BN_HistoricBransonBoatForSale_014.jpg
BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: DanStevens/BNPS
The cockpit was all original.
The iconic record-breaking powerboat that helped make Sir Richard Branson a household name has emerged for sale for £725,000 after it was saved from the skip.
Sir Richard shattered the world record for the fastest ever crossing of the Atlantic on the 72ft Virgin Atlantic Challenger II in 1986, two years after launching his own airline.
The £1.5m boat was sold to a Middle Eastern sheik in the late 80s but then spent the next 25 years languishing in a boatyard on the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca until boat-mad Dan Stevens stumbled across it in 2012.
Dan, 41, a former merchant navy officer from Plymouth, snapped it up and has since poured around 1,000 man hours and £500,000 into getting the boat up and running again, including the original purchase price
Pic: DanStevens/BNPS
The cockpit was all original.
The iconic record-breaking powerboat that helped make Sir Richard Branson a household name has emerged for sale for £725,000 after it was saved from the skip.
Sir Richard shattered the world record for the fastest ever crossing of the Atlantic on the 72ft Virgin Atlantic Challenger II in 1986, two years after launching his own airline.
The £1.5m boat was sold to a Middle Eastern sheik in the late 80s but then spent the next 25 years languishing in a boatyard on the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca until boat-mad Dan Stevens stumbled across it in 2012.
Dan, 41, a former merchant navy officer from Plymouth, snapped it up and has since poured around 1,000 man hours and £500,000 into getting the boat up and running again, including the original purchase price
©DanSteven 30 Oct 2012 530x399 / 86.8KB