Photo: Burgess Yachts
When you’re not just a very wealthy businessman, but one with decades of sailing and racing experience, your ultimate luxury toy can only be an innovative, award-winning floating paradise.
Lang Walker is a truly interesting character. Now in his 70s, the Australian property billionaire gets to enjoy not only a fabulous sailing yacht, but a private island in the Pacific, with the same name – Kokomo. Walker started racing at a young age, worked on boats later on, and also became an avid diver after his training in the Navy. He’s what they call a “serial yacht owner,” each time moving on to something bigger and better.
This 191-foot (58 meters) masterpiece seems to be the final one – it’s a luxurious superyacht that won awards for its innovative design, on which the real estate mogul is spending at least three months per year, in addition to the secluded island which he turned into a fabulous exclusive resort. You can bet that Walker knows all the best places to sail, and Kokomo was specifically designed to be able to reach most of them.
Its main innovation is a lifting keel, a mechanism through which the vessel’s draught can be adjusted from 8.7 meters (28.5 feet) to 4.6 meters (15 feet). This means that Kokomo has enough stability even at higher speed (it can hit 15 knots/17 mph/28 kph), while also being able to make its way through shallow lagoons and small harbors. This was a remarkable innovation at the time of its build, in 2010, for which it won the Naval Architecture award at the ShowBoats Design Awards one year later.
If the innovative exterior was created by the Dubois Naval Architects, Kokomo’s interior bears another famous signature – Redman Whitely Dixon (RWD). Some of the highlights include a jacuzzi on the foredeck (which is unusual for a sailing yacht) and a versatile dining/lounging area on the aft deck, with huge windows that can be lowered. Thanks to this, it can be enjoyed both for al-fresco dining or as an enclosed space.
Whenever the billionaire owner is not sailing it, Kokomo is available for other lucky guests, too, through Burgess, as long as they can part with €210,000 ($211,000) per week.
This 191-foot (58 meters) masterpiece seems to be the final one – it’s a luxurious superyacht that won awards for its innovative design, on which the real estate mogul is spending at least three months per year, in addition to the secluded island which he turned into a fabulous exclusive resort. You can bet that Walker knows all the best places to sail, and Kokomo was specifically designed to be able to reach most of them.
Its main innovation is a lifting keel, a mechanism through which the vessel’s draught can be adjusted from 8.7 meters (28.5 feet) to 4.6 meters (15 feet). This means that Kokomo has enough stability even at higher speed (it can hit 15 knots/17 mph/28 kph), while also being able to make its way through shallow lagoons and small harbors. This was a remarkable innovation at the time of its build, in 2010, for which it won the Naval Architecture award at the ShowBoats Design Awards one year later.
If the innovative exterior was created by the Dubois Naval Architects, Kokomo’s interior bears another famous signature – Redman Whitely Dixon (RWD). Some of the highlights include a jacuzzi on the foredeck (which is unusual for a sailing yacht) and a versatile dining/lounging area on the aft deck, with huge windows that can be lowered. Thanks to this, it can be enjoyed both for al-fresco dining or as an enclosed space.
Whenever the billionaire owner is not sailing it, Kokomo is available for other lucky guests, too, through Burgess, as long as they can part with €210,000 ($211,000) per week.
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