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Moonbeam of Fife III, 1903

Built at Fairlie by Fife

The 30 metre, gaff cutter  Moonbeam of Fife III  epitomises beautiful classic yachts at their finest. Launched in 1903,  Moonbeam of Fife  is still going strong on the classic yacht regatta circuit despite being more than a hundred years old. The William Fife-designed yacht is constructed in wood with an oak hull and superstructure, while her interior joinery is well-kept mahogany. The historical yacht  Moonbeam of Fife III  is currently for sale.

Tuiga, 1909

Built by the renowned William Fife shipyard in Fairlie on the Clyde estuary in Scotland,  Tuiga  was commissioned by the Duke of Medinaceli, a close friend of the King of Spain, Alfonso XIII, and has had 10 owners in 106 years. HSH Prince Albert II decided to buy her in 1995.  Tuiga  has been participating in classic yacht regattas ever since and is now the flagship of the Yacht Club de Monaco, crewed by YCM members.

Mariette, 1915

Built by Herreshoff

The classic 42 metre twin-masted schooner _Mariette of 1915 _was built by Herreshoff in the United States 100 years ago. Age has not withered her, but  Mariette of 1915  has undergone a few refits in the Pendennis yard at Falmouth in recent years: in 2010 and again in 2012 in preparation for the Pendennis Cup, in which she took first prize in the St Petroc Traditional Class as well as being crowned overall winner. In 2014 she returned to Falmouth once more for minor works.

Creole, 1927

Built by Camper & Nicholson

Now owned by the Gucci family, this beautiful wooden schooner has had a colourful history. Commissioned by wealthy American Alan Cochran and launched in 1927,   Creole  has had a number of different owners and also been called  Vira.  When she was known as  Magic Circle , she was transformed into a minesweeper during the Second World War, having previously competed in a number of regattas and attended previous America’s Cup events. In the 1970s she was used by the Danish government for sailing training in the rehabilitation of drug addicts before being bought by the Gucci family in 1983.

Endeavour, 1934

Arguably the world’s most famous J Class,   Endeavour  was the British challenger in the 1934 America’s Cup, but was beaten by the Harold Vanderbilt-owned  Rainbow .  Endeavour  was commissioned by Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, who was keen to ensure that this yacht was the most advanced design possible. With his experience designing aircraft, Sopwith applied aviation technology to  Endeavour ’s rig and winches and spared nothing to make her the finest vessel of her day.

She swept through the British racing fleet and into the hearts of yachtsmen around the world, winning many races in her first season. Though she did not win the America’s Cup she came closer to doing so than any other challenger.

Since 1934, she has often led a perilous existence, even being sold to a scrap merchant in 1947 only to be saved by another buyer hours before her demolition was due to begin. In 1984, American yachtswoman Elizabeth Meyer bought  Endeavour  and she was transformed and rebuilt by Royal Huisman.  Endeavour  sailed again on June 22, 1989, for the first time in 52 years. J Class yacht   Endeavour  is now for sale.

Elena, 1910

Built by Herreshof

In 1910, Morton Plant commissioned 55 metre   Elena  to be designed by American naval architect Nathanael Herreshoff, the so-called “Wizard of Bristol”, who made his name designing sailing yachts for America’s elite. Plant’s brief was to the point: he wanted a schooner “that can win”.

Herreshoff gave  Elena  a slightly deeper keel than preceding designs of that time, lowering her centre of ballast, which improved her windward ability.  Elena  won most of her early races against the cream of the American schooner fleet and in 1928 came her crowning glory, victory in the Transatlantic Race. In 2009, she was rebuilt using the original plans for the first  Elena.

Black Swan, 1899

Originally designed by Charles Nicholson and built in 1899 at Camper and Nicholson in Gosport, England,  Black Swan  started life as  Brynhild  with a yawl rig. She won a number of races at the beginning of the 20th century, including the King’s Cup. Over the years, she has undergone several changes and different rig configurations, and at one stage she was renamed  Changrilla . She was rechristened  Black Swan  in the 1960s and, today, after an extensive restoration project at the Beconcini yard in La Spezia, Italy, she is now carrying a gaff-rig, designed by the Faggioni Yacht Design Studio and built by Harry Spencer.

Mariquita, 1911

Built by Fairlie

Another beautiful classic yacht from Fife,  Mariquita  was launched in 1911. The 38.16 metre sailing yacht was designed and built for the industrialist Arthur Stothert. As part of the 19 metre Big Class racing that re-emerged in 1911, this gaff-rigged cutter is said to have inspired the J Class yachts that came after her.

