The town of St George was abuzz yesterday afternoon as locals and visitors stopped to glance at the largest single-masted yacht ever built, Mirabella V. The vessel is a sloop-rigged mega yacht measuring 247 feet long and will be visiting the Island for the next two or three weeks.She was launched in 2003 at an estimated cost of over $50 million. The vessel is part of a fleet of super-yachts formerly owned by the ex-chairman and CEO of the Avis car rental company, Joe Vittoria.While she was formerly used for luxury private charters at rates starting at $250,000 per week, today she is privately owned and operated.Captain Rocka Romcke told The Royal Gazette: “We are here really to see the sights and do some cruising. We may have some guys coming out next week, just private friends of the owners.”Mr Romcke, a native of New Zealand, said Mirabella V had spent the past eight months in Antigua and St Martin in the Caribbean “just cruising and [doing] maintenance”.He said there are about 15 or 16 crew aboard the vessel, which has a mast extending 292 feet above the waterline.When asked whether sailing a vessel of that size was difficult, he said: “Sure it’s a challenging job it’s a lot of responsibility. It’s not difficult it’s just a big job to do and it takes a lot of professional people on board to do it.”The yacht has visited the Island before for two or three days. Mr Romcke said it was planning to stay for two or three weeks this time.Mirabella V was designed by Irish-based, New Zealand-born yacht designer Ron Holland. Technical aspects in the construction of its hull and rig were supervised by the High Modulus Europe Ltd, a Hamble-based firm.Useful website: http://mirabellayachts.com/.