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ARCTIC P Schichau-Unterweser

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A General Description of Motor Yacht ARCTIC P

This motor yacht ARCTIC P is a 88 metre 287 (foot) important steel ship which was created at Schichau-Unterweser and devised by Schichau-Unterweser. A considerable converted private yacht ARCTIC P is a particularily high quality German built superyacht which was launched to accolade in 1969. Accommodating 12 guests and 25 qualified crew, motor yacht ARCTIC P used to be called Arctic Research; Arctic as her shipyard project name and/or actual name. She could be considered a classic converted private yacht.

Arctic P was converted and owned by Australian businessman Kerry Packer, who died in 2005. At the time of his death, Packer was reported to be the richest and one of the most influential men in Australia.

The Construction & Designing relating to Luxury Yacht ARCTIC P

Schichau-Unterweser was the naval architecture company involved in the professional vessel composition for ARCTIC P. Schichau-Unterweser is also associated with the yacht wider design collaboration for this yacht. Germany is the country that Schichau-Unterweser constructed their new build motor yacht in. After her official launch in 1969 in Bremerhaven the boat was then delivered on to the happy owner after sea trials. A impressive area is manifested with a maximum beam (width) of 14.78 metres / 48.5 feet. With a 7.4m (24.3ft) draught (maximum depth) she is reasonably 7.4 (24.3 ft). The material steel was used in the building of the hull of the motor yacht. Her superstructure over the hull is created from steel. In 2008 extra refitting and updating was also finished.

M/Y ARCTIC P Engineering Figures / Propulsion:

Fitted with two DEUTZ-MWM diesel engines, ARCTIC P can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots. For propulsion ARCTIC P has a single screw propeller. She also has an efficient range of 18000 nautical miles when underway at her cruise speed of 20 knots. Her total HP is 13190 HP and her total Kilowatts are 9706. Regarding thrusters she utilises Tornado.

Accommodation Capacity Offered On Superyacht ARCTIC P:

The important luxury yacht motor yacht ARCTIC P can sleep up to 12 people and 25 crew members.

A List of the Specifications of the ARCTIC P:

Further Information On The Yacht

Her deck material is predominantly a steel-teak deck.

ARCTIC P Disclaimer:

The luxury yacht ARCTIC P displayed on this page is merely informational and she is not necessarily available for yacht charter or for sale, nor is she represented or marketed in anyway by CharterWorld. This web page and the superyacht information contained herein is not contractual. All yacht specifications and informations are displayed in good faith but CharterWorld does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the current accuracy, completeness, validity, or usefulness of any superyacht information and/or images displayed. All boat information is subject to change without prior notice and may not be current.

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A Converted Classic: Explorer M/Y Arctic P

Jeff Hubrig Jr. | November 14, 2016

The 88m (287′) M/Y Arctic P began its life in 1969 as an ocean going salvage tug built by Schichau Unterwesser. The ship was later purchased by prominent Australian businessman Kerry Packer and converted into a private super-yacht with the ability to go where few other vessels are capable. With a steel superstructure and hull that includes plating as thick as 50mm in certain spots Arctic P is capable of and has successfully undertaken some of the most far-out expeditions of any modern yacht including setting the world record for furthest voyage south. On its southern expedition Arctic P and crew reached a distance of just 677 miles from the south pole.

Photo by Jarrad @ superyachts_gibraltar

Following the successful conversion from ocean-going salvage tug to private super-yacht Arctic P’s interior layout includes accommodations for 12 guests and 25 crew members. With a colossal fuel capacity of 1.4 million liters Arctic P has an incredible reported range of nearly 20,000 nautical miles with a cruising speed of 20 knots with a max speed of 22 knots. As a former ocean-going tug Arctic P draws an impressive 23′ which creates room for such massive tank storage within the hull.

In 2015 the super-yacht underwent an extensive refit at the Navantia Shipyard in Spain that included a completely redesigned beach club and the successful installation of a jacuzzi, swimming pool and dining area. In addition to the luxury amenities the galley, engine room and pilothouse were all renovated as well.