She raced competitively against her brethren from 1911-1913, but by the 1950s,  Mariquita  was the last in the 19 metre class remaining. She was restored in 1991 and received a further refit in 2004. A star on the classic yacht racing scene,  Mariquita  is now for sale.

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SAIL UNIVERSE CHOICE. 7 of the Most Beautiful Sailboats of all Time

A very interesting Instagram profile, @sailor_sea_world ( follow him! ), choose every week some of the most beautiful sailboats of all time. Thanks to his help, we picked 7 of this boats for you!

“Fisher & Paykel” Maxi yacht

The legendary 83ft “Fisher & Paykel” Maxi yacht, 2nd in the 89/90 Whitbread Round-the-World Race and entry in the 2011 Volvo Ocean Legends Race in Alicante. One of the biggest racing yachts ever built for round-the-world racing and the last of its generation of giants still to be sailing worldwide. The boat was originally built for the Whitbread Round-the-World Race of 1990/91 and was named after its main sponsor, the NZ home appliances manufacturer “Fisher&Paykel”. Was designed by Bruce Farr and built by Martin Marine in New Zealand and a total of approx. 3 Milion Dollars were spent on state-of-the-art space industry materials and the latest technologies in order to create a masterpiece of yacht racing under the direction of its captain Grant Dalton (nowadays director of the NZ America’s Cup Team). Great super boat and sailor

Pelagic Australis

Pelagic Australis is the particular sloop ice class in aluminum of 74ft. It has a displacement of 48 tons, it results very strongly. Its sail area reaches 264 sqm upwind and 414 sqm… its lifting-keel adjustable allow a régi labile drift from 1.20m to 3.90m if it’s necessary.

Kriter Brut de Brut

Kriter Brut de Brut, 23.50 meters trimaran skippered by Sylvie Vanek and Beatrice Maupas in 1983 for the Transat in double Lorient-Bermuda-Lorient. The French Philippe Monnet with this boat in 1986 establishes a new record of the solo world tour on a multihull in 129 days 19 days and 17 minutes.

Pen Duick VI

This is the boat of the most famous sailor, Eric Tabarly. Pen Duick VI is a 22.25 mt ketch built in 1973 for the Whitbread Round the World Race . In 1976 she won the transatlantic regatta in solitary from Plymouth to Newport.

Top view of beautiful anthem. The particular ketch built in 1998 is a 70 feet sailboat. With is extraordinary 1000 sq ft of sail it can be reached a speed of 25 knots in strong wind. The mainmast is 70 ft and the mizzenmast is 50 ft, it allows you to put 5 sails at the same time.

Why did we select Reliance among the most beautiful sailboats of all time? Simple… Reliance, the boat that defended America’s Cup in 1903, is the most extreme boat ever sailed in the cup: 27.4 m long at the float and 43.5m out of all measured by the bompress tip at the end of the boom was 60 m. Born by the genius of what is considered to be the greatest inventor of modern sail, Nathaniel Herreshoff when he has slammed the topside turned into a floating line making it much more powerful.

Spirit Of Portopiccolo

Spirit Of Portopiccolo a 26m sail yacht was built in 2003 by McConaghy boats. Design is the work of Reichel-Pugh. Previously named Morning Glory. This amazing sail yacht in carbon hull e canting keel has an enviable trophy list: Winner of the 2017 Barcolana di Trieste, Winner of the 2007 Maxi Worlds, Racing Division Winner of the 2006 Middle Sea Race 1st to Finish and New Course Record in the 2005 Transpac Race 1st to Finish and New Course Record in the 2004 Newport to Bermuda Race! Fast boat for racing sailor, Great!

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Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

Home » News » Design » Top Ten Most Beautiful Classic Yachts.  

Top Ten Most Beautiful Classic Yachts.  

Posted on November 14, 2016 and filed under Design , Spirit of Tradition

The biggest. The fastest. The most expensive. That’s all child’s play when it comes to boating. Get the numbers. Put ’em in a table. And then it’s Excel’s job to do the rest. Depressingly, you’d be surprised how much of modern yacht design is ruled by those cruel, simple masters. Ever notice how many boats try merely to be really big, really fast and really pricey? It’s a lot. It’s too many.

But beauty? Pure luxuriant pleasure that somehow emanates out of hulls and sails and engines? Oh boy, that’s trickier stuff. What makes that boat more beautiful than this one? Why do we love rowing up to or stepping on this craft of that? We’ve gotten lucky that people we respect tell us our boats have a bit of prettiness about them. But for pure absolute excellence in yacht design, we go to the same benchmarks as everybody else. And just stand back and wonder. “How did they do it. What great fricken’ boat!”

