If you've been down Las Olas recently, you might have noticed a stunning yacht full of wood trim and chrome accents, docked unceremoniously at the corner of Fiesta Way. If you've got about $2 million to blow, it's yours. Bonus: You can tell your friends that you own Billy Joel's old yacht.
The boat, named Vendetta, is a 57-footer that Joel had built in 2005 so he could commute from his home on Long Island to New York City. Back then, the yacht earned magazine write-ups for its throwback style and high top speed -- it can hit 44 knots, or 50 mph.
Vendetta began from sketches in 2000, and the design, with a sharp edge to the bow and
a sloping stern, was a throwback to the New York City commuter yachts of the 1920s. It looked like out of a scene from the Great Gatsby, and when he first saw it, Joel reportedly said it was "love at first sight." His then-wife Katie Lee christened it July 24, 2005, with a bottle of champagne across its bow in Mamaroneck Harbor, New York.
Joel paid $2 million to Derecktor Shipyards for the yacht, but in a sign of the times in the struggling yacht business, he's likely to lose some dough on the deal. It was initially listed for $2,149,000, but with no sales, it has since been lowered to $1,950,000.
Yacht broker Bruce Leffers says Joel decided to sell Vendetta simply because he didn't need it. "He's just not using it anymore," Leffers said.
Joel has a home in Miami Beach, but Vendetta was docked on Las Olas so that a buyer might spot it from the road, Ledgers said. "It just made more sense to have it on a busy thoroughfare," Leffers said.
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