Our boats are designed to run as quiet as it is right here in this room. As a matter of fact, the hum you hear from my computer would be the loudest sound you would hear on our boat. I'm very touchy about that," says Stanley Bey on a June morning in his Rumson, N.J., home.

A half-dozen suitcases sit in the entryway at the Bey home, packed for a trip to JFK International for a flight to Barcelona, Spain, later in the day. At Port Vell, Barcelona, Bey and his wife Peggy would board their 125-foot yacht, Perle Bleue, valued at between $28 million and $31 million, for a two-and-a-half week trip on the Mediterranean to Monaco in the south of France.

On June 29, Prince Albert of Monaco presided over ceremonies honoring the world's best boats of 2007, including the Perle Bleue, named ShowBoats International's best full displacement motor yacht under 50 meters.

Bey is one of about 3,000 people in the world who own boats 85 feet (about 25.9 meters) and longer. Silicon Valley mogul Tom Perkins says his sailboat yacht, The Maltese Falcon, is the world's biggest privately owned sailboat, at 88 meters (compared with Perle Bleue's 37.95 meters), with an estimated value of more than $200 million. These large craft are commonly called mega- or super-yachts.

"A luxury yacht is one in which the client's specific needs and requirements are met. This could be in terms of luxurious fitting to specific cruising requirements," says Ron Cleveringa, vice president of sales and marketing at Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc, Wis. "At Burger, how the client will use the vessel dictates how it is designed and built."

Luxurious fittings are limited only by an owner's imagination and wealth: Boat builder Lurssen in Bremen, Germany recently constructed a 224-foot yacht called Kismet with solid honey onyx columns flanking a bathing pool. Hakvoort in Holland has designed one with custom-loomed Lacey-Champion carpeting.

The big boats offer a floating five-star hotel experience with features such as a fully equipped gym/spa; an indoor dining room for 16; satellite TV and DVD and a stereo-CD in all staterooms; Wi-Fi and small-antenna satellite VSATs for Internet access; game rooms, water toys and his-and-hers heads (that means bathrooms on land). At the highest end, the safety features include steel and aluminum construction; multiple bulkheads for safety in case of collision; two bottoms; and fire sprinklers in every room.

Insurance brokers are more specific in their definition of a mega-yacht. "We define them on the insurance side as having a value of over a million dollars and/or being 60 feet in length. But personally, the true mega-yacht to me is a 70-plus footer with a value of $2.5 million on up-way, way up," says Brian K. DeSousa, president of Bay Marine Yacht Insurance in Rumson, N.J.

"Right now, we are seeing larger and larger vessels in this industry. At the present time our average length is 137 feet," Cleveringa says.

Jim Perry, a Miami maritime lawyer, has a client who's building a 432-foot yacht, which, he says, "Almost takes on the definition of being a ship."

Indeed, super boats are made of steel and aluminum, as are ships. The buyers are "upper, upper, the real movers and shakers," says Perry. Typically, Perry says, they are heads of state and major corporations and founders of dot-com empires, like Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who owns the $200 million, 417-foot yacht Octopus.

Helping Clients Get What They Want
When a client decides he wants a luxury vessel, Cleveringa says, many questions should be asked: "Where is the boat going to be used? What type of entertaining do you do? ... What water toys do you wish to have on board? Do you wish to charter the vessel? What classification should it be built to?"

A big-boat enthusiast must consider basic issues when buying a yacht, especially if the boat is custom-built. Let's assume your client has the money and the time to have the boat of his dreams built expressly to his wishes. Right now, Bey says, a new buyer will wait six years after having the idea before taking delivery of a high-quality European-made yacht. Cleveringa says it takes 26 to 30 months to build a custom 153-foot yacht at the Wisconsin shipyard. A shortage of steel in the United States and high quality European craftsmanship have sent Americans abroad to have their boats built in Holland, Germany and Italy.

While some wealthy Americans are going abroad for their big boats, there are Russians, Middle Easterners and Greeks who are ordering their boats built in the United States because of the clout of the euro over the American dollar. "We are definitely seeing an expansion of business in the non-U.S. markets and we expect to continue to see this segment of the market expand for us," Cleveringa says.