In 2015 Arctic P won the world super-yacht “voyaging” award for its successful record setting southern expedition.

Billionaire's superyacht refit big boost for Auckland

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The 87.5m superyacht Arctic P, owned by Australian billionaire James Packer. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Australian billionaire James Packer has brought his 87.5-metre superyacht Arctic P to Auckland for a refit that could mean upwards of $10 million for the local economy.

The giant vessel - the 50th largest yacht in the world - is berthed at Wynyard Quarter where it is expected to stay for at least six months.

The arrival of Packer's yacht is a blessing for the Auckland marine industry after losing the $50 million refit of billionaire Graeme Hart's superyacht to Whangarei.

The Packer vessel, which has hosted celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the past, has been hanging about Auckland ports since October.

Industry insiders confirmed this week it had been moved to Wynyard Quarter for a refit, its first since 2008.

Packer this week opened up in an emotional television interview about the last words from his father, Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, from who he inherited the yacht upon his death in 2005.

Details of the work to the vessel have been kept confidential but research on superyacht refits suggests Arctic P will result in a multimillion-dollar benefit for Auckland.

It is likely to be a smaller project than the refit of the 77-metre yacht Weta - known as U77 - owned by Hart, New Zealand's richest man.

Weta was towed to Port Nikau in Northland last week after local firm Culham Engineering was believed to have offered a better deal for what is reportedly the largest yacht refit the country has seen.

Hart's superyacht had been in Auckland for more than a year and those in the marine industry are keeping mum on the reasons behind his decision to have it finished in Whangarei, where the port has been dredged to accommodate the large vessel.

Whangarei councillor Brian McLachlan, who praised Culham Engineering for luring the Weta refit, said he understood Hart's decision to be based on where he could get the most cost-effective work.

Drury-based Nautical Contracting had been working on the Weta while it was in Auckland and last reported in February last year that its work was continuing.

The company's website said "2011 was a tough year in the global superyacht industry and for the boatbuilding scene in New Zealand. But we are pleased to say there are encouraging signs for the year ahead".

Nautical Contracting managers would not comment on the Weta's move north this week.

Refurbishing superyachts was a lucrative industry for Auckland, NZ Marine Industry Association executive director Peter Busfield said.

Research by NZ Marine has found a typical refit for a 40m yacht resulted in $5m spent in the industry and another $1m spent on tourism in the city hosting the owners, representatives, guests and crew.

Auckland has about a 90 per cent share of the superyacht refit business in New Zealand, and the cost of a refit can vary from $1m up to $30m.

Mr Busfield said there were efforts to double the number of superyacht refits being done in New Zealand over the next three years.

"Only cities that have a highly skilled marine industry workforce and special marine facilities such as we have in Auckland can hope to attract this international business," Mr Busfield said.

"Of the 7000 superyachts internationally we believe that 1000 of these are wishing for, or are due for, a refit.

"New Zealand attracts approximately 25 refits per year and with [New Zealand Trade and Enterprise] assistance we have a strategy ... to entice more than double this number over the next three years."

Mr Busfield said superyachts were normally attracted to New Zealand as a cruising destination and then later becoming aware of the world-class workmanship the local marine industry provides.

Who is James Packer?

Wealth: US$6 billion ($7.17b) Age: 45 Source of wealth: Gaming Lives: Sydney, Australia Marital Status: Married with three children

The son of the late media mogul Kerry Packer, James inherited the business and shifted investments to focus on the gambling industry, in particular casinos worldwide. Last year his fortune grew by US$1.5b ($1.79b) as he sold off his last major stake in media and his casino group, Crown, expanded.

