Just a taste of big yachts

NEWPORT BEACH — It extends 98 feet and has five staterooms, twin diesel engines, three refrigerators, five freezers and television sets placed throughout. This weekend, it will be up for sale in Newport Harbor for a hefty sum of $5.75 million.

Even for a millionaire boat enthusiast, the Cielo Mare, manufactured by Queenship and exhibited by Hallmark Yacht and Ship Brokers, is a challenge for the checkbook. Still, Don Franken, the spokesman for the 30th annual Lido Yacht Expo, wouldn’t be surprised if the vessel sells by Sunday afternoon.

“Ninety-eight feet is a mega-yacht,” Franken said Wednesday as the last few boats docked for this weekend’s extravaganza at Lido Marina Village. “There’s not many people who can afford one of those. Although in Newport Beach, more than in most places.”

Big sums of money are passed around every year at the Lido Yacht Expo, which is expected to showcase about 250 boats this weekend. The boats and accessories in the show total about $250 million in worth, Franken said. And with a tugboat being auctioned off by the OCC School of Sailing & Seamanship, there’s no telling how high the revenues may climb.

In short, the vast majority of people who attend the four-day expo will likely be priced out of the inventory. For four days, though, the show organizers are giving the public a taste of life on board million-dollar vessels for an admission price of only $12.

“There aren’t a lot of places you can go to look at big boats,” said Duncan McIntosh, the show’s co-producer, who also runs the Newport Boat Show annually in the spring. “Most of the boat shows you see are in convention centers.”

A number of the boats on display in the expo are still for sale this weekend, but many have also been presold. Garret Martin, the owner of McKinna Yachts, is debuting his 69-foot Skylounge model in Newport Beach. The $2.4-million boat, which offers four refrigerators, four staterooms and a 42-inch plasma TV, recently sold to a buyer in Huntington Beach. Dealer John Olson said he signed over his $3.6-million 80-foot Offshore Pilot House to a couple in Oregon.

McIntosh, who lives in Newport Beach and owns the boating publication Sea Magazine, said he only owns a pair of small work boats right now, but he still gets more than enough time on the water.

“People often offer me a boat to use, so I have the best of both worlds,” he said. “It’s like being a grandparent. You can drop the kids off at the end of the day.”

For more photos, click here.

IF YOU GO

WHEN: Noon to 7 today; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Lido Marina Village, 3424 Via Oporto, Newport Beach (shuttle service available at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive, today and Friday, and at Newport Healthcare Center, 500 Superior Ave., Saturday and Sunday)

ADMISSION: $12; free for children 12 and younger

INFO: Call (949) 757-5959 or visit www.lidoyachtexpo.com

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].