Annual Yacht Show in Newport Beach Tacks to the Luxurious Side of Life

Among the 15,000 people at the 26th annual Lido Yacht Expo were folks talking bargains.

Of course, a good deal on the docks of Newport Beach is all about perspective.

Take the 110-foot Kordura, a motor yacht with five staterooms, each with a plasma television and cashmere bedding.

Craig Campbell, whose Marina del Rey company, Boat Yard, restored the 1989 yacht, explained that its $3.2-million price “is actually quite low for a boat this size.”

The yacht sleeps 10, and its satellite television and radio systems, as well as videocassette, DVD and CD players, operate through a touch-screen remote control. Rooms include flooring and furniture made of zebrawood, teak, holly and wenge wood.

“It won’t be on the market long,” Campbell said with confidence.

Perhaps because the average ticket holder to the Lido Marina Village show, according to spokesman Don Franken, makes $250,000 annually and has a net worth of $2 million. Even parking is $20.

“There are lot of people who will want this boat,” Campbell said. “Self made guys, real estate guys, software guys....”

Those looking for something more modest checked out the 58-foot spindrift yacht with a sign announcing “$299,000. Incredible value. Reduced.”

The milieu was so upscale, so Gold Coast, so “The O.C.,” that the producers of that television show sent a camera crew. Their photos were expected to appear in a magazine about the county soon to hit newsstands called “The O.C. Insider,” members of the crew said.

Kaz Micks, who already owns a yacht, contemplated the 250 boats on display and pondered his options.

At 46, he’s been retired several years. His Sea Ray Sundancer, berthed at Dana Point Harbor, doesn’t match his lifestyle, despite the satellite television and X-Box aboard, he said.

“My boat is fast and sleek, but you don’t want 10 friends in there partying. I’m done with fast boats,” he explained. “I need room to party.”

It’s either a bigger boat, he said, or a helicopter.

Paul Daubner, who sells yachts for Pearson Yachts in San Diego, understands customers like Micks. He took two orders in three days for recreational boats that cost up to $400,000 each.

“Yachting is all about fun and monkey business,” he said.