Source: Forbes.com

The Arctic P

Size: The 50th largest yacht in the world, measuring 87.58m Design: Custom built in 1969 by Schichau Unterwesser in Bremerhaven, Germany Last refitted: 2008 Performance: A cruising speed of 20 knots, max speed of 22 knots, carries 1.4 million-litre fuel tanks Accommodation: Up to 12 guests and up to 25 crew in "a relaxed luxury yacht experience" Celebrity guests: Tom Cruise has stayed onboard several times, including with Katie Holmes when they were married and with Nicole Kidman during their marriage

Source: Superyachts.com

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Inside the Arctic P — Business Tycoon James Packer’s Million Dollar Superyacht

Titled one of the largest superyachts in the world, the Arctic P, owned by billionaire James Packer, is currently making headlines after he offered it to his fiancée Mariah Carey. The business tycoon, who vacationed in Europe all through summer with Mariah, has often been spotted travelling across the globe on this yacht. 

From having a private helipad to well-decorated interiors, this yacht is nothing less than a luxurious floating mansion. Read on to know more about this celebrity-owned luxe vessel.

Read iDiva for the latest in Bollywood, fashion looks, beauty and lifestyle news.

Built by German company Schichau Seebeckwerft back in 1970, the Arctic P can cover a maximum distance of 18,000 nautical miles at 20 knots speed. The vessel measures 287 feet and can comfortably accommodate 12 guests, a total of 25 people including crew members. Rumoured to be Packer’s most prized possession, the superyacht was inherited by the business tycoon from his father Kerry Packer.

Refitted in 2014, the superyacht boasts of a new super-steel structure which makes the yacht strong enough to dribble through ice floes in the southern ocean. With white exteriors and an electric blue hull, the superyacht looks visually stunning, and stands out amidst the other white-dyed vessels.

The vessel features a stunning master suite with six separate accommodations spread over two levels on the deck. Designed by renowned interior decorator duo C. Kidston and A. Sassoon, the handcrafted furniture on the superyacht is furbished in rich upholstery. The wooden floors are adorned with fine rugs, while the floor-to-ceiling glass doors offer guests an unparalleled view of the ocean.

While many superyachts own motor boats and sea bikes, the Arctic P is well-equipped to hold a private helicopter as it has a helipad on its deck. 

Apart from stunning suites and the private helipad, the yacht also features an observation tower, amphitheatre, Jacuzzi and swimming pool. In fact, Packer is known to have hosted many celebrity parties on this yacht.

Talking of celebrities, this yacht has also hosted personalities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Miranda Kerr, Kelly Rohrbach, Alan Jones and more. 

More On >> Yachts 

Cigar Aficionado

Remembering The Worlds Greatest Gambler

Kerry Packer was a larger-than-life gambler, a mogul who signed $1 million markers as if they were checks to Con Ed. He gambled for the kinds of stakes that kick-started the adrenal glands of even the most jaded casino executives. They all knew better than to keep him waiting when he wanted to lay down a bet. But one night, in the fall of 1989, after Packer blew into Las Vegas and found his way to the newly opened Mirage, the baccarat crew was not quite ready for him. A graveyard-shift pit boss couldn't find the key to unlock the game at a table that had been reserved for Australia's most notorious billionaire. There was only one sensible option: grab a crystal ashtray, smash open the baccarat setup and begin dealing. Famously sporty Packer appreciated the effort. After getting ahead a couple million dollars, he made a $100,000 bet on behalf of the dealers.

Sixteen years and many outrageous nights later, Packer found himself in a far more precarious situation. He was at home in Australia, lying in bed suffering from a weak heart and kidney ailments. "I'm running out of petrol and I'm ready to die," he told his doctor before drawing his last breath. No doubt, as the 68-year-old mogul expired on December 26, 2005, the casino industry mourned the death of a man, but also the passing of Las Vegas's splashiest player. He loved nothing more than being in action for sums of money that few people could conceptualize. As one former Vegas casino executive , who spoke on condition of anonymity, conservatively estimates, during the last 15 or so years, the wildly swinging Packer had blithely endured a net loss of more than $20 million on the Strip.

