A Bermudian businessman is looking for investors to help build three luxury yachts, which he believes would revitalise St. George's.

Captain Dendrick Taylor, through his company First Ocean Marketing Inc., is looking to build three mega-yachts designed specifically to bring hundreds of visitors to the East End.

The largest of the three, a 200-metre motor yacht, would cost more than $342 million to build. The smallest, a 120-metre sailing yacht Capt. Taylor described as a state-of-the-art tall ship, would cost around $244 million. "The service will be five-star," he said. "There are some special things we intend to do to boost St. George's that you can't do in Hamilton."

Combined, the three proposed ships could carry more than 1,000 tourists to the Island.

Capt. Taylor said that because the ships are smaller, they would provide business to the town without flooding it with people.

"St. George's is a small community," he said. "A Panamax ship, while fine for the other side of the Country, I think would cause total chaos to the town.

"We're not going to be able to cater to 3,000 people. I can see people being totally annoyed with their whole vacation."

He believes that much of the Island's tourism woes can be linked to attempts to draw as many people as possible rather than trying to provide good service. "I've heard of people coming to visit the Island and asking for a specific waiter," he said. "When they were told he was working for a different hotel at that point, they checked out. That is the type or relationship we need to build again."

Because the ships would be significantly smaller than the Panamax ships, they would be able to pass through Town Cut without it needing to be widened. In the past few months, the Corporation of St. George's has called for an independent study to determine the environmental impact of widening, dredging or straightening the cut to allow larger cruise ships to teach the town.

While Capt. Taylor applauded the suggested study, he said he was worried about the impact of widening the channel could have on the town. "In Fabian, we had Carriage House and the Esso gas station, severely damaged. Imagine cutting another 50 feet out of the channel, and that's a lot of extra water coming through.

"The Mayor is on track with making sure that the people are safe, but personally I believe it's so much easier to build or secure small ships."

Building the ships, however, will take time. Even if he finds investors, Capt. Taylor estimates it could take three to four years before the yachts find their way to St. George's.

"It's in its infancy," he admitted. "Preliminary designs have been done up, but it's still in the early stages. When the ships are all lined up in harbour, though, it's going to be something to see."