Star Trek

Sorry for the off the topic, but I wanted to share this with you guys, and not the ones over at Ten Forward. lol

Disney is paying a handsome booty to sponsor a yacht christened The Black Pearlnamed for the title ship in the studio's first Pirates of the Caribbean movieas the U.S. entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, a 31,250-mile, nine-leg sea race around the globe, E! Online reported.

Disney coughed up an estimated $15 million-$18 million for the right to turn the 70-foot yacht into a floating billboard for the two upcoming Pirates sequels, which will reunite star Johnny Depp with costars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.

The Black Pearl, emblazoned with a skull-and-crossed-scabbards logo, sets sail Nov. 12 in Vigo, Spain. The eight-month race is due to finish in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 17, three weeks before the first sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, hits theaters on July 7. The premiere date is echoed in the boat's number: 7706. The third Pirates movie will arrive in summer 2007.

Donald Evans, vice president of marketing and promotions for Buena Vista International, Disney's international distribution arm, told E! that race officials dreamed up the idea and approached the studio, which quickly signed on.