Billionaire's super yacht controlled by tablet computer

The majority of this billionaire's toy is unique, yet it was picked on something now available to anyone with even a very modest yacht or motor cruiser.

Most of the marine electronic manufacturers, such as Raymarine, were displaying iPads or other tablets as part of their instrumentation ranges at the last London Boat Show. Some acted only as remote displays, slaved to a main control installation, to permit monitoring of navigation, engine status and other data.

However, once you have that information on the tablet, it is only a short step from there to use of the tablet to control the autopilot. The superyacht may well have a more sophisticated sytem than those on offer at the Boat Show, but otherwise it was a little like headlining with "Billionaire's yacht has hands-free phone in master cabin".

The Adastra super yacht was designed using space age technology to be highly luxurious but to have low fuel consumption. Her range is 4,000 nautical miles, which is enough for a trip from the UK to New York without refuelling. The yacht is owned by Hong Kong-based shipping millionare Anto Marden, who will be able to use the boat to travel between the two islands he already owns off the coast of Indonesia. It is 42.5 meters long, 16 meters wide and weighs 52 tons. It took five years to build in China.