Written by CRUISELINEPOSH on document.write(localTime('Jan 11, 2009 23:30 GMT'))Jan-11-09 3:30pm

Rumor has it amongst the yachting world — Bernie Madoff was ready to pay millions for this catamaran combined monohull yacht — seen in the above photo — before he was arrested.

The yacht had a helicopter pad, swimming pool and would go over one hundred and fifty miles an hour.

Many people in Palm Beach would say, “A great getaway for Bernie.”

The sources for this are several yacht brokers in Florida and Europe who want to remain anonymous and have left unidentified comments on various megayacht websites.  They claim Bernie’s lawyers are anxious that this is not revealed at this time.  Mainly because there are so many irregular questions regarding the investigation.  Such as why is Madoff not being jailed.  Who was paid off?  Why is he getting special treatment?

“Madoff was willing to pay nearly five hundred million for this yacht,” said one broker.  The unidentified yacht salesman wished not to be known because he’s listing many yachts for cash strapped Madoff victims in Florida.

The new megayacht would be Bernie’s second one.  It was to be called BULL II.  The vessel starts out in front as a catamaran and ends up as a monohull in the stern.

Factitious people (there are many out there) call Madoff’s yacht: “Bull-shit!”  Would this have been Bull-Shit-2?

The most remarkable aspect of this design concept is its tremendous speed, 100 knots with a range of 2000 nautical miles. That’s not bad for a giant 328-foot boat that’ll have a submarine, twin helipads, a motorcycle/car garage and swimming pool on board. It gets its speed from halfway flying, skimming the waves because of the lift from its catamaran bow.

J. P. Morgan said yachting was for gentlemen.

It is easy to see why Morgan would have never permitted Bernie aboard his yacht the Corsair.

“It would have been the perfect get-a-away boat for America’s most hated and loathed crook if he weren’t locked up in his 15 million dollar penthouse,” said one disgruntled borker.  “The rich and famous don’t go to jail when its a white collar crime.  There are not have jail cells to fill them all and the “American” legal system looks the other way.”

Madoff, of course, belongs to that category many in Palm Beach despise called “the new rich.”

Most likely because he not only had vulgar “new money” but was huckstering his investment service through a lot of Palm Beach new money cronies.  They seemed to populate Palm Beach Country Club.  They were certainly not to be found at the B&T or Everglades Clubs.

The irony is a lot of Palm Beach money is new — including the millions possessed by the late Marjorie Merriweather Post.  She was born above her father’s store.

Post’s fabulous Husar (now called the Sea Cloud).

Marjorie Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress, a woman with great style and taste, was a true philanthropist and anything but dishonest like the notorious Madoff. She was a leader of Palm Beach Society and her yacht was anything but crude and ugly.

She called her yacht the Husar and, at the time, the vessel was the second largest yacht in the world.  Post had exquisite taste — Only the best was good enough for her. She loved golden bath fixtures, Carrara marble, precious woods, solid brass and antique furniture; the on-board ambiance is a result of her weakness for extravagance.

Even today the SEA CLOUD embodies that luxury and love of life – in the two owner’s suites and eight other original cabins as well in the stylish new cabins.