Cork Week welcomes Tsar of the sea

THE multi-billionaire owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, was rumoured last night to be planning to drop the anchor of his 300-foot luxury yacht at Europe’s largest sailing regatta, which officially opened in Cork last night.

The secretive 37-year-old, ranked as Britain’s richest man with an estimated E11.3 billion fortune, is understood to have applied for a visa to visit Ireland.

His Le Grande Bleu yacht, which cost him about E90 million, could easily be accommodated in Cork harbour, Cork Week regatta spokesperson Jean Kearney said last night.