking trails before returning to the boat feeling the same sense of accomplishment we’d have earned bashing into the weather, but with scratched legs and muddy shoes instead of sailing bruises and broken gear.

The dramatic rocks of Bluff Island

The next day we were rewarded with calmer seas but still plenty of wind. We sailed into open sea and steered Teng Hoi north-east, hugging the coastline in order to get a better look at the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark. This features stunning hexagonal basalt rock columns in the same style as the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Waves crash into the columns where they thrust themselves out of the sea, creating a foamy maelstrom. The columns are bent and tilted by tectonic forces, but the waves made it look like they were buckling before the weather. The dramatic columns gradually gave way to rounder, greener mountains until we nudged our bow into a narrow channel.

I furled the genoa and motor sailed Teng Hoi through the gap, edging to the starboard side to allow a wooden fishing boat to chug past and out into the China Sea, while keeping a nervous eye on the jagged shores that hemmed us in on both sides.

Lively conditions for Teng Hoi in the South China Sea

Cruising my own boat in Hong Kong has taught me that bays I thought I knew well are, in reality, poor anchorages in any weather conditions. I’ve discovered that islands I’ve sailed past a thousand times are actually ringed by dangerous rocks, and currents will sweep you into the path of passing ships if you don’t pay close attention.

As we reached the end of the channel our view broadened, revealing the vista of Double Haven. It looked like an inland lake, with water so still that the distant rows of hazy blue mountains were reflected in perfect silhouette. A few small skiffs bobbed in the sea, their crews in conical straw hats, bent over fishing lines. A gauzy steam hung over the landscape.

Double Haven is in fact surrounded by a protective trio of islands: Double, Crescent and Crooked. The area is accessible only via winding pathways and by boat, keeping visitors to a minimum.

Anchoring is prohibited in areas that are part of the Yan Chau Tong Marine Park, and the laws that created the Plover Cove Country Park ensure that Hong Kong’s opportunistic developers don’t cover the hills with apartment blocks.

Contrasting waters

That protection has created a stark contrast between the still waters and lush hills on the Hong Kong side, and the massive industrial complex of the Yantian Harbour on the mainland China side. The container port is so close that the sounds of its machinery are sometimes carried across Double Haven by the wind, and its lights turn the sky orange at night.

It was here, behind one of the sinuous arms of Crooked Island, that we discovered the old pearl farm anchorage, a spot so quiet and secluded that the city rush of Hong Kong felt an ocean away. Crooked Island draws few tourists, but each of Hong Kong’s bays and fishing villages has a unique story to tell.

The Sai Wan beach in Sai Kung East Country Park. Photo: Stefan Irvine / Getty

Like many places in Hong Kong, Crooked Island has both an English and a Cantonese name, and as is often the case, the two names have little in common. Kat O translates as “lucky bay” while its English name refers to the twisted shape of the island.

Hong Kong has been inhabited since the Old Stone Age, and the fishing villages nestled along its shores have seen numerous empires, hostile invaders and colonial masters come and go. Evidence of its time as a British colony, which ended in 1997, is now slowly being eroded.

Kat O is home to a Tin Hau temple that dates back to 1763 and was once a thriving fishing and trading community, but today is home to just 30 residents, most of whom are senior citizens. Much of the population moved overseas decades ago for an easier life when Hong Kong’s rapid urbanisation made village life unsustainable, but some of them have since returned to retire. “There are more people from Kat O living in the UK than living on the island,” one old-timer told us.

Stilt houses at the fishing village of Tai O. Photo: Starcevic / Getty

Kat O is only one of many abandoned villages that dot the shores of Double Haven. To get a better sense of history we set off on a six-mile hike through the hills of Plover Cove Country Park. The paths took us across overgrown rice paddies and entire villages smothered under thick green vegetation, their stone houses still filled with furniture.

We shared the trail with the occasional feral cow. The long-horned but peaceful beasts were left behind by emigrating farmers and have since flourished in parks across Hong Kong.

Eventually the paths led back down towards the sea, ending in Lai Chi Wo, a 400-year-old walled village, where many descendants of those that used to live here are returning, refurbishing, and trying to revive this slice of Hong Kong history. Some houses sport new paint, doors and windows, while their neighbours’ tile roofs lie in a pile on the ground.

Aerial view of Tai O stilted village on Lantau island. Photo: Dale de la Rey / AFP / Getty

Fun for day trippers

There were still parts of Double Haven we had not explored, but it was time to turn for home. As we sailed downwind each mile towards the urban heart of Hong Kong brought with it with more traffic. We were the only boat anchored off a popular snorkelling beach on Bluff Island, but we were no longer alone. Marine Police boats passed by on their patrols and ferry wakes rocked our boat late into the evening.

