A SUPERYACHT owned by billionaire former Spurs owner Joe Lewis has been branded an eyesore by locals after it was moored in a Devon town for almost a month.
The 322ft £250m luxury yacht ‘Aviva’ – which serves as the reclusive billionaire’s floating home and office and has a full-size padel tennis court – has been moored in Dartmouth since early August.
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Joe Lewis’ £250 million superyacht has been parked in Dartmouth for weeksCredit: The Sun
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The yacht Aviva arrived on August 5 and was described by locals as an ‘eyesore’Credit: The Sun
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The yacht was launched in 2017. Credit: Abeking Rasmussen
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British business tycoon Joe Lewis at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Credit: Getty
It arrived from Troon, Scotland around August 5 – one of the first times the floating palace has been in UK waters since it was held as collateral by US courts for more than a year as British tycoon Lewis faced allegations of “brazen” insider trading information.
In April, the 87-year-old was spared jail due to ill health, but was fined $5m (£3.8m) and given three years’ probation.
But the yacht’s continued presence has upset some in the town, with Michael Rowland calling the boat “an absolute eyesore” and Geraldine Wood claiming it is “completely out of place in beautiful Dartmouth”.
Another lifelong resident told The Sun: “I love this city and wouldn’t want to go down there, but why does a billionaire want to stay here all August instead of the Caribbean or the Mediterranean?
“The weather is shit, it’s been raining constantly for the last few weeks.
“I guess he’s here for the regatta that starts this week, but who knows how long he’ll stay.
“It’s just a giant floating palace of giants, miles bigger than anything else in the harbor. We’ve seen his crew come and go in the vessel, but I don’t know if he’s even on board—nobody heard anything.”
Aviva was built in 2017 and has a capacity of 16 boats with a top speed of 20 knots and an environmentally friendly hybrid electric propulsion system.
Lewis began working for his father’s catering business in London before selling up and moving to the Bahamas to live as a tax exile.
He started trading currencies in the 1980s and made his fortune betting against the pound in the 1992 crash known as Black Wednesday.
Stunning superyacht suites on ‘floating millionaires’ are up for grabs
The twice-married East End-born tycoon has an estimated fortune of £5.1bn, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023.
He is said to have an art collection worth a billion pounds.
He bought the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 1991, and the club was transferred to the Lewis Family Trust in 2022.
JOE LEWIS LUXURY YACHT AVIVA
Joe Lewis rarely attended Tottenham Hotspur matches despite being the owner for 30 years.
A tax exile since his days as a currency trader in the 1980s, he prefers life on his superyacht in the Caribbean.
Lewis’ vessel – which measures 98 meters or 322 feet – is the fourth Aviva yacht built especially for him.
It replaced the 68-meter Aviva III, designed by Reymond Langton and built by the Lemwerder-based German builder Abeking & Rasmussen.
The hull was built at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft and launched in 2015.
The Aviva acts as Lewis’ floating office and home, and features a full-sized indoor padel tennis court.
In May 2013, the Spurs went on a trip to the Bahamas and were met on board by their host, Joe.
Michael Dawson, who was club captain at the time, said: “I’ve never met him before so it was nice to go there and it was a great experience.
“What a really nice guy. And that yacht is unreal! But he’s just a normal guy.
“You can talk to him about anything. He follows all the games, he loves it.
“We just sat and chatted. He made us feel so welcome there. It was relaxed. A lot of the team bonded.
“It helps to be able to show the face of a person who is so invested in this club that he wants to be successful.
“He’s always watching. He knows what’s going on. He’d remember every game, every little thing.”
The Sun has contacted Lewis’ company Tavistock for comment.
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The yacht was specially designed for Lewis and serves as his home and office Credit: Abeking Rasmussen
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Yacht control room Credit: Abeking Rasmussen
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Lewis’ yacht is huge compared to other ships moored nearbyCredit: The Sun
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There has been a lot of rain in Dartmouth this monthCredit: The Sun
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Lewis arrives at the US federal courthouse where he will be sentenced in April in New York for insider tradingCredit: EPA
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Aviva arrives in Flushing, Cornwall, 2017 Credit: Alamy Live News
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Aviva anchored off Butler’s Wharf in London in 2018. Credit: Getty
WHO IS JOE LEWIS?
Joe Lewis is a British businessman and billionaire investor, best known for being the majority owner of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur between 1991 and 2022.
He was born on 5 February 1937 and lived above a pub with his family in Bow, East London.
Lewis left school at 15 to help run his father’s West End catering business, Tavistock Banqueting.
He then took over the company and expanded it before selling in 1979 and making his initial fortune.
The entrepreneur started trading currencies in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time he moved to the Bahamas as a tax exile.
In 1992, Lewis made a fortune betting against the pound before the Black Wednesday crash.
The previous year, he took ownership of Spurs.
He remains the main investor of the Tavistock Group, which owns more than 200 companies worldwide.
Lewis is also the largest shareholder in pub group Mitchells & Butlers through his investment company Piedmont, and was previously the majority owner of the ENIC group.
In July 2023, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted him on multiple counts of insider trading.
He pleaded guilty in January this year but was spared jail in April and was instead given a suspended sentence and a $5m (£3.8m) fine.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2023, his fortune is estimated at a staggering £5.1 billion.
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