Additionally, it is believed that he dropped many more millions to the casino operators in London, largely because he spent extended periods there, taking several suites at the Savoy Hotel. To quote the Vegas casino executive, who considered the business baron a friend, "Packer needed something to do with his days and nights. You can only have so many great meals."

Gambling was Kerry Packer's passion in the way that other men of great means develop big-budget obsessions with yacht racing or art collecting. Fitting for one with enough cash to roll as high as the moon, Packer wagered at the largest stakes the casinos would allow. But because he gambled for so much money-and had a tendency to quit while he was ahead, garnering the reputation on the Strip for being a "hit and run player"-the timing of Packer's passing brought some relief: he did not die on the heels of a big Vegas score, which would have suddenly been unrecoupable by the casinos. After all, following one of the Aussie billionaire's eight-figure wins, a gaming corporation's quarterly numbers sometimes ended up in the toilet.

That Kerry Packer, a brilliant entrepreneur, an astute stock market investor (he managed to liquidate his Wall Street holdings just prior to the big crash of 1987) and one of the world's great tokers (after experiencing a close brush with death in 1990, he tipped his lifesaving ambulance drivers and EMS workers a million dollars each), would eventually find his way to Vegas almost seemed inevitable. Having beaten polio as a boy, the pugnacious Packer grew up with an ingrained hunger for wagering. After young Kerry found himself with $10,000 of gambling debts, his father, Frank, a multimillionaire many times over, tried teaching his son a lesson by making him sell his car to pay off the tab. It may have been the right thing to do, but it failed to douse the burgeoning player's enthusiasm for high-wire propositions and his respect for gamblers with the guts to risk it all. Years later, Packer enjoyed telling people that his grandfather, Robert Clyde Packer, went to the races in the Tasmanian city of Hobart, found $10 on the ground, bet it on a 10-to-1 long-shot, and the horse won in glorious fashion. "He bought a ticket to Sydney and went into the newspaper industry and did quite well," Packer would grossly understate. "That's where my family started from: 10-bob on a race course."

By 1974, when Packer officially took control of his family's print- and broadcast-media empire, Consolidated Press Holdings, he was already regarded as one of the richest men in Australia. With extreme wealth and a craving for chest-thumping action, Packer quickly found himself frustrated by the modest betting limits offered in Aussie casinos. But that never stopped him from toying with the managers and owners of local gambling halls. "He liked to fly over Darwin and call down to the casino there, asking how much money they had in their cage," remembers the casino executive. "If they told him that they had $300,000, Packer kept flying. But if there was $800,000 or more, he'd touch down and gamble. He's a man who liked to make people sweat. And it quickly became clear to casino managers that the sooner you showed him you were sweating, the better off you'd be."

By all accounts, Packer was a ruthless and aggressive negotiator who commanded extraordinary respect and loyalty from his employees and the many hangers-on with whom he traveled around the world, terrorizing casinos and betting heavily but astutely on thoroughbreds: in 1997, Packer and a partner shared $6 million after successfully wagering on Might and Power to win the Melbourne Cup. Three years later, however, he reportedly dumped $28.2 million in blackjack losses to a London casino. Later that year, the Bellagio raked in $33.3 million in Packer cash. Even more stunning, back in 1994, just one day after a new owner took control of elegant Crockford's Casino in London, Packer lost $7 million there.

How did Packer handle those financial beatings? "Pretty well," remembers the casino executive. "He would get quiet and not be too happy about it; he'd start moaning and groaning about the lights being too bright, but he didn't act like a maniac or anything. The good thing was that a couple days after he left, you'd get a call from his secretary so she could make arrangements to settle up the markers. With a lot of big players, you need to go to them in order to get your money. Not so with Packer. He was a very desirable gambler."