On our last morning we were joined by junks laden with boisterous passengers. Junk boats are packed with day-trippers, and a popular way for locals to explore local waters. Soon there were a dozen junks anchored around us, and the water was full of snorkellers. But I had a way to escape the crowds, and now I knew just where to go.

Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung district. Photo: Stephen Wong / Getty

Situation update

Hong Kong has experienced a steady stream of protests, political upheaval, police violence, and restrictions related to COVID-19 since the summer of 2019, and things are still not back to ‘normal’.

However, Hong Kong’s marinas and waters have remained largely open to sailors throughout this time. There is a discernible increase in Marine Police presence, but they rarely stop pleasure boats.

The most popular anchorages have seen an uptick in activity, particularly overnight stays, as travel restrictions have kept citizens within their own borders, but there are still plenty of protected bays to go around.

If anything, escaping the throb of the city centre by boat brings relief. On far flung islands and beaches you are more likely to encounter feral cows, a wild pig, or one of Hong Kong’s multitudes of snakes than a riot police officer.

About the author

Canadian-born Cameron Dueck is a writer, adventurer and filmmaker based in Hong Kong. He has sailed his own boat through the North West Passage and across the Atlantic Ocean , and is currently preparing his Hallberg-Rassy 42F for long-term cruising.

First published in the August 2020 edition of Yachting World.

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What Life Might Look Like on the World’s Biggest Yacht

On a Tuesday morning in September, a six-foot-long plastic model of a boat sat on the second floor of the Explorers Club, looking a little like a beached Orca, sleek and out of place in the tweedy boardroom. The tiny yacht had traveled to East 70th Street from Los Angeles and, before that, made stops in Monaco and Zurich, Cannes, and West Palm Beach — a prop to entice buyers who can spend $10 million on a cabin in the world’s biggest yacht. If it gets made. The boat will be called the Ulyssia and it’s the passion project of Frank Binder, a billionaire from the Merck clan with a thing for boats (he once owned a shipyard in Monaco). Lenny Kravitz, his friend, is onboard to help design interiors. (“He’s a genius.”)

Binder has been doing a world tour to find other buyers — who might be hard to meet. Maintenance hovers around 3 percent a year, or $300,000 for that $10 million one-bedroom. It’s a big ask, especially for a boat that, if he does get recruits, won’t launch until 2028. To help, Binder brought on two former executives from the World , the luxury liner that was the first — and only — to prove rich people want to live … at sea, all year. (It launched in 2002, is still sold out, and has yet to snag on an iceberg or go bankrupt.)

Renato Chizzola , a senior vice-president for the Ulyssia who worked as the general manager of the World for five years, spoke to Curbed about the terrors of elephant seals and why he once hired Israeli snipers to come onboard.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

What did your job on the World look like?? 

I was in charge of lifestyle, expedition, everything — even the kitchen. You have a captain who’s the master of the vessel, and he ultimately will have the last word on safety, security, where we go, where we can’t go. But then you also need to have somebody who has grown up in a galley carrying luggage. I’m 60 in October. When I was 27, I said, “Okay, how can I see the world without having money?” So in 1993, I was hired on the Queen Elizabeth II , then went to hotels, cruises, and in 46 years I traveled to 186 countries. I was allowed to live onboard and basically extend any service, any dream that a resident had.

What’s the difference between this superyacht and the World ? 

The World is now 23 years old. She was created in the late ’80s. She looks like a cruise ship. And the  Ulyssia is a yacht — the designer says this is his masterpiece.

We never had many amenities on the World . Here, we have a deli. We have a library with a card and games room. We have a table-tennis room. We have two paddle-tennis courts all inside, a multipurpose sports deck up there where the helicopters are, two hangers, two submarines to go down to the ocean, seven restaurants.

Then, we have this inflatable marina off the back of the boat. Imagine we’re near Bermuda. It’s a beautiful day. The sea is calm. We stop and we inflate this — it takes an hour — and we have tenders. You can go diving right there off the ship. The sea is yours. This marina is something the World could never ever have done, because there’s no space in the boat to keep that. The World was more elderly, a bit elderly retired. This is way younger. Why? Because we have so many amenities and offer adventure. Here, we are offering fewer apartments with more space. The balconies are huge. Luxury, for them, means space, time and getting whatever they wish, whenever, wherever. Freedom.

Freedom , in a contained location — 

Yes, and in a safe environment, completely protected against any danger. If a resident says, “I want to bring my family there, I want to be safe, I want to have no worries,” safety needs to be core to us. They want the freedom to do what they do at home — to run around with suits, jewelry. And if they are smart enough to say, “I want to go and see real scenarios, not luxury hotels,” they can go places where there’s no luxury and see how the world really works. That’s what this community wants.

