La Datcha Expedition Yacht 77 – A Voyage Worth Waiting For

With the handover due later this summer, a Russian banking billionaire owner of La Datcha was on hand at and excited about the launching of his new 77 metre ice class, polar compatible, expedition yacht.

Oleg Tinkov and his family attended the event at the Damen Shipyards hull building yard in Galati, Romania. After the launch the hull was transported to the SeaXplorer outfitting yard in the Netherlands where ahead of delivery in September 2020, just in time to debut at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show.

Built with extensive customisations to the Tinkov family’s requirements, including Oleg’s passion for heliskiing, La Datcha stands out with her helideck and hangar capable of handling two rotary aircraft.  She is fully certified for helicopters weighing up to 4,000 kg.

La Datcha Superyacht

La Datcha is a stylish, sturdy and highly customised expedition yacht constructed so as to be capable of breaking through polar ice. The ultra-luxury accommodations on board match and complement the owners growing collection of luxury hotels and villas in France, Italy and Russia.

Mr Tinkoff intends to make his new yacht available for charter in a range of polar and tropical destinations during his planned extensive two-year global tour. She can be chartered for around three quarters of a million euros per week but before you get too excited about how cheap that is, you should remember that you will need roughly another quarter of a million on top of that to cover the costs of the food you eat the wines and spirits you feed and the fuel the yacht will burn on passage.

Worth waiting for

It will however be a voyage worth waiting for. During September and October 2020 La Datcha will be in Greece giving those who want to charter her the opportunity to explore the idyllic islands and coves after the summer holiday crowds have left. By January and February the following year she will have reached the Seychelles and will be available to not only those islands locally, but she is full capable of exploring other gems of the Indian Ocean such as Madagascar. That’s the perfect spot to try out the yacht’s myriad of watersports toys, including full scuba diving equipment and a professional dive centre.

La Datcha Superyacht in the Arctic

Fancy Thailand or Malaysia? Well just wait until March 2021 and join La Dacha there to discover the areas pristine diving spots and untouched beaches and islands or go further afield and drop by the Andaman Islands or go fishing off the Nicobar Islands, the choice is all yours.

But if you think ice is nice wait until the spring when the yacht visits Russia’s most scenically dramatic region, the Kamchatka peninsula offers the intrepid explorer endless opportunities for discovery. Use her two B3 Eurocopter helicopters for heliskiing or explore the rugged beauty of the South Kamchatka Sanctuary.

By May 2021 La Datcha will be cruising the Kuril Islands, a chain of volcanic islands that rise out of the Sea of Okhotsk, stretching south-west from the tip of Kamchatka to Japan, the Kuril Islands deliver challenging heliskiing for adventurous skiers.

Ready to launch the superyacht

In June you can experience the primal beauty of Kamchatka, using La Datcha Expedition Yacht 77’s expert heliskiing set-up to ski on the flanks of smoking volcanoes and past steaming vents to black stone beaches. Then, a month or so later discover the magic of the Alaskan summer: a time when the sun refuses to set, salmon run upriver, and wildlife viewing is at its prime.

October 2021 could see you exploring the unique wonder of the Galapagos Islands from the comfort of La Datcha, unveil its underwater secrets with your own submarine and full scuba diving set-up.

Talking just before the launch, the owner said, “The Earth is so big and our life is so short, so we have to explore as much as we can.” He added, “I fell in love with the shape, the design. With two helicopters, you can really go further, you can see the bears and other animals. You can heliski. Any kind of activities, fishing and so on. With two helicopters you have absolute freedom to explore any remote territory as deep as you want.”

Launch of La Datcha Superyacht

The yacht carries extra provisions and facilities for 40 days of global autonomy without port call, and a superb set of toys, tenders, snowmobiles and even a three-person submarine.

“I’ll be really excited to have this boat the first time in Kuril Islands and then Kamchatka in 2021,” the owner continued. “That’s a real excitement because I’ve explored Kamchatka quite well with the helicopter, but it would be quite nice to explore it from the shore, more remote territories and see the far east of Russia and then continue on to Alaska. From there, we can go on and do so many things.”

The yacht has a volume of 2,560gt and accommodates 12 guests, in two master suites, together with 25 crew. The yacht’s exterior design is by Azure Yacht Design, while the interior is by the owner’s choice of designer, Vasiliy Shprits whose studio, has also designed many of the owner’s residential properties.

Specifications

Length overall 77 metres
Beam moulded 14 metres
Depth at side 6.50 metres
Draught 3.80 metres
Gross Tonnage 2,560gt
Speed 14.5 knots
Helicopter take-off weight 4,000 kg
Helicopter D value 13 metres
Guests 12
Crew/expedition staff 25

Equipment

2 x helicopters
1 x submersible (3 pax)
1 x VIP tender/rescue boat
1 x Dive support tender
1 x Beach lander tender
4 x Waverunners
2 x Expedition ribs
2 x Snow scooters

For more information on the La Datcha Collection please visit www.ladatcha.com

Authors’ Bios:

Frances and Michael Howorth are an award-winning team of travel writers specialising in coverage of luxury yachts both large and small and are our yachting correspondents.

Images courtesy of La Datcha and photos by Tom van Oossanen

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