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Louise Thomas

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The former owner of Tottenham Hotspur FC has moored his £250 million superyacht in the middle of a town in Devon, leaving locals baffled.

Billionaire Joe Lewis, who was recently sentenced for insider trading charges in the US, has moored his giant blue superyacht in Dartmouth for weeks after arriving in the UK tourist destination at the beginning of August.

The 322-foot (98m) luxury vessel Aviva, which the 87-year-old uses partly as a residence and partly as an office, arrived from Troon, Scotland, to the Devonshire coast around 5 August.

The yacht has been pictured dominating the entire landscape of Dartmouth, overshadowing smaller yachts that are docked in the harbour next to the small seaside that lines the shore.

The scenic coastal town of Dartmouth, situated on the banks of the River Dart, has a rich maritime heritage and boasts independent locally-owned boutiques as well as beaches such as Castle Cove and Sugary Cove that attract hundreds of visitors to the small town.

The town holds an annual regatta, one of the oldest events of its kind in the country, that invites yachts, keelboats, sports boats and dinghies to the sporting event held in its port. This year’s event took place on 29 to 31 August while Lewis’ yacht was also moored in the area.

The giant yacht is hard to miss, leaving some residents perplexed as to why such a huge boat would want to be moored in a small English town that does not offer the same tropical weather that most superyachts are spotted in.

“I love this town and I wouldn’t want to do it down but why does a billionaire want to stay here for the whole of August instead of the Caribbean or the Med?” one lifelong resident told The Sun.

"It’s just a huge floating gin palace, miles bigger than anything else in the harbour. We’ve seen his crew come and go in a tender but I don’t know if he’s even onboard – nobody’s heard anything,” they added.

It is unclear if Lewis is present on the superyacht while it is being anchored in Devon.

Aviva was built in 2017, can host 16 guests, 25 crew members, and also features an indoor padel tennis court, according to SuperYachtFan.

The superyacht had not been spotted around British waters until recently, as Aviva, along with the owner’s private jet, was put up as collateral for bail after the British billionaire’s arrest in July 2023 for insider trading charges in the US.

Lewis was not allowed to set foot on the vessel until he paid a $5m fine after his sentencing in April for sharing business secrets with friends, which also includes three years of prison.

After leaving its base in Malta following the sentencing, Aviva set sail to cities along Albania’s coast as well as the Greek island Zakynthos and Kalamata in southern Greece, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Along with the padel tennis court, the yacht also includes a helipad, spa and a cinema, and was ranked among the world’s 25-most valuable superyachts shortly after its launch, the outlet added.

Aviva is also home to one of the most expensive art collections in the world, with original works by Picasso and Matisse aboard the yacht.

Lewis made his fortune primarily in foreign exchange and investment before buying Tottenham Hotspur in 1991. He is ranked 38th among the UK’s wealthiest people, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, with a net worth of £5.3bn.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast

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