Montenegro Set to Flourish for Sailing, 03.03.2010.
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Montenegro, once the stylish playground
of Hollywood icons Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loran and Kirk Douglas, is
due to flourish again. For years locked in as part of Yugoslavia, now
the independent nation, with its deep waters and beautiful coastline,
is attracting the attention of sailors - and developers.
 Canadian
businessman Peter Monk, who has himself chartered yachts in the
Mediterranean for years, is betting his own millions on a grandiose
marina development on the coastline, which will include not only
'normal' yacht berths, but will accommodate superyachts as well.
'Monte Carlo, Antibe, Caprera, Nice and
Cannes — they've been there for years, and that's really my
generation,' says Mr. Munk, the 82-year-old native Hungarian who came
to Canada at age 20 and went on to build an empire. 'But for the
younger generation, the current leisure ports are way overbuilt, way
overcrowded, way over-restauranted, way overdeveloped. This is more in
tune with larger boats of today than those ports that were built a
generation ago.'
Mr. Munk, chairman of Toronto-based Barrick
Gold Corp., the world's largest gold mining company, is the visionary
and chief investor behind the new Porto Montenegro, which he promises
will be the Mediterranean's most comprehensive nautical facility. The
24-hectare property is located near the city of Tivat in the fjord-like
Bay of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the deepest natural
harbour in southern Europe.
Because Porto Montenegro sits on
the site of a former Austro-Hungarian naval base, the water depth can
accommodate today's super-yachts, defined as more than 24 metres in
length.
Once complete, Porto Montenegro will feature 500
regular berths and another 150 for super-yachts, with residences,
luxury hotels, bars, art galleries, a nautical museum and a waterfront
promenade all in the works.
To Mr. Munk's delight, the first
85 berths for yachts up to 100 metres opened for business last summer
and were fully booked within three weeks.
'It's going to
appeal to everybody who has a yacht but doesn't want to be in Monte
Carlo or Nice or Cannes because they like nature more, they like
ecology more, they like to have the Dalmatian Coast and natural
islands, and the different type of geography and topography and much
better weather,' he gushes.
Mr. Munk has spent holidays
sailing in the Mediterranean every summer as his five children were
growing up. They sailed to Sardinia, Italy, Spain, Greece and other
Mediterranean hotspots and discovered fascinating beaches and ports
along the way.
But with many of the older ports built decades
ago, he says, they cannot accommodate the length and depth of today's
luxury yachts and, on top of that, charge big bucks for mooring, water
and power. Porto Montenegro will change that thanks to its naval base
infrastructure, modern facilities and attractive pricing. (Source: sail-world )
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