Here then, is our current list of Top Ten Most Beautiful Classic Yachts from suggestions from our clients, colleagues, and our own notes. We crib from these ideas all the time. And we know you do too. But please let us know how you feel. We left out many a classic yacht.

Did we get this list right?

Designer: Bruce King

Year launched: 2003

Builder: Royal Huisman

Designer Bruce King has been a major influence on us and the entire Spirit of Tradition community. King deserves credit for pioneering the blending of classic yacht design with modern style and amenities. When word spread that we were making this top ten list, Maria Cattiva , the roughly 130-foot long sloop, popped to the top of that list among our clients and colleagues. We get why. She perfectly combines a gracefully sweeping sheer with an elliptical-shaped transom, with just the right heft throughout the hull. She’s a balanced, open platform for ideal sailing hardware, rig and fittings, yet she has restrained deck structures and minimal clutter. Maria Cattiva could have easily deteriorated into a busy bee of mess in the wrong hands. There’s a lot going on on this boat. But King and his design team did the near impossible: They created a complex, muscular yacht that distills down to a delicate elegance that’s almost … fragile.

Designer: William Fife III

Year Built: 1914

Yard: Fife & Sons

Some boats are classics because they just … are. Moonbeam IV is one of yachting’s greats. First built after the First World War, she was the fourth boat designed by William Fife III for Charles Plumptre Johnson, the son of the physician to Queen Victoria. That’s classic pedigree. She makes this list as the reference for much of Fife’s designs. And many conversations we have about design. We understand why:  Moonbeam IV is thin and easily driven through the water, yet stout enough to carry a stormcloud of sail. In person, it’s almost a miracle she stays upright. Moonbeam also exudes a pure, relaxed luxury that balances speed with grace. She features a full dining room table on deck, yet still is a consistent winner on the classic yacht racing circuit. Many are equally in love with this classic beauty. The otherwise incorrigible French sailing superstar Eric Tabarly once wrote that Moonbeam IV was, “The most beautiful yacht ever built.” He is correct. 

Designer: William Reed/ Cäsar Pinnau

Year Built: 1948

Yard: Smith Dock Company

Christina O. started life as the HMCS Stormont , a Canadian anti-sub frigate that saw stout duty in the North Atlantic and the WWII invasions of Normandy. But in 1947, Greek magnate Aristotle Onassis bought her off the scrap heap and retained legendary designer Casar Pinnau to begin a ground-up refit. Decks, sheer, and amenities were all reworked. A pool was added, as were subtle pastels and finishes. This once-warship is now the single-most interesting private yacht conversion afloat. Christina O . presents a daring blend of utilitarian world of war with a unique vision of peace and harmony. Each of the hull lines reinforce or deny the mass of the decks above or below. Christina O. ’s beauty starts with the grit and girth of business-like strength, yet is melded with subtle womanly figure. Her flowing stern is probably the best treatment of open, common space in a ship of this scale. If there’s more elegant smoke stack anywhere on earth, please let us know.

Designers: German Frers/Bannenberg & Lowell

Year Launched: 2010

Yard: Lurssen

Power yachts are exciting — runabouts, express cruisers and mammoth uber-yachts alike. It’s just like cars for us: We always want to know, “What’s she got under the hood?” In the case of the 280-foot Pacific , there is not one, but two, roughly 5700-horsepower diesel generators wired to drive twin propellers that also power the gym, spa, elevator, helicopter pad, movie theater, tender garage, Jacuzzi, underwater lights, and, in a new feature, at-anchor stabilizers that keep the boat level even in rough water. The art with Pacific is how underdone all that power is for a superyacht this complex. Unlike the other floating bloat-fests of similarly fitted out mega-boats, Pacific stands out by standing for less . Much less. Note how designer German Frers reduces the density of the overall deck superstructure by keeping it low relative to the hull mass. Frers then suppresses that volume even more by using lyrical horizontal decks, each following its own sheer from stem to stern. This cool interplay of horizontal masses is made even frostier with her ice-blue finish. Pacific is both streamlined and aggressive, depending on your mood. She is an ocean of pure power and performance shrouded in the secret grace of how technology enables a modern yacht.

