Necker Belle yacht has a top speed in excess of 20 knots, being rare in the world as being able to do so. The Necker Nymph excursion submersible also operates from the yacht. It is reputedly the first-of-its-kind "aero submarine", buoyant when not under power. Necker Belle The Necker Belle is a 105-foot (32 m) private charter catamaran yacht, offered through Virgin Limited Edition and based at the resort Necker Island. The "Belle" superyacht is one of the few luxury sailing catamarans in the world. Prior to being purchased by Richard Branson's Virgin, the yacht was called "Lady Barbaretta", and cost £5.3
Petty Island by Swedish explorer Peter Lindestrom in 1654, and "Treaty Island," the latter likely named after the Penn Treaty by the Manderson Family, who in 1852 bought most of the land. The island was originally bought from local chiefs by Elizabeth Kinsey, a Quaker who had fled persecution in England. William Penn owned the island after Kinsey; John Petty, its namesake, bought it in 1732. The island was a hotbed for gambling and dueling in the 18th and 19th centuries, and acquired a reputation for lawlessness and danger; adding to this danger was the large number of shipwrecks which occurred around