Sardinia

Maltese Falcon Wins Perini Navi Cup

The new owner of the 289-ft. Maltese Falcon, the world's largest, best designed, and most expensive sailing superyacht, must be pretty pleased with his purchase, a relative bargain at $100 million thanks to the recession; the yacht just won the Perini Navi Cup, the world's most stylish and exclusive regatta which we wrote about last month. 19 superyachts all from the Perini Navi shipyard, builders of the Maltese Falcon, competed in the race which took place in the billionaire's playground of Sardinia. The triple masted Falcon reached top speeds of an impressive 21 knots to capture the Cup as well as a Rolex wristwatch presented by the president of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, His Highness the Aga Khan, and master yachtbuilder Fabio Perini.

[via JamesList]

Gallery: The Maltese Falcon

Tags: Aga Khan, AgaKhan, Maltese Falcon, MalteseFalcon, Perini Navi, PeriniNavi, regatta, Rolex, sailing, Sardinia, superyacht, yacht

The World's Most Stylish Yachts Set Sail for Sardinia

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Water

Italian shipyard Perini Navi, builders of the 289-ft. Maltese Falcon, the world's largest, best designed, and most expensive sailing superyacht, will stage the third annual Perini Navi Cup hosted in the billionaire's playground of Sardinia by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on September 3rd – 5th. It's shaping up to be the world's most stylish and exclusive regatta with 22 Perini Navi sailing yachts gathering for the event, ranging from the 80-ft. Elettra, launched in 1987, to the Maltese Falcon herself, helmed perhaps by her mysterious new owner. All but two of them will top 130 ft.; among them will be the will latest model to sail out of the Perini Navi shipyard, the 183-ft. Riela, recently debuted at the Monaco Yacht Show.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Tags: Maltese Falcon, MalteseFalcon, Perini Navi, PeriniNavi, regatta, sailing, Sardinia, superyacht, yacht

Sardinia To Drop Luxury Tax For The Wealthy

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

In 2007, the island of Sardinia put luxury taxes in place that affected second homes, private yachts and aircraft. There's a new governor on the Italian island and as part of his budget he is proposing doing away with the tax on mooring luxury yachts and landing private aircraft. Opponents said the taxes scared away the rich who came to stay on the island and hurt tourism.

One person delighting in the potential change is Italy's freespending Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi, who handpicked the new governor, Ugo Cappellacci to run against the previous governor Renato Soru, just happens to own a vacation home on Sardinia.

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Tags: luxury, sardinia, silvio berlusconi, SilvioBerlusconi, taxes

World's Most Expensive Umbrella is $50,000

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Men's Style

This past summer we wrote about the battle over Sardinia's famed Billionaire club, which some felt was overly ostentatious in these straitened times. The club's owner, playboy Formula One mogul Flavio Briatore, blasted the criticism, defending the rich's right to luxury. Obviously Briatore has the courage of his convictions; his ultra-high end men's clothing line, Billionaire Couture, has just come out with the world's most expensive umbrella.

Made entirely of crocodile skin, the ultra-luxe umbrella (above) is available by special order for $50,000 from Billionaire Couture's London boutique. The brand, which is worn by the likes of Paul McCartney, David Beckham and Sean "Diddy" Combs, is founded on "a relentless search for original details that express quality, sophistication and eccentricity [that] at times goes intentionally overboard." We'd say a $50,000 umbrella falls into that latter category.

Gallery: Billionaire Couture

Tags: Billionaire Club, Billionaire Couture, BillionaireClub, BillionaireCouture, Crocodile, Flavio Briatore, FlavioBriatore, Sardinia, Umbrella

The Battle Over Sardinia's Famed Billionaire Club

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Journeys

One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

Tags: Aston Martin, AstonMartin, Billionaire, Billionaire Club, BillionaireClub, Cristal, Daniela Santanch, DanielaSantanch, Emerald Coast, EmeraldCoast, Flavio Briatore, FlavioBriatore, Formula 1, Formula1, Italy, Kate Moss, KateMoss, Naomi Campbell, NaomiCampbell, Sardinia

Rent Fatboy Slim's Yacht

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Water, Celebrity Shopping

You probably know Norman Cook by his other name, Fatboy Slim, or perhaps from his popular song "Praise You." Cook and his wife, British TV presenter are also in the yacht rental business, renting out their 100-foot Barracuda yacht in Sardinia for a nice profit. The Daily Star reports that the yacht costs £20,000 to charter for seven days and £10,000 for a weekend through Mrs and Mrs Smith. This beautiful yacht has been freshly restored and has a crew of four. There are four guest cabins and four bathrooms. And of course, since this yacht belongs to a musician, there is an onboard iPod system stocked with 7,000 songs.