Sources for this article recommended such boat builders as Ferretti and Benetti in Italy; Hakvoort in Holland; and Trinity, Westport and Burger in the United States. Allen's Octopus was built by Lurssen.

For the wealthy boating enthusiast who does not want to wait years for a custom-made dream yacht, there is always the option of buying a previously owned vessel. Typically, a vessel 125 feet and longer can take four days to survey; the buyer is welcome aboard during the sail. Bey, who sells custom-made boats through his company, Bay Marine Ltd., says "the deposit [on a vessel] is not funny money. It's real money," or about 10% of the purchase price.

And then there are yacht owners who are in partnership or fractional ownership of their vessels. Fractional ownership means the boat rarely sits idle. Moreover, there are fractional management companies that both provide vessels and handle fueling, pump-out, maintenance and insurance. Fractional owners can schedule use of the boat online.

A good place to get a sampling of what's new in luxury yachts is at the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, to be held Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, 2008. A similar show, the Miami International Boat Show, will be held Feb. 12-16, 2009.

Super-yacht builders also have splashy and enticing Web sites featuring virtual tours of glamorous and amenity-laden boats.

All boats must be registered with a country and fly a flag-or ensign-of that country. Super-yachts often fly what's known as the "red ensign," denoting registration with British Commonwealth countries such as Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Safety standards are high in red ensign countries, which adds to the vessel's resale value.

Other Professionals
If someone wants to buy or build a super-yacht, they will often hire a broker and a maritime/admiralty lawyer. If a previously owned yacht has an international flag, it can take up to a month to complete the transaction because of lien searches. "A boat is a fungible thing that moves around, so you really have to do a certain amount of documentation," Bey says.

Perry, a partner in Perry & Neblett, a marine-admiralty law firm in Miami, says the regulations in many states are "wide open about a broker's credentials. A car salesman can be a broker in some states. And the Internet has really invaded the expertise of the broker network, which used to be very close to the hip in terms of buying and selling. In Florida, if you're a member of the Florida Yacht Brokers Association (FYBA.com) in good standing, with credentials that are current, that's a good sign."

Clients wishing to have their yachts built will need to hire a roster of professionals: a marine architect, often available through the boat builder; interior and exterior designers (some designers do both jobs); a sound consultant for the kind of quiet Bey so covets; and an onsite shipyard supervisor.

According to Benjamin Maltby, a yacht consultant with MatrixLloyd SL, "The key document is the build contract. The yacht's specifications must be set out in great detail, reflecting a complex array of regulations. The newly completed vessel will also have to be formally tested at sea, for which a qualified expert representative will have to be appointed. The builder should guarantee materials and workmanship for a warranty period," Maltby wrote in ITWeek.com in July 2007.

A Look At Operating Costs
Big boat ownership is not for the faint of heart or tight of wallet: Just to insure a yacht of a mere 125 feet costs $150,000 yearly. "We paid half of that before 9/11," Bey says, meaning that the 2001 terrorist attacks have prompted insurers to hike rates in anticipation of damage from any possible future attacks.

Once owners have the boat, they need someplace to park it, and the deep waters, high-end facilities and boat brokerages make Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, Fla., the favored yacht centers in the United States. Newport, R.I., is also a hub for mega-yachts.

At Old Port Cove in Palm Beach, slip leasing is based on vessel size, and charged on either an annual or seasonal basis.
Owners who keep their super-yachts in the European Union must be prepared to pay from 15% to 25% of the vessel's value in "value added tax." Boats registered and owned by non-EU residents and brought into the EU are temporarily exempt from the tax.

Moreover, rising oil prices have made operating a yacht increasingly expensive, since boats are powered by diesel fuel. A 125-foot boat holding 12,640 gallons of diesel fuel cost $52,835 to fill in early June 2008 (at $4.18 a gallon then).
"Are [yacht owners] shell-shocked and upset every time they go to the pump? Absolutely! But does that stop them from using their vessels and traveling around with them? No! "says DeSousa.

