Owning a yacht is not for the weak of heart. These wonderful seafaring machines are expensive to buy, expensive to own and maintain, and even expensive (and time consuming) to sell. If one just has to have such a boat, though, and looks hard enough, something that does not costs millions of dollars to buy can however be found.
Out of curiosity, and given how it's Sea Month here on autoevolution, we did just that and somehow managed to dig up what seems to be one of the cheapest yachts around at the time of writing. Specialized websites list it with an asking price of 495,000 euros, which is about $492,000 at today’s exchange rates.
Now, you have to keep in mind this yacht, called Giannella, is not your typical Russian oligarch floating palace, but it could easily get the job of entertaining you and a bunch of friends at sea for a few days. Why, it could even hold its ground in water races, if need be.
The Giannella was made all the way back in 1966 at the request of an unnamed Italian owner. It was penned by French naval architect Eugene Cornu, and built by Cantieri Sangermani. She’s a classic sailing yacht and went through a refit back in 2010 to bring it up to more modern standards.
The mahogany monohull boat comes with a teak deck, and moves under the power of three sails, backed in their mission by a Yanmar engine good for 240 hp. Under the best of circumstances, she can reach a top speed of 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph).
Photo: Fraser Yachts
The 19.6-meter (64 feet) long Giannella can host up to six guests at a given time, which can rest at night or whenever the need arises in three rooms. They’re not as luxurious or roomy (the thing has a beam of just 4.5 meters/14.7 feet) as some other, more expensive beasts of this kind offer, but they too get the job done.
Perhaps the most important thing about the Giannella is that over the years it has not been used exclusively to entertain guests, but took part in specialized competitions as well. We’re told her name was at the top of the list during several regattas, including The Nioularge in Saint-Tropez and Conde de Barcelona in Spain.
As its seller says, the Gianella is the perfect “combination of elegance, sailing performance and luxury living,” just perfect for “socializing and entertaining with family and friends.”
Or, if you’re a more competitive nature, its racing pedigree could make it ideal for regattas, so, if you happen to have half a million dollars sitting around doing nothing, and a huge desire to join the life-at-sea trend, the Giannella may be just the thing for you.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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