The launching of a motor yacht greater than 200 feet in length used to be a rare event, reserved as much for the likes of Middle Eastern royalty as for the super-rich of the capitalist world. But in recent years, the number of these projects has grown steadily, both in the population of super-yachts plying the world's oceans and in their sheer size, as successful entrepreneurs from around the world queue up to contract for yet bigger and better vessels.

Of the vessels on Yachts International Magazine's current 100-largest list, the smallest comes in at 202 feet. Oh, and those Middle Eastern princes still make up an active part of the market; the largest yacht afloat today, the 525-foot Dubai, is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of the Emirate of Dubai.

Eleven builders currently operating in Washington together own a sizable share of the world's motor yacht market, and they compete favorably with leading yards in the Netherlands, Italy and China. Seattle's Delta Marine Industries in 2006 delivered the 240-foot Laurel to an American client, and Westport Shipyard launches about a dozen yachts annually, ranging in length from 112 to 164 feet.

The torrid pace of Pacific Northwest yacht construction in large part has been fueled by a U.S. dollar in dramatic decline against overseas currencies. A U.S.-built yacht that less than two years ago went for a little more than ?17 million now can be sailed home for a mere ?15 million. Not surprisingly, 130-foot Westport yachts sold in recent months were ordered by customers in Australia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Poland.

Regardless of origin, these behemoths represent a sizable chunk of floating real estate, big enough to house an impressive inventory of accessories and water toys. Today's largest yachts routinely feature such high-end accoutrements as helicopters, gymnasiums, elaborate theaters, automobiles and motor- cycles. Paul Allen's 416-foot Octopus includes a professional-caliber sound studio and an eight-passenger submarine that descends, James Bond-style, from a compartment in the yacht's hull to explore underwater venues during port calls.

But the marine accessories industry has not forgotten the mere mortals among yacht owners and has developed goodies appropriately scaled for the sub-200- foot category. Vancouver, Wash.-based Christensen Yachts installed on a recently delivered 157-footer a compact three-person submarine. On another yacht, the company built a removable, turntablemounted DJ's console, sound system, dance pole and an array of strobe- and spotlights to transform the top deck into a glittering discotheque. A third Christensen vessel, 150 feet long, features a 205-gallon aquarium that precisely controls temperature, pH and salinity to support exotic fish species and live coral.

In addition to the utilitarian tender, typically an outboard-powered rigid-bottom inflatable ranging in length from 15 to 30 feet depending on the capacity of the mother ship, yacht owners are ordering multiples of more specialized craft. Jet Skitype personal watercraft, sailboards, sailboats and kayaks can be stowed on deck or in a garage behind hydraulically operated doors in the transom or hull sides. Support boats too large or heavy to be stowed onboard may simply be towed astern. Sorcha, a 152-foot tri-deck built by Northern Marine in Anacortes, recently completed a 30,000 nautical-mile odyssey from its home port of St. Petersburg, Fla., to the western Pacific Ocean and back with a 33-foot center-console fishing boat in tow for all but the final legs of the journey.

Sport fishing has found its way into the hearts of more than a few yacht owners who, depending on the depth of their passion, equip their vessels with anything from a few rods and reels to an arsenal of big-game weaponry suitable for offshore tournament competition. Some have extended the hull to add a fishfighting cockpit outfitted with bait tanks, freezers and tackle storage lockers. Tacoma's Nordlund Boat Co. has built a number of these war wagons, including Victorious, a 110-foot pilot house design replete with all of the above plus a fish-spotting tower rising over the topmost deck, and in the main deck salon a floor-to-ceiling glass display case for the owner's prized fishing rods.