Sailing yacht almost ready: Jeff Bezos can pack his bags: His mega yacht “Koru” is finally sailing – if only for test purposes

February 18, 2023

She’s finally sailing: After the mega yacht “Koru” (currently called “Y721”) caused a lot of negative press, the ship and owner will apparently soon be moving into calmer waters – because the delivery is probably not going to be long.

Gone are the days of aggressive Facebook groups that wanted to throw eggs at the ship and crew: The world’s largest sailing yacht “Koru” (currently called “Y721”, IMO 9857298) is almost finished – at least that’s what the current recordings on the YouTube channel say “Dutch Yachting” suspect that show the huge ship during test drives. At the beginning of the week, shipbuilder Oceanco went out for the first time to put the yacht through its paces on the high seas.

This usually last phase of yacht construction is called “Sea Trials” – i.e. “shipyard test drives”. As a rule, all shipyard employees, suppliers and subcontractors involved are on board to check the ship’s systems and functions. In the case of the “Koru”, the tests have now lasted three days.

A controversial record ship

If everything goes smoothly, the ship will soon be delivered – and Jeff Bezos and his team can finally turn their backs on Rotterdam. Until then, it was an unusually public mudslinging around the ship. As a reminder: the masts of the yacht would have been far too high for a historic bridge, and the news of the impending dismantling of the bridge made the residents incandescent. This was followed by threats to throw eggs at the ship as it passed through, and the associated Facebook group counted thousands.

At the beginning of August last year, however, another solution was found and the ship without masts was taken to another shipyard in a night and fog operation, where the masts were then installed and no bridge could have disturbed the exit.

As soon as Jeff Bezos is allowed to take delivery of his ship, he can call himself the owner of the world’s largest sailing yacht. Unlike the longer “Sailing Yacht A”, the “Koru” is able to sail without engines. That is why in the case of the “A” one actually speaks of a “motor yacht with sailing assistance”, which, strictly speaking, disqualifies her as a pure sailing ship.

Super expensive, but very spartan – at least from the outside

The two videos from “Dutch Yachting” show not only the gigantic dimensions of the ship but also a few details about the equipment. There is a larger whirlpool in the rear area, and another one can be found on the top deck. There is no landing pad for helicopters, because their rotors would probably get caught in the rigging.

What you don’t see are garages for additional vehicles on the sides of the ship or access to the water at the stern. Even if the “Koru” is said to have cost half a billion US dollars, the ship differs significantly from the similarly expensive competition. The sailing yacht appears very puristic, almost spartan. But that doesn’t mean Bezos will travel particularly low-key.

Because the “Koru” will be accompanied by another ship, which will carry everything that does not fit on the deck of the sailing yacht – this applies to both the equipment and guests. For this, Bezos bought the “Abeona” (formerly “Wingman”, presumably IMO 9899349) as a “shadow ship” (Jeff Bezos bought the second mega yacht – as a pack mule).

It is still unclear when the handover to the Amazon founder will take place and when the “Koru” will move to warmer waters. It is noticeable that no test run with full sail has taken place so far, which suggests that not everything has been checked yet.

But it will soon become clear which holiday destination Jeff Bezos has planned for the maiden voyage. His “Abeona” is currently waiting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA – it’s quite possible that he’ll go to the Caribbean first.