Russian America’s Cup Yacht May Be Sold at Last

A Russian America’s Cup yacht that never got to race and ended up high and dry has been saved from the scrap heap, thanks to the end of the Cold War.

The Age of Russia sailing syndicate flew the 75-foot boat to San Diego in December at a cost of more than $500,000. The Russians then had the boat towed to the Knight & Carver boatyard in Mission Bay, where it has been ever since.

The Russian yacht racing syndicate quickly ran out of money and was unable to afford to finish outfitting the boat for the regatta. And even if they could have found the money to prepare the boat, the Age of Russia syndicate was not sanctioned to compete in the challenger races.

Knight & Carver was given the boat through default, and has been trying to sell it for almost six months.

In addition to finding someone willing to buy the boat and then spend an additional $300,000 to make it seaworthy, the boatyard owners also had to deal with confusing U.S. Customs regulations.

At one point, Customs officials told Knight & Carver it would either have to export the boat or destroy it to get a $25,000 refundable import bond. Earlier this year, boatyard executives said the Russians departed without paying their boatyard bills. The yard hoped to at least salvage the bond out of the deal.

On Tuesday, Knight & Carver spokesman Chris Haver said that a compromise was finally reached with Customs officials, thanks to the end of the Cold War. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has given Russia most favored nation trading status.

This means that duty fees for Russian products are now 1.5%, versus 30% before Russia became a preferred trading partner of this country, Haver said. Now, the boatyard can afford to pay the duty fee on the $40,000 assessed value of the boat, he added.

In order to satisfy Customs regulations, the boatyard “exported” the Russian boat on Tuesday by towing it offshore, then turned around and “imported” it back to San Diego. Haver said the boatyard also has a buyer who has offered to purchase the boat at a price below its $40,000 assessed value.