Designer: German Frers

Year Built: 1999

Yard: Pendennis

We have a thing for Rebecca . And we know you do too: See how her profile, ample beam and full head of sail drive her low through the water? She is kinetic homage to turn-of-the-century sailing clipper ships blast reaching, fully loaded at the peak of the Age of Sail. Designer German Frers echos this classic past with a simple deck house and open classic layout. Richard Henry Dana Jr, author of the 1840 sailing memoir Two Years Before the Mast , would feel perfectly comfortable in Rebecca . And her sense of pure sailing power is softened by unheard of amounts of open, undefined deck space. W ith the right provisions, this girl can surf the world’s winds, stopping only for love and fresh water. A bit of controversy surrounds this boat. Rumor has it t he stem profile was famously (or infamously) designed by her owner. Is it beauty? Or a mistake? True love always makes you ask why.

Designer: Tripp/Eidsgaard Design

Year Launched: 2008

Yard: Wally

Saudade is the essence of elegant yachting cool. S he’s not just clean, spare, and sleek, she represents all things modern in yacht design: Aridly reduced lines, ruthlessly open deck layouts, and a sheer that’s so close to dead flat that it vibrates; and n ote how the deck house is sunk in, like a breaking wave, into the sea of its wooden deck. This boat is a direct rejection of the lyrical, sweeping design themes that dominate most craft we like. Yet somehow Saudade features a  beauty built of the simplest of forms. While the traditional standards of sweep and sheer we hold dear may not be present, if you look long enough, the distilled version of what it means to be a beautiful boat emerges before you. The question Saudade asks  is, “What still is beautiful, when everything else has been removed?” You can spend a lifetime answering that one.

Yard Launched: 1993

Yard: Astilleros

What would the designer’s designer, Argentine genius German Frers, design in a boat for himself and his family? The 73-foot sloop Heroina is the answer. Not too fancy and built quickly with recycled parts, she reflects the mind of a great and ambitious architect who seeks comfort and ease of use. She’s the floating checklist for a modern classic yacht: gobs of relaxed, open-deck volume; large, easy-to-handle wheel; and just enough mass in the boat’s hull to allow for reasonable-sized cabins and state rooms, all without a raised deck house and its attendant complexity. Heroina is a true performer that can be handled by amateurs. She’s sleek and beautiful. Even better, she is done on a sensible budget. That’s design at its classic purest. 

Designer: Arthur Holgate

Year Built: 1984

Do we really to need to explain? Behold this three-masted schooner with looks straight out of the War of 1812, but made in 1984. O f p ure plate steel.  Meaning the sweeping shape and voluptuous form is an engineering and construction tour-de-force.  she is 213 feet long and 30 feet wide, probably the largest classic sailing boat built since the 1930’s. There is so much room on her, in fact, that you can get lost below among the nearly 30 crew and guests that can fit on her. (Note to self: take breadcrumbs.) It’s all here: two deck houses, port decks, advanced venting systems. Adix just goes on and on. She’s the Spirit of Tradition on steroids.

Designer: Philippe Briand

Year built: 2008

Designer: Yachting Developments

Here’s our sleeper pick from master French designer Phillippe Briand. Usually Briande works in a stark, hyper-modernist idiom bordering on floating brutalism. Lovely, but not our thing. But with Bristolian II , Briand balances a classic race car vibe with traditional yacht influences. And that, we love. The story here is the design brief called for a boat built to a 1950’s Maserati road speedster idiom. The helm stations and cabins are straight out of post-war European road-race designs. Steve McQueen in LeMans would feel comfortable on Bristolian II . The contrast in styles raises bizarre narratives: Are the helm stations and cabins connected below decks? Is there a second ship hiding under the deck? Does that ship fly? It’s all pure design intoxication. The secret to this apparently outlandish boat is the drill-sergeant attention to detail and the black sails and hull forms.The boat’s all about its deck and deeper mysteries. Bristolian II is, in a word, “crisp.” Or “croustillant” if you are speaking French.

Designer: Michel Berryer

Year Launched: 2015

Yard: Van Dam Custom Boats

what would happen if you dropped A Chevy Big Block 496, 400 HP gas engine into A 1950’s muscle car-inspired hull. all made from a single log of Mahogany? Enough wood and spirit to look awesome at 60 miles an hour on the water and 85 miles an hour when getting towed down the highway on its trailer. We love how Don Don balances its just-under-30-foot length with a hefty 8’8” beam that frames and blends its classic heritage and modern dimensions. Just count the ideas designer Michel Berryer blends into this tiny package: a sense of running at blistering speed; the sweeping, art-deco flowing line; AND the luxury details in leather and stainless steel of classic cars. Where’s the wheel? Why, on the left side. Like in a car. Face it: If you’d known as a teenager you could have showed up to the prom in Don Don, you never would have bothered to learn to drive. This Don would have made all your dreams come true.

site by: slickfish studios

• Cars, Jets & Yachts

10 Classic Yachts with Incredibly Glamorous Histories

Each of the classic yachts featured here defined the glamor of her respective era.

