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Tags: Submarines / Virgin / Virgin Oceanic / Virgin Limited Edition / Boats / Necker Nymph / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Richard Branson Has a New Toy: An Airplane-like Submarine!

Virgin mogul Richard Branson—he of the naked model kitesurfing and private island—has added a very cool new toy to his impressive holdings. Fresh from all of the buzz surrounding the advancement of Virgin Galactic, Branson is pioneering ahead with a 3-person submarine named Necker Nymph, under a Virgin Oceanic brand, within his Virgin Limited Edition collection of properties.

It's the first sub of its kind, developed especially for Branson by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, and if you're game to pay $88,000 per week for a vacation onboard Branson's new yacht Necker Belle, you'll have the opportunity to take the sub for a spin. And what a spin it will be...

It's like an underwater airplane! More after the jump

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Tags: Fashion Travel / Beach Travel / Necker Island / Virgin Limited Edition / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Victoria's Secret Swim Catalog Brings More Nude Models To Necker Island

It's that time of the year again—Victoria's Secret Swim Catalog time! The issue, packed with images of bathing beauties frolicking in some exotic location is expected to land in your mailbox later this week, and as usual, we're desperate to know what beach paradise got the honor of being the set for the photo shoot.

This year, we are totally not surprised; cover girl Lindsay Ellingson and the rest of the Victoria's Secret models set up shop on Richard Branson's private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. The swimsuit she's sporting for the cover actually features a removable bandeau, so Lindsay spent most of her time on Necker topless...which isn't exactly a new thing. Of the experience, she says:

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Tags: Space Tourism / Science Travel / Virgin Galactic / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Big Space Travel No Longer An Option, But Suborbital Travel On The Way

The bad news is that the Russians are cutting off tourists from the International Space Station, which is how space tourism has been progressing until now. The heartening news is that the industry is developing elsewhere, with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo finally making its debut in New Mexico:

On Monday 7th December Virgin Galactic unveiled SpaceShipTwo to the world at Mojave Spaceport, California. 800 press, future astronauts and VIP guests gathered in the desert for a press conference and to view the roll out of the world’s first commercial spaceline... Despite gale force winds and stormy weather, guests gathered on the runway after the press conference to see SpaceShipTwo for the first time. The spaceship was carried down the runway by her mothership, VMS Eve, to a spectacular display of lights, music and snow which only helped increase the anticipation of her arrival and excitement and awe as she appeared before the crowds.

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Tags: Kite Surfing / Richard Branson / Island Travel / Sports Travel / Events / Virgin Islands / British Virgin Islands / Necker Island / Virgin Limited Edition / → All Tags

Coming In 2010: Coed Naked Kite Boarding With Richard Branson

Come 2010, not only will you be able to stay at Virgin Group head honcho Richard Branson's private Swiss ski lodge, but you'll also be able to go kite surfing alongside his silver foxness at the British Virgin Islands KiteJam.

From March 1-5 the BVIs, including Branson's luxury hideaway Necker Island, will be filled with kite boarding enthusiasts, celebrities, and pro kiteboarders including German Kristin Boese and American Gretta Kruesi. It'll be five days of inter-island events including flat water freestyle, waves, sliders and racing, and of course some after-hours partying. No word on whether or not Branson will walk on water however, or if he'll strap a nude supermodel to his back again.

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Tags: Airfare Deals / V Australia / Richard Branson / Australia Travel / Music Travel / → All Tags

V Australia Can't Wait To Get You Down Under With An Aussie Rock Band

The always spunky Richard Branson and his Virgin team are no slouches at putting together clever promotions, and this time his Aussie long-haul airline V Australia has got a smart one going called Jet with JET.

One jet, of course, is the plane that V Australia is going to fly you in from Los Angeles to Sydney. The all-capitals JET is the great Aussie rock band that will be on the plane with you, and then will perform at the Homebake Music Festival once they back to Oz.

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Tags: Hot Yachts / Parties / Yachting / Virgin / Virgin Limited Edition / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Richard Branson Was With Us In Spirit Last Night At Le Bernardin

How do you throw a launch party for a luxury catamaran without the boat or its owner present? Well, if you're Virgin Limited Edition and Richard Branson and his new Necker Belle are unavailable to party, you just down canapes at one of New York City's best restaurants: Le Bernardin.

Surrounded by Virgin's signature red rubber duckies and with visions of Virgin Limited Edition's luxury properties—Swiss ski chalet and Moroccan retreat, anyone?—dancing in our heads, we managed to make it through a few Blue Margaritas at the Necker Belle party last night. Officially to welcome the twin-hulled beauty to the Virgin group, the event also showcased these other small and carefully curated properties owned by Branson through his Limited Edition Label.

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Tags: Christmas Alternatives / Holiday Travel / Morocco Travel / Richard Branson / Christmas Travel / Virgin Limited Editions / → All Tags

Join Richard Branson Under The Moroccan Mistletoe This Christmas

We're not ashamed to be fans of all things Richard Branson, and with the Christmas season approaching scary fast, we're thinking Richard's ideas on how and where to spend Christmas sound pretty good. If you want to avoid the shopping mall headaches and escape the northern hemisphere cold, Virgin's Kasbah Tamadot Resort in Morocco has some very tempting Christmas deals.

