If you’ve wandered down to Pier 36 near Montgomery Street in the last few weeks, you might have seen this enormous yacht docked behind Basketball City. Turns out she’s owned by former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi (the guy who invented Word and Excel).
In 2011 Power & Motoryacht Magazine ranked her the 16th largest yacht in America at 233 feet. It was built in Germany in 2002, includes a helicopter landing pad and can accommodate 10 guests and a crew of 16. She’s named “Skat,” which means “treasure” in Danish. Apparently that’s what a former girlfriend used to call Simonyi.
The dock at Pier 36 is operated by BillyBey Marina Services in collaboration with the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. Donald Liloia, an executive with BillyBey, told us yesterday he couldn’t comment regarding the yacht’s ownership (although it’s not exactly a tough thing to figure out). He said docking for private owners is just one of many services provided at Pier 36; we’ll have a story about some of the other uses later. He noted that there are very few places in Manhattan to tie up a boat, especially one as large as Skat.
We first noticed the yacht last month during the NADA Art Fair, which took place at Basketball City. She’s apparently been coming and going but is not expected to be using the pier for much longer.
Thanks to James Richards for the tip on this story.