Unlike high rollers who make casino bosses jump through hoops with outrageous demands, Packer's requests were minimal: he wanted nice rooms for himself and his entourage (which often included renowned golf coach Butch Harmon, actor Anthony Perkins and a clutch of polo players and cricketers), an on-call masseuse and, most critical of all, monstrously high limits and a guarantee that a vacant table would be waiting for him to gamble at. "Usually, Kerry would start out betting in the $500 range; he wasn't always pushing in money with both fists," remembers the casino executive. "But, if he began winning, it could quickly ramp up to $300,000 per hand at baccarat. When he played blackjack, I tried limiting him to $50,000 per spot, per hand. He played decent basic strategy, and there was a fear that he was getting better and better."

Partly for that reason, casino managers worked hard to rein in Packer, and, to varying degrees, they succeeded, executing a delicate balancing act that reduced their downside but didn't give him an excuse to take his business elsewhere. Impossible to control was the nonwagering largesse of this whale's whale. On a rush, he'd give members of his entourage $100,000 bankrolls before turning his free-spending sights on casino employees, who made it their business not to call in sick when the big-betting media magnate was in town. Probably the most extravagant toker Vegas has ever known, Packer routinely doled out six-figure gratuities that would be pooled among the dealers. "When Packer was in town, you could count on splitting $1 million 20 ways," says the former casino executive.

On one memorable occasion, Packer paid off a waitress's mortgage. Another time, after noticing that a blackjack dealer had been moved from the high-limit area to the regular pit, he placed $20,000 bets on each spot and told the dealer that he could keep all winnings from that round. Casino executives silently cringed at these shows of generosity because they knew the money he tipped would never make it back to the house's coffers. No doubt, Packer took some pleasure in stressing them out.

However, all the worry and hand-wringing was not without warrant. One New Year's Eve in the mid-1990s, Packer was betting $150,000 per hand at the Las Vegas Hilton. "I was in line to get a $40,000 bonus because we had cleared the $50 million mark in winnings," remembers veteran casino host Steve Cyr. "Going into that night we were at $58 million. But then Packer won $9 million and we got no bonus. He tipped $1.3 million to the dealers and gave $100,000 to the lounge singer."

Packer was less lucky on September 11, 2001. That day, after Al Qaeda terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Packer was ahead millions of dollars and poised to leave Las Vegas with a tidy profit. Just one problem: air traffic was temporarily grounded and so was Packer. He stayed in town and his luck went south, transforming his winnings into a $6 million-plus loss.

More recently, following a particularly brutal cash-grabbing rage through Vegas-which, according to Cyr, "ended with [Packer] winning $20 million at four joints and $13 million at another one"-several casino bosses tried to minimize the danger of going up against an inveterate gambler who seemed to have bottomless resources, no qualms about dropping millions of dollars, and an understanding of variance swings. "Everyone finally said, 'To hell with this guy,'" recalls Cyr. "And they decided to keep him at 25 grand per bet."

Whether the casinos were successful in leashing Kerry to that relatively paltry limit remains highly doubtful. Undeniable is that he did not let anybody get between him and his God-given right to wager mind-boggling sums of money. When a member of Australia's Parliament, onetime Labor Party leader Mark Latham, described one of Packer's big casino losses (thought to be around $25 million) as "morally offensive," the billionaire became incensed. First, he pointed out, the losses were actually only about $7.5 million, an amount that was less than his annual contribution to just one children's hospital. Then Packer tersely added, "This is not someone else's money. This is my money. I am entitled to spend it in any way."

He did. And he did it with the kind of exuberant gumption and panache that will surely be missed from one end of the Las Vegas Strip to the other.

Michael Kaplan is Cigar Aficionado's gambling columnist.

