Hmmm … This year's girlfriend, this year's boat, outfits by …

The word from Genoa's finest shipbuilders is that James Packer's new boat is still about a year away from its first voyage.

Yes, the Crown chairman has a new addition to the Packer armada on order.

The world of luxury yachting is intensely private – unless, of course, you invite Mariah Carey's publicist along. Lady, honestly, you don't have to document everything on Instagram. You'll put us out of business.

To the best knowledge of our spies on the Italian coast, British luxury boat specialist Redman Whiteley Dixon is in charge of the yacht's design. They come highly recommended by the Australian billionaire after their work for Frank Lowy.

Illustration: Rod Clement

We hear new boat will cost in the order of €100 million (that's 7 million-odd Down Under).

Watching over the new ship's construction is Packer's enigmatic right-hand man and former Cranbrook School friend, Matthew Csidei, also known as Ched or The Admiral – or, among the less impressed, The Butler.

The new Packer vessel raises two important questions.

Will Packer's current partner Carey still be around to try it out when it debuts next European summer? Sounds like that will have a lot to do with matriarch Ros Packer, assuming her tete-a-tete with the pop star ever takes place.

And what about Packer's current Hollywood business partner Brett Ratner? If there's any truth in the Ratner-shrimp-love stories, the dude cleaning the ship might well hope he's no longer on the scene.