Victorious might look shiny-new, tied to her superyacht dock at this week’s Miami International Boat Show. But it took more the 18 years to get here.
Rewind to 2006. The steel-and-aluminum shell of a 252-foot explorer yacht is sitting in a shipyard in Santiago, Chile, with no money to complete. Kiwi serial yacht owner and billionaire Graeme Hart puts in an offer, and has the yacht towed to his native New Zealand for completion.
After two years of work, Hart switches his attention to his new superyacht project, the 380-foot Kleven-built explorer called Ulysses. Eight years later, he sells the yacht in 2016 to Turkish entrepreneur Vural Ak. After having the yacht towed to Istanbul, Ak he creates a shipyard, appropriately called AKYacht. The yard extends the hull’s length 18 feet and creates a beautiful interior. Victorious is finally completed in 2021. The following year it receives a “2022 Robb Report Best of the Best” award.
After three years of circling the globe, Victorious is now looking for a new owner, with an asking price of $129 million.
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37,000 Nautical Miles Without Starting an Engine
Image Credit: AKYacht Part of the remarkable story about Victorious was that, before its completion in 2021, it was towed a total of 37,000 miles, from Chile to New Zealand, then New Zealand to Istanbul, Turkey. Starting life as the 252-foot Gin Tonic II at the Marco Yachts yard in Santiago, the bare-bones vessel was bought by New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart in 2011. The empty hull was then towed, along with 100 containers of parts, across the Southern Ocean to Auckland. After on-again, off-again work, the yacht was sold to Vural Ak in 2016, who had her towed back to Turkey.
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Built for a Sportscar Enthusiast
Image Credit: AKYacht The checkered-flag burgee on Victorious‘s bow gives a hint as to the interests of its high-profile owner, Turkish billionaire Vural Ak. The founder of Turkey’s biggest rental-car firm, Intercity, is said to have an eclectic collection of over 300 vehicles, including an array of Porsches, Lamborghinis, and even tractors. He has raced in the GT3 series across Europe and competed in the grueling Dakar Rally. Ak also loves F1, so he owns the Intercity Istanbul Park racetrack in Turkey, which plays host to the Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix. When Victorious debuted at the Monaco boat show in 2021, Ak parked a new Bentley Continental GT on the helipad.
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The Yacht Can Travel 24,000 Miles on a Single Tank
Image Credit: AKYacht Victorious is powered by a pair of industrial-grade Caterpillar 3512B 12-cylinder turbocharged diesels packing 1,475 hp apiece. These can push the superyacht to a top speed of 17 knots, though it’s designed more for comfort than speed. At a 13-knot cruising pace, the yacht has a range of 14,000 nautical miles. But throttle back to an ocean-crossing seven knots and it will cover a staggering 24,000 nautical miles with 70,000-gallon fuel tanks. So filling up at $4-a-gallon would cost $280,000.
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Space for a Very Large Family
Image Credit: AKYacht For its role as a globe-trotting family yacht, Victorious has space to spare. The 12 cabins create space for 24 guests, with the owner enjoying the vast, full-beam master suite on the bridge deck facing aft or the equally spacious VIP suite on the main deck. For fun at sea, the boat has a 10-seat, tiered, sound-proofed cinema, a playroom for the kids, an observation lounge with full-size grand piano, and a formal dining room for 14.
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All the Toys
Image Credit: AKYacht The biggest “toy” on board is a 42-foot custom-built, all-aluminum limousine catamaran, designed by Britain’s H2 Design, with a special drop-down section on the bow for beach landings. It’s powered by twin 480 hp Cummins diesels and sits on the superyacht’s huge back deck and is launched by a 6.7-ton-capacity crane. For fishing adventures, a 38-foot Fountain center console with twin 300-horse outboards does the trick, and when the kids want to go water skiing, the crew will fire up the rugged 25-foot Nordkapp Airborne 8 RIB. Add to these three Sea-Doo GTX 230 jet bikes, four Seabob F5s, two electric Fliteboard foilers, and a pair of Radinn electric jetsurfs.
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Going off the Grid
Image Credit: AKYacht Come the Apocalypse, Victorious can go off the grid and be totally self-sufficient for up to six months. With full water tanks, it carries 33,655 gallons of water, supplemented by watermakers that can churn out 13,000 gallons a day. For internal power, there are no fewer than five generators, including two 465kW Caterpillar C18-powered units, and to keep the food frosty, there are 18 fridges, freezers, and ice makers. For the Dom Pérignon, there are two EuroCave 200-bottle chillers. Add to these seven Miele washing machines, six dryers, and five dishwashers. And if anyone gets sick, there’s an onboard hospital.
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A Day at the Beach
Image Credit: AKYacht No need to head to the real beach when Victorious‘ lower-deck beach club spans 2,153 square feet. It features an indoor pool open to the stern deck that can be filled with either fresh or salt water, with a counter-current for exercising. Steps away is the yacht’s wellness center with a massage room, a beauty salon, a spa and a hamman steam room. The fitness room comes with the latest Technogym equipment. For perfecting your best Greg Louganis dives, there are oversized fold-down terraces at sea level on both port and starboard.
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Top Deck Gentleman’s Club
Image Credit: AKYacht Step into the somewhat risque-sounding Gentleman’s Club on the top deck, and one of the highlights is a stunning, wood-burning marble fireplace, fed by more than two tons of logs the yacht carries onboard. Installing traditional fireplaces on a yacht is a challenge at best, so a separate air conditioning and air-filtration system was installed, along with smoke-resistant upholstery. There is also a cigar bar with an aft terrace to enjoy that stogie under the stars, plus a wine cellar and humidor. Perhaps the pièces de résistance are the massive, ’30s concert-hall-style, floor-to-ceiling speakers on either side of the fireplace, for blasting out tunes.
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It Rescued Capsized Sailors in the Caribbean
Image Credit: AKYacht Back in December 2022, the explorer was on a transatlantic crossing from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean island of Saint Martin when it intercepted a distress signal from the five-man crew of a capsized 50-foot catamaran. Petar Milkov, Victorious‘s captain, responded by changing course and starting a search pattern. After 15 hours of crisscrossing, and at 11.30 p.m., his crew spotted a speck of light on the horizon. The sailors, most badly injured in their inflatable raft, were able to fire off a distress flare, allowing Victorious to pinpoint their position. Early in the morning, the sailors were pulled aboard and the yacht rushed to Saint Martin for medical assistance.