Read Next:  Cigar Aficionado's Gambling Guide

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On board Slipstream with owner Jack Cowin

The Canadian businessman has built a fast-food empire, but has grown to love the slower pace of superyacht life, as he tells Charlotte Hogarth-Jones 

Jack Cowin clearly has a keen nose for business. Born in Windsor, Ontario, he left Canada for Australia in 1969, aged 26, with profit in mind, having convinced 30 investors to lend him $10,000 each so that he could establish a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise down under. The original investor got his money back within ten years, and the equity at net book value would be around $25 million today. Cowin now owns Hungry Jack’s, the Burger King franchise in Australia, along with Competitive Foods Australia, a business that includes more than 450 stores along with a food-processing division. He’s also an investor in the Lone Star restaurant chain in Canada and the chairman and largest shareholder in Dominos Pizza Enterprises, an A$7.5 billion market cap company operating 2,700 units across Australia, Japan, and Europe. At the time of going to press, Forbes estimated his net worth as $2.5 billion. It should come as no surprise, then, that Cowin’s first yacht was conceived purely as a great business opportunity, rather than a hobbyist’s fantasy.

“It was in the late 1990s, and I’d become friends with Olympic sailor Denis O’Neil,” Cowin explains. “The Australian dollar had fallen to an all-time low of 49 cents at that time, and so he came to me with a business proposition – he would build a boat in Australia, and then sell it elsewhere in either US dollars or euros, and with the currency exchange we’d make a fortune,” he says. “I didn’t have anything to do with it [the build]. I was just the financier.”

Alas, the golden opportunity wasn’t quite as it had seemed. Most of the parts for the yacht had to be imported from the US, including the engine, and as costs mounted the potential profit shrank. Three years later, in 2001, the yacht – a 43.6-metre beauty named Silver Dream – was finished and freighted to Europe. It attracted an offer within the week. “We weren’t going to get rich from it, but it was a relatively attractive offer,” Cowin admits. “I’d had this  idea that we’d spend a year or two floating around the Mediterranean before we’d find a buyer, but O’Neil said: ‘No. It’s a decent price. Let’s accept it now.’” Cowin, however, couldn’t bear to part with the yacht so soon, and so had no choice but to buy O’Neil out.

“Suddenly, I owned a boat!” he laughs, “with no experience, no nautical culture that some people grow up with, nothing.” His family lived near Lake Erie when he was a young child, but the water was always just “in the background”, he says, and while his father had once bought a small “20-foot runaround”, Cowin had long since left home by then.

What was it, then, that caused this savvy businessman to allow his heart to get  the better of his head? He blames the America’s Cup.

Cowin knew businessman Alan Bond, who owned Australia II , the yacht that won the 1983 cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. “We were one of the sponsors and so I got invited to spend a week in the South of France on his boat. That was a whole new experience for me, and I loved it. It was a magnificent boat and I just thought it [the trip] was fantastic. I had that memory until here we are, 15 years later, sitting on a boat in Europe that I’ve just bought and don’t know what to do with.”

Thankfully for Cowin, help was at hand in the form of Phil Stevens, who was working on Kerry Packer’s yacht in Sydney at the time. Today, Stevens captains Cowin’s larger 60-metre yacht Slipstream , while Steve Smith now helms his first boat, but at the time Stevens was the guiding hand that led Silver Dream around the Maldives, the Caribbean and Thailand. “I fell in love with this terrific way of seeing the world and doing it with friends too,” says Cowin.

A sense of freedom obviously appeals to him – in fact, it’s a large part of why business has always appealed. “From aged about 10 I always had little things going… the conventional paper routes, cutting lawns, shovelling snow, that kind of thing. I wanted to have control over my own affairs,” he says.

“My father worked for a big company – Ford – all his life, and what I saw was that when you work for a big corporation, you don’t really have any control. I think that stayed with me.”

Cowin went on to work as a door-to-door salesman selling plants to farms (“the greatest education I ever had”) to go to university, and then did a stint in insurance, before packing up his home and taking his wife and six-month-old baby to Australia to start his new KFC enterprise from scratch.

Today, even in the choppy waters of Covid-19, business is doing well. “We’ve been very fortunate in that the two things that have boomed during this time have been home delivery and drive-through,” he says. It’s a good time to be in fast food, and Cowin has a vision for the future too.