By Miriam Cain

Admired for their elegance and desired wherever they go, classic yachts attract a large number of owners and charterers. For those wanting a genuine sailing experience or who want to capture the real romance and thrill of yachting, these historic beauties have an enduring appeal. Every classic has a unique story to tell — whether it’s racing with royalty or hosting the Hollywood elite, or perhaps even serving in the war effort.

And each of the yachts featured here defined the glamor of her respective era. But what is it about these storied vessels that makes every generation of owners prepared to sink time and financial resources into their restoration? Here, Miriam Cain presents 10 of the most exquisite classic yachts afloat today, a handful of which are available for the yacht aficionado to charter or even own.

[See also: Twenty for 20: Innovative Yachts of the 21st Century]

Key facts Builder: Ramage & Ferguson Built: 1906 Refit: 1955, 1991, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2020 LOA: 150.1 ft Number of guests: 10 Crew: 10

One of the finest vintage yachts afloat, Kalizma (pictured top) has an iconic past with a tale steeped in history. Originally commissioned by Robert Stewart, vice commodore of the Royal Eastern Yacht Club (whose wealth came from his Scotch whisky distillery and estate), Minona , as she was named upon her launch, was the first steam-powered yacht to have electric lighting.

Designed by naval architect GL Watson & Co, leading designers of their day, and built by Ramage & Ferguson in Scotland, she is a testament to expert craftsmanship — and has stood the test of time with her classic Edwardian looks and fresh contemporary updates.

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As Minona , she served in the British Royal Navy in both World War I and World War II, serving as an Auxiliary Patrol Vessel between 1914 and 1920, and in 1939 as HMS Minona. During her time as the flagship and base for His Majesty’s Deep Sea Rescue Tug Services in Scotland, she was responsible for saving the lives of crewmen from over 1,100 vessels.

On being relieved from her wartime duty, Minona went on to have a couple of different owners during the 1940s and ’50s, and during that period she also underwent a significant refit converting her from steam to diesel. It was during the 1960s that the then-named Odysseia made headlines when chartered by Richard Burton and his wife Elizabeth Taylor, and thus began her dalliance with glitz and glamour.

As a frequent guest of Aristotle Onassis aboard his yacht Christina O , Burton was inspired to purchase the classic yacht as a congratulatory gift for Taylor after she earned an Academy Award for her performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? The yacht was subsequently renamed Kalizma , after the stars’ children Kate, Liza and Maria, and refurbished with all new interiors said to have cost more than twice her asking price. Adorned with an art collection with works by Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso, and an extensive library, she became their floating home for the next decade.

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It was on board Kalizma while berthed on the River Thames that Burton presented Taylor with the 33-carat Krupp Diamond, also known as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. Then, while berthed in Monaco, he gave her the record-breaking $1.5m 69-carat Cartier diamond, which arrived under police escort. Taylor wore the jewel, which became known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond, for the first time on a necklace at Princess Grace’s 40th birthday party.

[See also: Top 10 Explorer Yachts in the World]

A number of royalty, including Princess Grace of Monaco and Prince Rainier III, and distinguished personalities such as Rex Harrison and Tennessee Williams, were later guests of the most famous Hollywood couple during their high-profile ownership.

Kalizma has gone on to have a number of owners since then, including serial classic yacht owner Peter de Savary. Kalizma was de Savary’s flagship and floating headquarters for the British team at the 1983 America’s Cup challenge, hosting several spectators in Newport.

Acquired by Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya in 2006, and then by philanthropist Shirish Saraf in 2019, she has since been fully restored, rejuvenating her old-world charm with all the luxuries and amenities expected of a modern superyacht. Today she is available to charter in the Indian Ocean and Asia Pacific with accommodation for 10 guests in five staterooms, including a stunning master suite, two doubles and two twins.

From €90,000 to €100,000 (approx. $101,800 to $113,100) per week. Contact Tim Morley, founder, [email protected], +33 680 863 091, morley-yachts.com

Shenandoah of Sark

Key facts Builder: Townsend & Downey Built: 1902 Refit: 1972, 1996, 2018 LOA: 178 ft Number of guests: 10 Crew: 12

Built at the turn of a century for American banker Charles Fahnestock, Shenandoah , as she was then known, was one of the most high-profile yachts of her age and a symbol of one the most glamorous eras in yachting. Delivered in 1902 by the Townsend & Downey Shipyard in New York, she quickly gained a reputation not only for her celebrated design but for the parties held on board.

