Superyacht Sirius

This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century when wealthy individuals constructed large private yachts for personal pleasure. This coincided with it being picked up by the press as well, and its appearance in magazines such as Boat International, cemented it as an every day term in the industry. Examples of early luxury motor yachts include the Cox & King yachts, M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O and M/Y Savarona. Early luxury sailing yachts include Americas Cup classic J class racers like S/Y (sailing yacht) Endeavour and Sir Thomas Lipton's S/Y Shamrock. The New York Yacht Club hosted many early luxury sailing yacht events at Newport, Rhode Island, during the Gilded Age.
Today
Between 2000 and 2008 there was a massive growth in the number, size, and popularity of large private or Super luxury yachts. This was in the 24 to 70 meter size range. Luxury, Large or Super yachts typically have no real home port as such although a yacht must be registered in a port of the country to which flag state it is registered in. Popular flag state registrars for large yachts are Cayman Islands, Marshall Islands, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands among others. (Many times the yacht will have never been to these ports.) They are particularly bountiful in the Mediterranean in summer and the Caribbean Sea in winter. Many can be chartered (rented) for sums of up to 1 million Euro for a week. There may be up to 1500 Large yachts available to Charter in a season in the Mediterranean. (Yachts that go back and forth between the Caribbean and Mediterranean in the winter and summer are said to be doing the Milk Run.) The arrival of large commercial ships that have been specially outfitted to take multiple Large yachts across the Atlantic ocean have created a much larger Charter market in the Caribbean than ever before. Yachts will dock in a port of choosing while the crew does maintenance work and waits for owners or guests to arrive. The vessels then will do short cruises with the owners and/or guests aboard. Typical destinations in Spain and the French and Italian Rivieras include Cannes, Antibes, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, Portofino, Porto Cervo, Puerto Banus, Puerto Portals and Palma, Majorca, although increasingly luxury yachts are cruising in more remote areas of the world. Antigua is one of the main ports in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean and hosts a Charter Show at the beginning of the winter season.