By MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk) , BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , MEGAN CHUCHMACH (@megcourtney) and RHONDA SCHWARTZ, abc NEWS

Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands.

The floating party, hosted by a Florida developer on his yacht “Cracker Bay,” was one of a dozen exclusive events meant to nurture those who have raised more than $1 million for Romney’s bid.

“I think it’s ironic they do this aboard a yacht that doesn’t even pay its taxes,” said a woman who lives aboard a much smaller boat moored at the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina.

Romney’s Cayman-based investments have come under fire during the campaign.

The event, attended by no more than 50 people, along with Romney relatives, including older brother Scott, appeared on no public calendars. ABC News obtained a schedule of the Romney campaign’s “Victory Council” and waited dockside to speak with members.

“It was a really nice event. These are good supporters,” said billionaire Wilbur Ross, an energy industry executive.

Spencer Zwick, one of Romney’s top fundraisers, said the event was not to raise money, but simply to thank donors.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was scheduled to speak.

The Cracker Bay is owned by Gary Morse, developer of the Villages retirement community. Companies controlled by Morse gave nearly $1 million to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future superPAC. Registered in the Caymans, and flying a version of the Caymans’ “civil ensign” or merchant flag, the Cracker Bay has an impressive art collection and can seat 30 for dinner.

Romney to date has declined to identify the names of his top “bundlers” — those who gather checks from scores of donors on the candidate’s behalf.

“He is the first nominee in 12 years to withhold these names,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political money on the website opensecrets.org.

“These are the most important insiders,” she said. “The public needs to know who these people are because they are the one’s who stand to gain the most from a Romney presidency.”

Her group and others have gathered more than 20,000 signatures from people calling on Romney to name his top bundlers.

Campaign officials at the event declined comment.”I think Gov. Romney is going to do what he has to, to follow the law,” Gov. McDonnell told ABC News.

Among those attending was Mel Sembler, a former top supporter of President George W. Bush and Charlie Moncrief, an oil executive from Texas, and his wife Kit. Other guests covered up their nametags as they exited for waiting busses and SUVs to take them to their next event.

Kit Moncrief said she and her husband had pledged to raise $1 million for Romney. When asked about the fundraising, she said:

“We don’t like it either, but it’s the system,” she said.

For more on this story go to:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-party-yacht-flies-cayman-islands-flag/story?id=17105028#.UD5UNER5mo8

More on this story from SALON.COM

Millionaire Romney donors celebrate their love of low taxes on an offshore-registered mega-yacht

By Andrew Leonard

Could there be a better example of super-rich arrogance than the image of millionaire Romney donors partying on a mega-yacht registered — for tax avoidance reasons — in the Cayman islands … during the Republican convention? Come on — simply as metaphor, the very notion reeks so egregiously of entitlement and elitism that one can’t imagine Romney’s campaign managers allowing such a thing to happen. Right?

But ABC News has the scoop, and it’s a good one:

“Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands…. The event, attended by no more than 50 people, along with Romney relatives, including older brother Scott, appeared on no public calendars…. The Cracker Bay is owned by Gary Morse, developer of the Villages retirement community. Companies controlled by Morse gave nearly $1 million to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future superPAC. Registered in the Caymans, the Cracker Bay has an impressive art collection and can seat 30 for dinner.”

There’s only one reason why millionaires register their mega-yachts in the Cayman Islands — and it’s the very same reason why Mitt Romney has offshore accounts registered there. Taxes — or, more accurately, the lack thereof. It makes a perfect kind of sense. Millionaires want to help Romney get elected because not only will that prevent Obama from raising their taxes, but it could well result in their current tax burden falling even further. So there’s a beautiful honesty in gathering together on a yacht that pays no U.S. taxes — see, America, this is what we’re all about.

You just have to wonder what the original Tea Party patriots would have thought of such behavior. Wouldn’t the proper response be to dump the millionaire donors into Tampa Bay — on the charge that these moguls are seeking representation, without taxation!? But the partisan divide in the U.S. is so deep and strong right now that it’s hard to imagine anything changing minds. We already knew that Romney is a very rich man whose administration will be devoted to protecting the interests of very rich men. Now we know that he’s not even trying to hide it.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/29/mitts_cayman_party_boat/