March 5, 2010
Star Sapphire is a custom 117-foot motor yacht launched in 2007. It is a triple-deck, 36 meter, fully equipped, twin engine vessel that is controlled electronically and even by remote. It has a jacuzzi, a gym and carefully designed sun decks. A dining table for eight conveys the owner's feelings for hospitality and dining. The interior decoration is quite elaborate. Vakko Cruise bed linens, appropriately placed statuettes and paintings create a relaxing atmosphere.
2010 - Planned destinations
Eastern Caribbean Islands
Spain
France
The yacht is owned by Jack Sternlieb, one of the most prominent cardiac surgeons in the United States. The Miami based surgeon dreamed of one day constructing his dream yacht. A thorough researcher, Sternlieb started out by hitting the boat fair circuite in search of his own boat. He says there was not a single shipyard he didn't call on, nor a single manufacturer he didn't consult with, from Italy all the way to Thailand. When one day, Jack was in his living room overlooking the blue Miami ocean, he saw a beautiful sail yacht, gracefully cruising into the marina. He quickly ran for the docked ship to inquire as to where it had been built. The surgeon was surprised when he learned that the extraordinarily beautiful boat was the 'Maltese Falcon" a sail yacht built by Baki Ozbayak in Tuzla, Turkey. The information led Jack to the Bilgin Shipyard, a third generation boat manufacturing company at Kucukcekmece, Istanbul.
"I wanted to be involved in every phase of the construction of my boat, I understood that I didn't want to compromise a single moment of the pleasure of seeing my dreams come true," said Sternlieb. The mariner rented a house near Bilgin and followed ever stage of his boat's construction.
"Bilgin shipyard did a perfect job in spite of me and with me; and they've helped me realize my dream, the Star Sapphire," he says.
After sailing around the Mediterranean, Jack decided to go home to Florida, and to have his yacht transported by carrier. Although it is feasible to move yachts by plane or freighter, the size of the Sapphire made both of these options risky. Dockwise handled the yacht transport back to Florida, and the trip was captured on film for The Discovery Channel's program "Mega Movers
."
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