During these formative years Shenandoah played host to some of the world’s most powerful families and international royalty while in her homeport of Newport, Rhode Island. A few years later, Fahnestock retired and sailed her to the Mediterranean, where her reputation as one of the most elegant sailing yachts on the circuit was solidified, with parties held along the Côte d’Azur and Amalfi Coast becoming the most sought-after ticket for the yachting fraternity.

While cruising the Mediterranean, Shenandoah turned the head of German aristocrat Landrat Walter von Bruining, who went on to purchase the three-masted schooner and rechristened her Lasca II. Under Bruining’s ownership, Lasca II spent time in Germany and England, where he enjoyed just one summer in Cowes on the Isle of Wight before World War I broke out.

[See also: The 10 Biggest Superyachts in the World]

Commandeered by the British, she subsequently became the property of British shipbuilder Sir John Esplen, who reinstated her previous name and installed two engines on board. Shenandoah then went through a number of different names and owners, including an Italian prince and the Danish sculpture philanthropist, Viggo Jarl, between the wars. Jarl endowed a substantial part of his fortune on the renamed Atlantide, updating her with new diesel engines and an electricity plant, and embarking on a series of long passages to the West Indies and through the Panama Canal to South America.

At the onset of World War II, Jarl returned to Europe and hid Atlantide from the Nazis, removing her masts and engines to render her useless to either side. Surviving the war, and with her engines and masts reinstated on board, Atlantide continued to turn heads wherever she cruised, and also welcomed European royalty on board, including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

After surviving two World Wars, Atlantide’s run of good fortune was apparently over. During the next few decades she went ‘underground’ and is rumored to have seen her fair share of smugglers and gamblers, cruising throughout the Americas and Caribbean, before ending up in the Mediterranean, where she was seized by the French government in a tax scandal.

Following many years of neglect, she was rescued in 1972 by the inventor of the Bic ballpoint pen, Baron Marcel Bich. Restored to her former splendor and christened Shenandoah once again, Bich sailed the yacht back to America as a spectator boat for the America’s Cup — the first time she had been back to her original homeport of Newport for over 70 years.

Shenandoah spent several years under Bich’s ownership, immaculately maintained, before being purchased by industrialist Philip Bommer. Having witnessed Shenandoah sailing when he was just 13, Bommer had spent the ensuing two decades dreaming about owning her, and in 1986 his ambition was fulfilled. Extensively refit and restored once again, Shenandoah became a renowned charter yacht, before once again entering years of neglect.

Rescued once again, refit and refurbished, Shenandoah was an America’s Cup spectator for the second time, this time in New Zealand in 2000, before competing in the Millennium Cup superyacht regatta. Five circumnavigations later, with a number of successful transatlantic races and classic regattas under her belt, and via a number of owners and award-winning refits, the rechristened Shenandoah of Sark is today a perfectly preserved piece of sailing history.

From €110,000 (approx. $124,400) per week. Contact Burgess Yachts, +44 20 7766 4300,  burgessyachts.com

Christina O

Key facts Builder: Canadian Vickers Built: 1943 Refit: 1954, 2001, 2015, 2018 LOA: 325.3 ft Number of guests: 34 Crew: 3

Christina O is a part of yachting legend. Arguably the most famous classic yacht still afloat, the fabled yacht of Aristotle Socrates Onassis has regularly entertained some of the world’s most powerful and famous people. She may not be a classic beauty like Delphine and Talitha but, thanks to the lavish parties hosted aboard by Onassis, with guest lists full of some of the most well-known names of the time, including Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Christina (as she was then known) regularly featured in newspapers and on the cover of glossy magazines.

Becoming a part of the zeitgeist of her era — and as famous as some of the Hollywood stars who came aboard — she remains today a visible symbol of the glamorous lifestyle enjoyed by the yachting crowd from the late 1950s throughout the ’60s.

Originally built in 1943 as a Canadian naval frigate, Christina O remains the largest North American-built yacht still afloat. Purchased by well-known yacht owner and Greek shipping magnate Onassis in 1954, she was converted into the yacht that she is today. It is rumored that Onassis purchased the then-named HMCS Stormont for its scrap value of $34,000, and then spent over $4m converting the surplus anti-submarine frigate into the luxury yacht Christina, named after his firstborn child.