Gallery: Barracuda Yacht

Source

Tags: barracuda yacht, fatboy slim, FatboySlim, norman cook, sardinia, travel, yacht rental, zoe ball

Pibiones Bessude Bamboo, Handbag of the Day

by Sandy Maple (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

Created using a traditional Sardinian weaving method known as the pibiones technique, this stunning bag has a richness of texture you don't often see. The process of creating these eco-friendly handbags is labor-intensive, but for designer Antonella, it's a labor of love. His Bessude Bamboo bag features a beautiful Rombetti design and a simple curved bamboo handle. It zips at the top and the interior has patch and mobile phone pockets as well as recycled lining. These hand-woven works of art are produced in limited numbers, all but guaranteeing that you won't see anyone else carrying your bag. € 516.

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Tags: antonella, bamboo bag, BambooBag, designer handbag, DesignerHandbag, handbag, italian handbag, ItalianHandbag, luxe handbag, LuxeHandbag, luxury handbag, LuxuryHandbag, pibiones, purse, sardinia, woven handbag, WovenHandbag

Controversial 'Luxury Taxes' Passed in Sardinia

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Journeys

In what seems to be a strange turn of events in today's tourism-driven world, the island of Sardinia is making an attempt to preserve it's natural beauty (and make a little money) by limiting tourism. The President of Sardinia, Renato Soru, has been fighting for a long time to put "luxury taxes" into effect, and he's finally won. Aimed mostly at the super rich (after all, Sardinia has been nicknamed "the playground of the rich"), the steep set of taxes will affect mostly items like second homes, private yachts, aircraft, and hotel rooms. Opposition of the new taxes are afraid it will drive too much tourism and development out of Sardinia, not to mention possibly give the country a negative image.

As much as I hate taxes, I always have to support efforts to preserve natural beauty and prevent too much tourism -- even if they do make money doing it.

Source

Tags: luxury, luxury tax, luxury taxes, LuxuryTax, LuxuryTaxes, sardinia, tax, taxes, tourism

Flavio Briatore Protests Billionaire Style

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping

Where do would you go to fight a yacht tax? How about a nightclub called Billionaire. The club, owned by serial modelizer and Formula One manager Flavio Briatore, was the setting for a new debate in Sardinia. Briatore is protesting new taxes for the megarich yacht owners who flock to Sardinia's ports. New laws charge owners of megayachts for port usage, charge fees on larger private planes each time they land and levy large taxes on those with large second homes on the island. According to the Independent, Briatore has has taken out full-page newspaper advertisements and hosted a party at Billionaire for objectors to the new rules. Briatore says that the wealthy bring money and to the island and should not be charged these fees but the locals feel that the fees are necessary to help preserve the unique character of this gorgeous place.

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Tags: billionaire, flavio briatore, FlavioBriatore, italy, sardinia

Forte Village

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Journeys

Hotel Travel News has an interview with Lorenzo Giannuzzi, the managing director of Forte Village. What's Forte Village? It is an a resort on the Italian island of Sardinia that includes seven hotels, a spa and restaurants. The hotels are all four and five star and each has a slightly different feel, from village quaint to seaside luxe like the Hotel Castello, shown here. The village recently went through a big renovation and will host the German soccer team before the FIFA World Cup. A future renovation will include a dedicated pool with sea water. For those of us who can't do without our laptops, the village offers wireless in the rooms and most public areas around the resort. Currently the resort caters mainly to an Italian crowd but more and more people are finding out about the resort which offers a wide variety of recreation opportunities from golf and tennis to diving and jet-skiing. They are currently booking Easter packages that start at 600 euros for a three-night stay with breakfast, lunch and dinner with mineral water and local wine and free entrance to the “Thermae del Forte” spa with use of the thalassotherapy pools, gym, sauna and Turkish bath.

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Tags: destination, forte village, ForteVillage, getaway, mediterranean, resort, sardinia

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