With the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, he’s set up a company that has raised over A$100 million to build a factory to produce a plant-based meat substitute – called V2 – made from grain legumes. “Our view is that the meat industry is not going to go away,” says Cowin. “But the cow is a very inefficient producer of protein – there will be an estimated 10 billion people in the world by 2050, and we just won’t have the space to be able to operate the existing agricultural system and produce the food required. This will be a lower-cost way of feeding people, and it tastes good too.” In a blind test between the v2 product, made by the company v2food, and real meat, Cowin says he wasn’t able to identify which was which.

“There are companies in the US called Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, and their values are eye-watering,” says Cowin. “We’re kind of in the beginner stage, but we’ve got products that we think are quite competitive. The initial results show that this is a strong growth area that we’re backing, and hopefully it will continue.”

Clearly, Cowin is a man who knows how to launch and oversee a successful project – be it a burger or a boat – and his businesses span the globe, too. Was building yacht number two as painless as it seems? His answer is  yes – not that he didn’t have his reservations going into it. “ Slipstream was built by a French company called CMN, and they were new to the yacht business. Prior to this they’d only built larger, military vessels.” Cowin was understandably wary of the risk. “I was nervous. Very nervous. Particularly when people said: ‘French? You’re not going to be able to communicate.’ But I can tell you, it was a very pleasant experience.”

More involved with the project than he had been with Silver Dream , Cowin had enjoyed “five years of romance” with yacht number one, and took an active interest in his new project, helped by the fact that the yard was also building the 60-metre Cloud 9 (now Ice Angel ) for  his friend, businessman Brett Blundy, at the same time.

Cowin and his wife Sharon were particularly involved with the interior of Slipstream , incorporating elements such as a 4.5-metre totem pole, a nod to the couple’s Canadian heritage that was carved in British Columbia by a Native American who Sharon had visited. The artist has also designed a totem pole for Buckingham Palace. There’s Aboriginal artwork throughout the yacht too, a nod to Australia, and the design process was “more about fun than practicality”. In the end “it all came together”, says Cowin, “and every time we go on the boat, we’re quite proud of it”.

Not that the couple have spent much time on board alone. “In 20 years, we’ve probably only had the boat to ourselves for a couple of nights,” he says. “Some people probably like the peace and quiet of their own company. But I get off on being around people that I like.” And so, when she’s not being chartered, Slipstream plays host to a whirling carousel of guests, including Cowin’s four children and their 12 grandchildren.

Coronavirus, however, has made them realise that they can’t use the yachts, currently based in Europe, in the same way as if they were based in Australia – it’s too expensive to keep travelling over, and at present, restrictions mean Australians can’t leave the country without special permission anyway. It’s prompted them to bring Silver Dream back to Australia, and Cowin is hopeful that she’ll still host plenty of charter guests too, as the market slowly grows.

Certainly, this once-hesitant owner is now a convert to the yachting lifestyle himself, with two beautiful vessels in his possession and a potential third on the way. “We had a close call at a boat show in the past 12 months,” he says elusively, “but as we progressed closer to getting the contract, coronavirus had just come in, so we just kind of put that on hold. I’m not sure whether I have a new boat left in me, but I may…”

Slipstream is managed for charter by Burgess

First published in the December 2020 edition of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Billionaire heiress Francesca Packer debuts her new romance with multi-millionaire Robert Bates - as couple share a kiss on a luxury yacht during cruise around Sydney Harbour

By Ali Daher For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 00:57 EDT, 5 December 2022 | Updated: 05:35 EDT, 5 December 2022

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Francesca Packer appears to have a new boyfriend. 

The billionaire heiress all but confirmed her romance with 40-something AFR Young Rich Lister Robert Bates on Saturday as the pair kissed and cuddled during a cruise around Sydney Harbour.

Francesca and Robert were spotted cosying up on the back deck of the luxury yacht while sipping Champagne and enjoying time with friends.

Billionaire heiress Francesca Packer debuted her new romance with multi-millionaire Robert Bates during cruise around Sydney Harbour 

The billionaire heiress all but confirmed her new romance with 40-something AFR Young Rich Lister as the pair kissed and cuddled onboard the boat 

The niece of casino mogul James Packer snuggled into a shirtless Robert as he planted a kiss on her lips. 