In those days this was a vast sum of money, but the investment paid off. Not only did Christina hugely enhance his status and fortune — as a venue for hosting businessmen and politicians, as well as film stars — but she also served as the backdrop for his famous romantic relationships, including his love affair with the renowned soprano Maria Callas. It was on board the converted frigate that John F. Kennedy met his idol Winston Churchill during a dinner hosted by Onassis, and a decade later where Onassis began his courtship of the widowed Jackie Kennedy. The yacht was even their wedding venue.

Despite seeing some deterioration under the ownership of the Greek government, Christina O has been refurbished and refitted; today she retains the fantastic opulence Onassis so extravagantly bestowed on her. In fact, she positively oozes ’50s Hollywood glamor; it could even be said she has only improved with age. As an in-demand charter yacht, her eternal appeal to a modern clientele is proven.

[See also: The Best Luxury Yacht Builders in the World]

All the modern comforts and luxuries that are expected on a luxury yacht seamlessly blend with her original features. All of the 17 guest suites have been refurbished, yet maintain the pastel decor selected by style icon Jackie O. The original, mosaic-tiled pool that transforms into a dance floor has also been restored, while the famous Ari’s barstools retain their original upholstery, believed to be sperm-whale foreskin — now there’s a conversation starter when you are perched at the bar.

Christina O is currently cruising the Caribbean and will be available for charter throughout the summer in the Mediterranean. The perfect yacht for large family groups or event charters, her SOLAS status allows up to 34 guests to cruise in total comfort in 17 double staterooms, 14 of which can be converted into twin staterooms.

From €620,000 to €700,000 (approx. $692,000 to $790,000) per week. Contact Morley Yachts, [email protected] , +33 680 863 091, morley-yachts.com

Key facts Builder: Camper & Nicholsons Built: 1928 Refit: 1947, 2009, 2013, 2018 LOA: 147 ft Number of guests: 16 Crew: 12

With a unique and historic pedigree, the Camper & Nicholsons-built Grace has led many lives during almost a century afloat. Built as a luxury yacht in 1928 and originally christened Monica, she was used by the British as part of the war effort. While serving in the Royal Navy as HMS Rion, she sadly suffered serious damage as part of the Dunkirk evacuation fleet.

Rescued by Aristotle Onassis in 1951 and renamed Arion , she played host to iconic figures like Winston Churchill and Elizabeth Taylor. On hearing of Prince Rainier’s engagement to Grace Kelly in 1955, Onassis presented the classic motor yacht to them as a gift for their forthcoming 1956 nuptials.

She was renamed Deo Juvante II , and the couple honeymooned aboard her, cruising Corsica and Sardinia. Acquired by the current owners in 2007, she spent more than two years in the shipyard being restored to her former glory and having additional superyacht luxuries installed, including air conditioning and en-suite bathrooms.

Rechristened Grace , she is available for charter in the Galápagos Islands for up to 16 guests and 12 crew. Great attention to detail has been given to restoring her original features, including the original brass ship’s wheel from 1927, which is still inscribed with the yacht’s original name. The master suite, known as the Grace Kelly Suite, is in the original location, while two further master suites and two twin-bedded cabins are all decorated to the highest standards.

Her communal guest areas feature period-style, custom furniture in keeping with her elegant build. In addition to her alfresco dining and lounging areas and hot tub, the toybox is geared towards exploring the Galápagos National Park and includes kayaks, snorkeling equipment and two Zodiac tenders.

From $129,000 to $139,000 per week. Dominic Meredith Hardy, director, [email protected] , +44 781 840 3524, classic-charters.com

Key facts Builder: Great Lakes Engineering Works Refit yard: Scheepswerf Zeebrugge Built: 1921 Refit: 1926, 1997, 2003, 2016 LOA: 258 ft Number of guests: 26, 150 day guests Crew: 26

Commissioned by auto magnate Horace Dodge and named after his only daughter, Delphine is the largest steam-powered yacht ever to be built in the US. Sadly, Horace never got to see the launch of this third private yacht he built, as he passed away just a year before her delivery. However, his wife Anna and their family loved and cherished Delphine , cruising on board her in the Great Lakes and along the East Coast, hosting cocktail parties on board.

With all her luxuries, including 10 magnificent staterooms, a music room, card room, dining room and smoking room, and a crew of 55, she positively defined 1920s East Coast glamor. In 1926, while she was docked on the Hudson River in Manhattan, two cabins caught fire, and with too much water poured in by the fire department, Delphine sank. Unwilling to live without her, the Dodge family salvaged her from the deep and restored her faithfully, with some additional renovations to her interior.

