Mirabella V

Ownership

Mirabella V was built as part of a fleet of large sailing charter yachts owned by former Chairman and CEO of the Avis car rental company, Joseph Vittoria, and used for luxury private charters. She was named after Mr. Vittoria's previous yachts. Mirabella V now belongs to Rodney Lewisand has been rechristened M5.

Vittoria grew up on Long Island and worked as a "launch boy" at a yacht club in Sea Cliff, New York, where he developed a love for sailing. Two of his sisters married sailors who helped him learn and continue his enjoyment of sailing. Vittoria lived in Greenwich, Connecticut from 1980 to 1991 and still has a home and membership in the Belle Haven Club, there, although he and his wife, Luciana, later moved to Palm Beach, Florida. Vittoria made his fortune helping organise the buyout and resale of Avis in the 1980s.

Design

The owner specifications combined fast sailing with motoryacht amenities. The righting moment of sailing vessels makes them more seakindly than powerboats and M5 has achieved speeds in excess of 19 knots in 8ft-12ft seas. To achieve the amenity requirements, a single mast was preferred to other rig types in order to maximize interior volumes in keel-stepped sailing yachts; To achieve the performance requirements, the higher aspect ratio of the single mast sail plan was also preferred in order to provide a better speed potential . A final demand was that the yacht be able to use the harbour at Palm Beach, Florida. This required the use of a lifting keel to reduce draft.

Mirabella V was designed by New Zealander yacht designer Ron Holland. Load and structural calculations of the hull and rig were carried out by Hamble-based firm High Modulus Europe Ltd, (now part of Gurit).

Technical challenges

While vessels of M5's size are typically made from steel or aluminium, an aramid foam core/vinylester sandwich build was chosen to achieve a shorter delivery date, reduced maintenance (regular repainting to inhibit corrosion is not required) and better acoustic thermal insulation.

Historically, large yachts were built with more than one mast in order to divide the sail area for easier handling. Today's technologies in spars, rigging, sailmaking, powered winches and electronics enable rigs with larger sail areas, higher aspect ratios, larger loads and simpler handling, allowing Mirabella V to be constructed with the tallest mast and largest jib of any sailing craft ever built at the time. One of the procurement challenges was finding sheets strong enough to trim the sails.

Construction

Mirabella V was constructed at the former BVT Surface Fleet yard (formerly Vosper Thornycroft) at Woolston, Hampshire. Luciana Vittoria specified to naval archited Ron Holland her wishes for interior decoration. After changing hands and being rechristened M5, she was handed over for refit to the Pendennis Shipyard in March 2013. She was relaunched in September 2013 with an extended stern and reverse transom, a lighter ballast arrangement and carbon fibre standing rigging.

Particulars of Ship

Accommodation

The boat has a master suite on the main deck and six cabins for as many as 12 guests. The boat's lazarette stores a 29-foot (8.8 m) tender, Lasers, jet skis, ski boats, kayaks and three remote-controlled models of Mirabella V. The foredeck has two recesses that serve as swimming pools and as storage for two launches.

Launch

Mirabella V was launched on November 27th, 2003 and her mast was stepped at the Southampton Empress Dock on December 30th, 2003. Her first sea trial took place off Portsmouth on April 14th, 2004.

Operation and financing

Under Vittoria's ownership, Mirabella V was chartered for up to $420,000 per week and about 12 weeks per year, with a balanced operating budget if chartered for 14 weeks per year.

Service

After dragging anchor and running aground in Beaulieu-sur-Mer on September 16th, 2004, Mirabella V was towed into La Ciotat for a survey and subsequently returned to Vosper Thornycroft in Portsmouth for repairs.