Andrey Melnichenko's Yacht A Is World's Largest Sailboat

When it comes to his wife Aleksandra, Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko tends to go big.

To celebrate his 2005 wedding to the former Miss Yugoslavia, Melnichenko flew Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera to the French Riviera to perform and had a Russian chapel rebuilt on-site.

Given that taste for excess, it’s only natural that Melnichenko would replace happy couple’s 390-foot-long “A” yacht (which was named for the first letter of their names) with something special.

The second-gen “A” yacht Melnichenko commissioned is a 468-foot-long vessel that thanks to the trio of 300-foot-tall masts that graces its deck, is the largest sail-powered boat in the world.

Designed by Philippe Starck and built by Nobiskrug, the steel-hulled sea monster has a gym, spa, helipad and underwater observation room as well as a tender garage to hold a mini sub.

With a top speed of 21 knots, range of 5,320 nautical miles and enough room for a crew of 54, the $316m monster is being tested now and Melnichenko is expected to take delivery of it this spring.

This video isn’t too exciting, but it puts the size of Melnichenko’s mast-erpiece into perspective.

Images courtesy of Karle Horn & Waldi via Wikipedia and Axel Heimken/AFP/Getty Images

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”