Boat International – September 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY:

TOM

VAN

OOSSANEN;

OLEG

TINKOV

PRESS

OFFICE;

LADATCHA.COM;

DAMEN;

LADATCHA.COM/VAL

THORENS

OWNERS’CLUB

I“It’sthesametiredsonganddanceeverytime:

Portofino,PortoCervoandMonaco.Thesame

boringtriangle,”saysOlegTinkov.“Thereisso

muchmoretotheworldthantheMediterranean

ortheBritishVirginIslands.Thisisjustfiveper

centoftheworld’scoastlineand,beingthe

adventurerthatIam,I’meagertoexplorethe

remaining 95 percent.”

He’sspeakingfromthetopofamountainin

thehighestskiresortinEurope,ValThorens,

wherehe’sstuckathisLaDatchachaletbecause

ofbadweather.It’sanintrepidsortofproblem–

but then nothing about this self-made

entrepreneur,withanetworththatForbesputs

at$2.3billion(£1.85bn),couldbecalledboring.

“MysonandIhavealreadyconqueredtheNorth

PoleandtheSouthPole.Fewhavejourneyedto

bothpoles[within 12 months].”

To thatend, in 2020 Tinkovwill take

possessionofthesecondSeaXplorerexpedition

yacht,a 77 metrethatlaunchedinJune–andone

ofthemostthrillingsuperyachtprojectstograce

thepagesofthismagazineinrecentyears.The

SeaXplorerrange–hulloneofwhich,a65m,

splashedlastyear–wascreatedbyDutch

commercialyardDamen,expertinbuilding

toughoffshorerigsandtugs.Thecompany’s

superyachtarm,Amels,wasbroughtinasa

designpartnertoensureflawlessfinishesinside

theyachts,aswasAzureYachtDesignandNaval

Architecture,whichworkedonexteriors.

Themagicingredientinthisconceptwas

advice from adventure specialist EYOS

Expeditions,whichaddedamind-bendingwish

listoffeaturesbasedonrealexperienceonworld-

roamingyachts.Thewholepackageisan

adventurer’sfantasycometrue.

Butthisparticularadventurerisafascinating

subjectinhisownright.Tinkovwasbornin 1967

inLeninsk-Kuznetsky,insouth-westSiberia,

TheRussianself-made

billionairehasalways

wantedtoexplore:first

beyondtheIronCurtain

andnowevenfurther

onhis77mSeaXplorer,

ashetellsCarolineWhite

ON

BOARD

WITH

Oleg

Tinkov

LaDatcha,thefirst

SeaXplorer77,was

launchedinJune

N

W S

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09 2019 boatinternational.com