Vava II

Devonport Yachts (with Appledore Shipbuilders), Plymouth, UK · Custom, built under the codename "Project 55"; exterior by Redman Whiteley Dixon, interior by Rémi Tessier · 96.83 m

Ernesto Bertarelli is an Italian-born Swiss businessman who led the family pharmaceutical company Serono as CEO and negotiated its sale to Germany's Merck KGaA for roughly $13.3 billion; he now invests through the family investment firm B-Flexion/Waypoint Capital and co-chairs the Bertarelli Foundation. He is also widely known in sailing as the founder of the Alinghi syndicate, which won the America's Cup in 2003 and defended it in 2007. Vava II was commissioned by Bertarelli in 2007 and built in secret at Devonport in Plymouth under the codename "Project 55"; the vessel record lists the owner as Ernesto Bertarelli via the company Lighthouse Marine Ltd, so title is reported to be held through a corporate entity rather than in his personal name. Press reporting has described the yacht as a gift for his then-wife Kirsty Roper, which is a widely repeated but unconfirmed claim.

Owner

Ernesto Bertarelli

Builder

Devonport Yachts (with Appledore Shipbuilders), Plymouth, UK

Model

Custom, built under the codename "Project 55"; exterior by Redman Whiteley Dixon, interior by Rémi Tessier

Length

96.83 m

MMSI

319808000

IMO

1010387

No AIS position on record for Vava II yet.