The pair also embraced as they made their way to a bar on the vessel.  

Both Francesca and Robert appeared happy and relaxed during the five-hour boat ride. 

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Francesca was dressed in a long-sleeved blue and white floral print top, which featured a cut-out at the bust, and polka dot skirt.

Robert meanwhile opted to go shirtless, wearing only a pair of navy blue swimmers. 

The niece of casino mogul James Packer snuggled into a shirtless Robert as he planted a kiss on her lips 

Francesca beamed as she gazed adoringly into her new beau's eyes  

Both Francesca and Robert appeared happy and relaxed during the five-hour boat ride 

Francesca completed her look wearing a pair of oversized black designer sunglasses.

The following day, Francesca and Robert were spotted heading to Mimi's Coogee for a meal with friends. 

Robert showed Francesca his chivalrous side, opening the door of her limousine  before escorting her into the trendy restaurant. 

They were also seen holding hands and at one point he wrapped his arm around her waist.  

Francesca was dressed in a long-sleeved blue and white floral print top, which featured a cut-out at the bust, and polka dot skirt 

Robert meanwhile opted to go shirtless, wearing only a pair of navy blue swimmers 

She completed her look wearing a pair of oversized black designer sunglasses

The sighting comes just days Robert was spotted arriving with Francesca at her lavish 28th birthday celebrations in Potts Point last month. 

Richard is a wellness guru and made headlines in July over the financial difficulties of his Aquamamma business with his former partner, Emma Gibson.

He was embroiled in a pay and superannuation dispute with former staff.

'We are working hard to resolve operational issues with our banking partners caused by factors out of our control,' Robert told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

'Our company has entered into a "super guarantee" for staff entitlements and has a payment plan with the ATO.'

The following day, Francesca and Robert were spotted heading to Mimi's Coogee for a meal with friends 

Robert showed Francesca his chivalrous side, opening the door of her limousine before escorting her into the trendy restaurant 

Francesca looked chic in a black and white polka dot dress, which she teamed up with her signature black glasses

The couple split in March this year months before their business demise became public knowledge. 

Francesca was last romantically linked to personal trainer Adam Cooper.

The couple went their separate ways in March, just days after Francesca made the uncharacteristic decision to delete all of her social media accounts.

'It was great for a while, but they had very different lifestyles. In the end, it just didn't work out,' the source said. 

Francesca hadn't featured on Adam's Instagram profile since he shared a selfie of the pair enjoying a romantic getaway on April 19. 

The couple were spotted holding hands as they made their way in and out of the restaurant

At one stage Robert had his arms around her waist

Francesca is the granddaughter of the late Kerry Packer and daughter of Gretel Packer and her ex-husband Nick Barham.

She lives in a $16million penthouse in Darlinghurst and is often spotted toting the latest designer handbags and accessories around Sydney.

While her personal net worth is unknown, it was once reported her mother received more than $1billion from her late father's estate when she severed financial ties with her brother James.

Francesca is the granddaughter of the late Kerry Packer and daughter of Gretel Packer and her ex-husband Nick Barham

She lives in a $16million penthouse in Darlinghurst and is often spotted toting the latest designer handbags and accessories around Sydney

The sighting comes just days Robert was spotted arriving with Francesca at her lavish 28th birthday celebrations in Potts Point last month

In 2016, Francesca played down being an heiress in an interview with Harper's Bazaar.

'It's just not relevant anymore. Everyone on the planet inherits something, so everyone on the planet is an heir or heiress in some way,' she said.

'Do I feel like the family empire is being placed on my shoulders, all wrapped up in a nice little bow? No. I don't think about it at all.

'It's not a term that is part of my vocabulary whatsoever.' 

Francesca is pictured with her ex Adam Cooper. They split late last year 

Share or comment on this article: Billionaire Francesca Packer debuts romance with multi-millionaire Robert Bates

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