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
Jacques Necker Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (; 30 September 1732 – 9 April 1804) was a banker of Genevan origin who became a finance minister for Louis XVI and a French statesman. Necker played a key role in French history before and during the first period of the French Revolution. Necker held the finance post between 1777-1781 and "is remembered today for taking the unprecedented step in 1781 of making public the country’s budget, a novelty in an absolute monarchy where the state of finances had always been kept a secret." Necker was dismissed within a few months. By 1788 the inexorable