There are five or seven-day packages over the Christmas and New Year period, and they'll certainly be a little bit different from your average gift-swapping, carol-singing festive season. Packages include festive Berber feasts, guided walks in the Atlas Mountains, market excursions and a ride on the resident mules. Booking soon would be a great idea, because these are special, limited-capacity vacations.

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Tags: Hot Yachts / Yachting / Richard Branson / Ships / First Class Travel / Virgin / Virgin Charter / → All Tags

Play With Richard Branson's New Toy For $88,000 Per Week

When we aren't out jetting around or hopping a high-speed train, we like to fantasize about that other form of transportation: the almighty ship. So to allay our own curiosity as much as yours, we're spotlighting yachts with either notorious owners or histories...or both. Know of a bootylicious boat? Let us know.

Who doesn't dream of owning a lush private island in the Caribbean? Perhaps Virgin Group head honcho Richard Branson, who has been living the dream since 1979, when he purchased Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands and turned it into a private resort.

If you can't afford to take over the whole island for your vacation, at a cost of $47,000 a day, then how about chartering his new catamaran yacht, the Necker Belle, for a mere $88,000 a week? She'll be fresh from a makover (she used to be the Lady Barbaretta) in February 2010, just in time to catch the end of the rich exodus to the Caribbean in winter.

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Happy Virgin America Day! Another Absinthe Cocktail, Please

Today might be a happy one simply because it's Friday, but do you know what tomorrow is? Even better than Saturday: it's Virgin America Day! That's right—the airline of mood lighting, web 2.0 personalities, and in-flight sexting is turning two years old on 08-08-09, and San Francisco's Mayor Newsom is making it official by declaring tomorrow Virgin America Day.

VA will be celebrating in their own way as well, by introducing new features on flights. First up is Shop Red, kind of like duty-free, but they'll only be selling the little packets of "Help" Remedies, which combat headaches, stomachaches and sleep troubles. You'll soon also be able to watch their "Best Of the Web" content and a whole channel of BoingBoing content. It's web 2.0-tacular!

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Tags: Virgin Galactic / Richard Branson / White Knight Two / → All Tags

Virgin Galactic Determined to Send Folks Into Space

While we thought their collection of songs for an playlist in space was just a joke, it looks like Virgin Galactic is still really serious about putting civilian folks into space. Richard Branson reportedly sold about a third of the space travel start-up to a Middle Eastern investment fund to speed up the

The AP reports:

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson signed a deal Tuesday to sell about a third of his space travel startup Virgin Galactic to a Mideast investment fund, giving the venture an influx of cash at a time when the global recession has dried up funding sources.

Aabar Investments will pay $280 million for a 32 percent share of the company, according to the agreement that also gives the wealthy Persian Gulf sheikdom of Abu Dhabi a chance to set up its own space flight industry.

Branson of course, conducted the signing much like he does anything else related to his Virgin companies: he don a black Virgin flight suit and took his first ride in the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, designed to launch a ship into space (pictured, above, last summer). Virgin Galactic is expected to take off from Sweden in 2012 with flight tickets costing $200,000 a piece. Hmmm...we'll see about that.

Related Stories:
· Virgin Galactic Will Depart from Spaceport Sweden in 2012 [Jaunted]
· Virgin Galactic Launch: More Photos of White Knight Two [Jaunted]
· Space travel startup Virgin Galactic gets $280M boost from Abu Dhabi fund buying 32 pct share [AP via Chicago Tribune]

Tags: Music Festivals / Music Travel / Virgin Mobile FreeFest / Recessionomics / Richard Branson / → All Tags

Baltimore's Virgin Mobile Festival Drops Ticket Prices To Free

There’s been a lot of talk about 2009 being the year the music festival died, (see Summercase, Langerado and the San Francisco Blues Festival), and the long-rumored next casualty has been the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore. Despite being a hit in its first three years out, concert organizers have waited forever to announce any details on dates or lineup, leading many around the music blogosphere to assume the fest wouldn’t be able to pull it together this year.

Well our old billionaire buddy Richard Branson must have taken those nasty rumors personally, because Virgin has announced that not only will the show go on, but they don’t need to make any stinkin' money on it anyway. That’s right, this year’s concert is 100-percent free.

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Tags: Virgin Atlantic 25th Anniversary / Party Report / Party Dispatch Report / Richard Branson / Charles Ogilvie / Virgin Atlantic / → All Tags

Virgin Atlantic Shakes Its Tail Feather All Night Long For 25th Anniversary

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to party with a billionaire, or at least a bevy of foxy flight attendants? If so, last night's Virgin Atlantic 25th Anniversary Bash was it: the travel party of the year with a flight simulator, celebrity appearances, booty shaking on the dancefloor, and red martinis garnished with rose petals.

Held on a rooftop in Tribeca, Richard Branson's "only party this year" kicked off with his descending from the second floor on the arms of four VA flight attendants, who all then danced to Deniece Williams singing her 1984 hit "Let's Hear It For the Boy." Those who weren't immediately dancing, as people boogied nonstop from 9pm until midnight, either headed up to the roofdeck to talk travel or amused themselves with all the classic games—giant Connect Four, anyone?

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