Sounds like a security nightmare. 

We will hire ex-Mossad physically, to be on the ship. On the World , we partnered with Marine Guard, one of the world’s best safety and security companies . It provides technical and physical support. And whenever we went to critical places — for example, when we went through the Gulf of Aden, I brought in Israeli snipers to come on the boat. Nobody, no pirate on earth can come in past them. Then on shore excursions, we have every form of security that you can imagine. Satellite images. Images underwater, over water. When we went to Antarctica, to the Northwest Passage — meeting with the Inuits, the Aborigines — you need people who know them. You need people who safeguard you. In the Antarctic, you are only allowed to go with Zodiacs to the beaches. You need people who know that, who know the sea lions, the penguins. We bring them onboard — 20 or 25 people who know everything about every area. And when we do expeditions, we bring on EYOS, one of the greatest expedition leaders in the world, which goes to places like the Titanic .

Is this, like the Titanic , experimental in any way?

No, there are similar yachts. But in four years, when she will hopefully leave port, she will be the greenest yacht of this size ever built. And at that time, we may build for whatever is available in terms of fuel, whether it’s methanol or nuclear. There are vessels already going nuclear, military vessels.

But isn’t this all risky? 

It’s the opposite. You will see more and more environments like this at sea. Why? Because you can escape anything! If there’s an outbreak in New York, a big virus, you just won’t go there. If there’s a war there, you just don’t go there. If there’s a storm, you don’t go there.

So this will be a way for the global elite, basically, to pay to avoid any problem.

Is it going to be a one percent community? Yes, obviously, but they need to do good around the world, otherwise they cannot come to the community.

Imagine the following. We will have a medical center onboard. We have MRI machines. We have a dentistry. Our doctors, when we go to the west coast of Africa, to Senegal, we can have our doctors go out and help. And as we go around the world, we will help to map the ocean floor. We’ll have tools available to measure and send these to oceanic institutions that then take this data. So we are helping to make the world a better place. And that’s the legacy.

How are you going to gauge whether the people who want to live here also want to do good? 

There’s a very tough background check before being allowed to buy. So can it be that a Colombian drug lord or a Russian weapons dealer comes and says, “Oh, I’m going to take ten?” No, that can’t happen. We’re not a community for people from mainland China who don’t speak English and want to spit around. Or aggressive Russians. We are not a community for sheikhs from any Arab countries. And I have nothing against the Chinese and Russians. I love everybody. I’ve been everywhere. But they just don’t fit here, and they won’t come. We want like-minded golf players, tennis players, joggers, bikers, F1 drivers.

We will have roughly 30 to 35 percent Europeans, 30 to 35 percent North Americans, including from Canada, possibly a few from Mexico City, a few from São Paulo. Then we have about 20 percent from Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan. Then we expect to have about 10 percent of people from all over, we don’t know where. It could be anywhere.

They’ll need a certain amount of money to get into this boat and I assume, therefore, that you can’t be that picky. 

No, we can’t. But we try to be. It’s a balance. We meet them three, four, five, six times. We invite them, show them something, then they say, “Oh, I trust these people. I believe in them.” It’s a slow process.

Can a buyer get kicked off?

Oh, absolutely.

What’s the justice system?

There’s a board that’s voted in and we have our chairman on the board. Almost all of the members are people who have either been on yachts, have their own yacht, or have led organizations.

If people have their own yachts, why would they sign up for this? 

They might have a beautiful yacht of a hundred meters, but they can’t hire all these education guides, explorers all the time. We have 22 guest suites. Imagine we’re coming to Japan. Blossom season. We bring an ex Japanese prime minister onboard, maybe a three-star Michelin chef. We bring them on, let’s say, three weeks before. And they lecture. We can have experts speak about anything. Volcanoes, health and wellness, food and beverage, politics, archeology.

And they have you, who’s been to 186 countries. 

Exactly. So when I do speak to people who want to buy and invite them for lunch or a coffee, they listen because they know, Oh, this guy has been there. You don’t need to tell them something that you think can happen. You can actually tell them a story. When I went to Antarctica the last time, in 2009, on the way back to the Zodiac, I am walking and these big elephant seals — those are the big guys, like three tons and ten feet long — and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there’s a big sound like MWUGHOWUGH and a big one came up, out of the sand. I stood there frozen. These are moments when you think, Is this really happening to me? How fortunate, how lucky am I to be able to experience moments like this? And all the wealthy people say the same.

• rich people
• the global elite

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Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Kellett Island, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong View location map Tel: (852) 2832 2817 Fax: (852) 2572 5399