{"id":107993,"date":"2025-10-30T01:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107993\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T01:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T01:19:12","slug":"sir-michael-hills-superyacht-the-beast-listed-for-us14-5m-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/107993\/","title":{"rendered":"Sir Michael Hill\u2019s superyacht The Beast listed for US$14.5m sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI love the fascination of being on the water and the sense of adventure,\u201d Hill told Boat International in 2023.<\/p>\n

He was a keen angler and Northland, where he grew up, was home to one of his favourite fishing spots<\/a>, in the Far North.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the tip of New Zealand is a beautiful beach called Spirits Bay,\u201d Hill told Boat International in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very sacred place and off that beach is some of the best fishing I\u2019ve ever experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill only killed fish for food, saying \u201cif we are not careful, our children will not see fish anymore\u201d.<\/p>\n

To help satisfy his love of on-water adventures, he and wife Lady Christine Hill commissioned The Beast as a custom project.<\/p>\n

It was to be an upgrade from the couple\u2019s first foray into superyacht ownership, which had been with the 34.2m VvS1.<\/p>\n

Hill had loved boats \u2013 he owned at least 11 and built at least six. <\/p>\n

\"SirSir Michael Hill at the bow of The Beast as it travels alongside Beach Rd, Onerahi, in December 2020. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

The Beast was designed by Kiwi naval architecture firm LOMOcean Design and was completed in 2019 by New Zealand-based Profab Central Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A year later The Beast won a World Superyacht Award from Boat International, considered among the most prestigious accolades in the worldwide yachting industry.<\/p>\n

The judges praised the superyacht\u2019s camo-style paint job for disguising its luxurious interior by giving it the appearance of a small warship or patrol vessel.<\/p>\n

Hill, in a 2019 interview with Boat International, acknowledged The Beast may not be the best-looking boat. <\/p>\n

\u201c … It\u2019s called The Beast for a reason,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Beast pictured in Whang\u0101rei in 2020. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

Hill had wanted a low-key exterior given the upkeep involved in glossy boats and the fact once you\u2019re on board you can\u2019t see the sides. <\/p>\n

\u201cThough even I can\u2019t pretend this one is low-key \u2013 it\u2019s probably going to turn heads everywhere, regrettably,” he told Boat International.<\/p>\n

And The Beast did. Summers in Northland were often marked by online posts concerned about the warship-like vessel spotted offshore.<\/p>\n

No one could tell from the outside that inside the craft, five luxurious staterooms boasting either king beds, bunk beds or twin beds \u2013 and one of which features a walk-in wardrobe – were ready to host 12 guests.<\/p>\n

Meals, some cooked with the Teppanyaki grill on board, could be enjoyed at three separate outdoor dining areas across different decks.<\/p>\n

Hill had always found enjoying downtime on the water important, so it is no wonder The Beast is equipped with kayaks, paddleboards, waterskis and a wake board, 12 sets of scuba gear, snorkelling equipment, a Schiller Bike pedal-powered catamaran, and a sport fishing set-up.<\/p>\n

A key feature is the 13m \u201cBaby Beast\u201d \u2013 a 19-ton tender with twin beds, ensuite, galley, bar and sheltered seating. Hill had lauded it as the perfect craft for fishing adventures.<\/p>\n

Hill had shared how The Beast had taken he and his family as far as Tonga and Fiji and that he had fished some \u201camazing bays\u201d along the way. <\/p>\n

The vessel made headlines in 2023 when it played a role in rescuing a crew member from another vessel off the coast of Fiji<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI love the fascination of being on the water and the sense of adventure,\u201d Hill told Boat International…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[77669,34555,138,2082,1437,31037,21520,16569,4507,68601,225,5494,1132,111,139,69,3333,1133,8485,57326,223,77671,77670,102],"class_list":["post-107993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-beast","tag-belonging","tag-business","tag-for","tag-global","tag-hill","tag-hills","tag-iconic","tag-late","tag-listed","tag-market","tag-michael","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-price","tag-sale","tag-sir","tag-superyacht","tag-the","tag-us145","tag-us145m","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}