From minor controversies like Antennagate to being kicked out of his own company and then returning triumphantly, Steve Jobs got out of plenty of tight squeezes in his life.
Now that he’s gone, it seems that that same spirit of near-misses and daring triumphs is left to Venus, Jobs’ 256-foot, $120 million super-yacht.
Having visited Montenegro, Palma, Gibraltar, Horta Azores and many other exotic locations since Jobs’ death in 2011, the yacht recently had a close call while passing through a bridge in Saint Martin, an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 185 miles east of Puerto Rico.
Check out the video after the jump.
The footage was captured by a drone piloted by Brian Muston. It shows the yacht barely squeezing past the Simpson Bay Bridge, which provides an entrance and exit to one of the Caribbean’s largest sheltered lagoons.
Given the vessel’s oddly bulky design and nine-figure price tag, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, and no doubt a tense few minutes for those on board.
Despite playing a key role in its creation, Jobs himself never got a chance to use the yacht. He began working on it around 2008, shortly before his liver transplant. The vessel was created by French designer Philippe Starck, with glass designed by the chief designer of the Apple Stores, but was only unveiled after the Apple CEO’s death. On board, a row of 27-inch iMacs are used to control the ship from its wheelhouse.
Source: Trade Only Today
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
15 responses to “iCaramba! Steve Jobs’ yacht narrowly avoids nasty scrape in the Caribbean”
Wow, another non-story. Perhaps it would be better to write something when the ship actually hits something or sinks.
How about we actually call it Steve Jobs’ family’s yacht, seeing as Mr. Jobs is no longer with us?
No one will ever forget him, but perhaps it’s time to move on a bit.
Hats off to to the pilot. Or the guys who designed and installed the proximity sensor and computerized helm system.
I’d bet that the skipper of the Venus would be terribly incensed at the headline above. Super Yachts wider than the Jobs yacht go through there regularly. Take a look at Youtube for Simpson Bridge
If you use the lounge chairs on the deck as a scale, then there is 6 to 10 feet on either side. Not really what one would call “barely”. I wouldn’t recommend watching any videos of the Panama Canal, you’d most likely crap yourself :)
C0C0tva… check my post above… I used the builder’s specs and those of the bridge to come to a similar conclusion… also, while it wouldn’t help much if there were a collision of any significant force, note that after the Venus goes through the bridge, crew are seen on the stern of the boat clearing bumpers from the port and starboard rails.
I work in the building seen in the video on the left and this is how yachts come in and out the bridge Every day. The editor need to change the title to “just another day in sint.maarten” . Nothing special here.
LOL keywords: work in that building….I’d rather be hoisting a pina colada on that boat that looking through the glass at the other half.
The I-Squeeze
After the iCar….. The iBoat ?
….like the skipper of that boat isn’t the best money can buy…I doubt Gilligan is on that crew only Ginger Grant LOL LOL LOL Haters are gonna hate.
stanhope… so true, both about haters and the skipper’s skill. Having spent considerable time aboard a 32′ sailboat (without thrusters and accommodations for 12, and NOT Starck-designed), I know how susceptible to the “redirection” and sometimes “mis-direction” of water currents a boat can be, very unlike a car on dry pavement, “driving” a boat SHOULD ONLY be undertaken by individuals who have to prove their skill levels in a meaningful way and never, unlike the captain of the Exxon Valdez, be under the influence of ANY amount of intoxicant!
Interesting to me to see those side thrusters periodically kick in to tweak the ships trajectory.
I gotta chuckle at the ho-hum comments from those arm-chair admirals who are so blasé about how easy it is to put a boat that large and heavy through a relatively narrow space. I bet none of them could do it.
Very stable footage and precise positioning, some of the best drone video I’ve seen. Wasn’t a near miss, tho’, the Skipper was as good as the drone pilot!
Did you see the long line of luxury yachts?
It’s another world out there…
Wow, what will next weeks amazing story be about? Woz narrowly hits mailbox with his Segway….
(Captured by a GoPro)