60 Years Went Sailing by ; has Anyone Else Made Billions Having so Much Fun? Hungover and Drowned Out by the Din of the Monaco Grand Prix, Tycoon Richard Branson Talks Tin Legs, Dare-Devil Adventures - and Why, No, He Wouldn't Do the Same All Over Again [Eire Region]

Mail on Sunday › June 06, 2010

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Summary

Richard Branson leans back in the captain's chair of his EUR 22m racing yacht, as Formula One cars tear along the Monte Carlo quayside a few yards away. He puts his shoeless feet up on the control panel and -- would you believe it? -- yawns. 'Sorry,' he says, grinning. 'I had a late night. My children took me out on the town.'

The sleek Necker Belle has sailed all the way from Branson's Caribbean island home to be moored among the giant cruisers of the super-rich over this Grand Prix weekend, but he isn't even staying on board. The Virgin tycoon and his children, Holly, 28, and Sam, 26, are sleeping (or not) at the Columbus Hotel, owned by driver David Coulthard. 'The Monaco Grand Prix is very social,' he says sheepishly. 'There is a lot of noise though.'

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Extract

60 Years Went Sailing by ; has Anyone Else Made Billions Having so Much Fun? Hungover and Drowned Out by the Din of the Monaco Grand Prix, Tycoon Richard Branson Talks Tin Legs, Dare-Devil Adventures - and Why, No, He Wouldn't Do the Same All Over Again [Eire Region]

Yawning? Complaining about noise? Is this really the buccaneer billionaire, the tireless deal-maker just as famous for risking his life trying to break worldspeed records at sea and in the air? He must be feeling his age. Branson will be 60 next month, and he talks like a man who is rethinking his life in a big way. 'I have changed. I do think there are important reasons for staying alive. I have done some things in my life that have definitely pushed the limits ...

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