A record-breaking sailing superyacht understood to have been commissioned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been delivered.

The 127-metre Oceanco superyacht Koru is now the largest privately owned sailing yacht in the world, unseating 106.7-metre Black Pearl. (The 142.81-metre Sailing Yacht A is considered a sail-assisted motor yacht.)

Koru — estimated to have a $500m price tag — departed for its maiden voyage from the Netherlands to Gibraltar on 6 April 2023, after beginning sea trials in February.

The yacht, formerly known as Project Y721, was spotted this week for the first time since leaving the shipyard. The vessel is currently moored in an anchorage in the bay of Palma, on the Balearic island of Mallorca.

Oceanco has remained tight-lipped about the project, but has not denied that Bezos is the vessel’s owner.

Koru was pictured for the first time in 2021 at the Zwijndrecht shipyard in the western Netherlands, and yacht enthusiasts have been following its progress keenly since. It began transmitting on AIS in January 2023, confirming its name as Koru — a Māori name that translates to ‘new beginnings’. 

Last year, Koru was transported from shipbuilding facilities in Alblasserdam through to Rotterdam, via Holland’s canal network.

Threats of a mass-egging broke out after rumours circulated that Oceanco was planning to temporarily dismantle a historic bridge to allow the yacht, which has a trio of 70-metre masts, to pass. The yacht managed to find another route to take, stealing away in the dead of night to avoid attention.

Koru, a 3300GT schooner built with a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, underwent sea trials in the North Sea in February. A video captured by Dutch Yachting shows the yacht being towed out of Rotterdam in the early hours of 13 February 2023, before cruising on calm waters in the misty morning air.

Koru is expected to cost between $25m-$50m per year to upkeep.

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