Owners of these deluxe boats can defray their costs by chartering the boat to other uses. Bey says he does just that, telling his captain when he needs the boat, as in the Monaco trip, and when it can be made available for charter. "But there are owners who never charter their boats. When they are in Puerto Rico, they want their boat in Puerto Rico. The boat works around them, not the other way around," DeSousa says.

Banks can also buy the super-yacht itself, charter it back to the owner, and use the charter fees to help repay the loan.
It also requires research, contacts and luck to hire the right crew. With about 3,000 seaworthy super-yachts now in existence and another 1,200 under construction, the question is: How does one find qualified crew?

There are eight luxury yacht crew management companies in Fort Lauderdale alone, all of them accessible on the Internet. Major crew companies are also in Newport, R.I., and in Antibes, France.

The essential crew members for a yacht measuring 125 feet are a captain, typically paid $100,000 per year and more, depending on the quality and complexity of the vessel; a first officer, who can relieve the captain on long journeys; a chef; a head stewardess; a second stewardess; two deckhands; and finally, the engineer, who Bey says can be the most important crew member on the boat and command a higher salary than the captain.

It's expensive to be a crew member: a prospective captain is required to complete six to eight months of training and licensing courses, which can cost $50,000. Captains, engineers and even deckhands are now required to have an STCW-95 license (STCW standing for the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers), which is earned by completing courses in lifesaving, firefighting and various other forms of boating safety. Privately owned yachts must now adhere to the same rules and regulations as commercial ships in which crews have the STCW-95 license-another result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Supplementary yacht personnel services include concierge companies, such as Mint Lifestyle, based in Los Angeles, London and New York. Steven A. MacGeachy, its co-founder, says Mint "serves to enhance a client's yachting experience. Whether a client requests a dinner party with a Michelin-starred chef or wishes for us to stock their wine cellar with rare wines that reflect the family's favorite regions, consider it done."

Mint will also book performing artists for parties on board, buy an art collection for a new yacht and schedule on-land activities for the yacht client. Rare automobiles, restaurant reservations, private guides and special access to ruins and museums not ordinarily available to the public are part of Mint's roster of services. Mint's services are provided to clients for a $35,000-per-year membership plus expenses.

Why Own?
Yachting on the open sea can be a balm for the senses and it can be educational, too. Bey's captain of 12 years, who just retired, was a former FBI agent. His yarns are longer than the boat.

"He was an undercover agent who was trained as a boat captain and he was the captain on the boat used in the FBI's ABSCAM operation (a project uncovering corruption among public officials during the late 1970s and early 1980s). "And before that, he was undercover in Colombia; his plane crashed there," Bey says in his hushed office.

But there's more: A look at the grinning, relaxed face of Tom Perkins on board his ultra-customized Maltese Falcon says it all about the perks of success. In a recent 60 Minutes segment featuring Perkins being interviewed on board in Italy by Lesley Stahl, Perkins showed Stahl how the boat's 15 sails are unfurled in five minutes by touching a computer screen. Ordinarily, 80 deckhands would need one hour to accomplish this job.

One can readily understand the allure of owning a super-yacht, or at the least, chartering one of these deluxe vessels. For a price many clients are willing to pay, cabins are appointed with fine art, French linens and cupboards stocked with vintage wines.

Owning a super-yacht brings with it an ambience of gentility and pampering at sea and at ports in desirable settings such as Palm Beach, the Mediterranean or in enclaves of the British Virgin Islands.

Super-yachts have been inextricably linked with the celebrated and wealthy: Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis played host to Jackie Kennedy (later Mrs. Onassis), Maria Callas, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly-before and after her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco-on the 325-foot Christina (newly restored). Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic Roger Ebert interviewed film moguls on yachts moored near the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France. And generations of high-end achievers, from dot-com billionaires to oil-rich Middle Eastern sheikhs, have recreated on enormous boats at glamorous ports.

And who can blame a super-achiever such as Perkins wanting his moment in the sun: On the Maltese Falcon, he explained to Stahl that the flags and pennants on his sailing yacht spell out, "Rarely does one have the privilege of witnessing vulgar ostentation displayed upon such a scale."

Super-yachts are indeed the stuff that dreams are made of.