She suffered further, minor damage when she ran aground in the Great Lakes, before being repaired and acquired by the United States Navy at the start of the war to become the flagship for Admiral Ernest King, commander-in-chief of the US Fleet and chief of US Naval Operations during World War II. While still in service as USS Dauntless, she reputedly hosted Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Viatcheslav Molotov as they met with Admiral King to discuss war strategies and prepare the Yalta Convention.

Reacquired by the Dodge family after the war, she was restored to a private yacht and rechristened Delphine once again. Over the next three decades Delphine sailed under numerous ownerships and different names, including almost 20 years spent as a training ship for merchant seamen, until finally being sold (for scrap metal prices) in 1997.

Having crossed the Atlantic for the first time and berthed in the Mediterranean, she was towed to Bruges, Belgium, where she underwent a six-year, $60m restoration. Her new Belgian owner scoured museums and archives for Delphine’s original blueprints, in an effort to ensure that the engineering and architectural refit was faithful to her original design, right down to the 20-ft-tall quadruple steam engines, six-person Turkish bath and hairdressing salon. Even her bespoke tenders, handmade from Honduran mahogany, remain exactly as they were when she was brand new.

Rechristened in 2003 as Delphine by HSH Princess Stéphanie of Monaco , she is today the largest luxury yacht of her era with her original steam engines still in service. To put that into context, her 6-ft-tall propellers are powered by water converted into vapor pressure by diesel fuel. She consumes 600 liters an hour at cruising speeds. When you consider that many modern motor yachts of a similar size use more than 1,000 liters of fuel an hour, Delphine could almost be considered environmentally friendly. Full steam ahead.

$400,000 per week. Contact Lionel Lebugle, manager, [email protected] , +33 621 282 496, ss-delphine.cruises

Key facts Builder: Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Refit yard: Pendennis Built: 1929 Refit: 2018 LOA: 233 ft Number of guests: 12 Crew: 18

At the time of her launch in 1929, this clipper-bow yacht was christened Haida , after the native people of Alaska and British Columbia. It is the name for which she is best known, and to which she has recently reverted following a comprehensive refit. However, the iconic Haida has sailed through a succession of adventures and has had many different names during her storied life.

Haida’s original commissioning owner spent over a decade cruising the west coast of America, pursuing his interests in marine science and fishing. In 1940, the oceangoing yacht was commandeered for service in World War II by the US Navy. She had a heroic naval career, saving many lives and protecting key installations while patrolling San Francisco Bay.

In 1946, post war, she returned to her role as a private yacht and moved to Alexandria in Egypt, where she cruised for five years before moving to the French Riviera in 1952 — just in time for the birth of the Mediterranean yachting scene.

She has resided in the Mediterranean ever since, under various ownerships of dedicated, high-profile owners, including Löel Guinness, becoming one of the world’s most famous superyachts.

Haida’s recent, award-winning refit by the renowned Pendennis Shipyard has combined the grandeur and elegance of 1930s yachting with state-of-the-art superyacht luxuries. Despite replacing over 100 tons of steel within her hull structure, Haida 1929 (as she is now known) retains the sophisticated and timeless exterior lines originally designed by Cox & Stevens.

Even the original Krupp engines remain, thought to be the oldest working engines of their type. Deck spaces are generous, especially on the recently extended sun deck, which has been split around her iconic funnel. Period furniture and artworks re-create the charm and ambience of her heritage, while a light color palette and modern amenities have been integrated.

Her notable features include a barber shop, spa, hammam, biofuel fireplace, indoor and outdoor cinemas, and stepped pool. Elegant and refined, Haida 1929 is a truly original classic. Refit project management by Edmiston Yachts.

Contact [email protected] , edmiston.com

Key facts Builder: Georgi Dimitrov Built: 1962 Refit: 2018 LOA: 213ft Number of guests: 12 Crew: 17

She may not hail from the golden era of yachting like other classic yachts her size, but this former Soviet spy ship is certainly not short on history. A true gentleman’s yacht, La Sultana has led many lives during her 50-plus years afloat. Originally built in 1962 in Bulgaria for use as a passenger ferry, Aji-Petri (as she was then known) was the fifth of a series of 12 ships that carried passengers and cargo through the Black Sea between the ports of Istanbul and Yalta.

She became a Soviet spy ship in the early 1970s when the Soviet Union took over the entire fleet of passenger ferries operating in the Black Sea to use for military purposes. Officially, she was in service in the North Atlantic for the International Telecommunication Union; however, in reality she was being used to eavesdrop and intercept radio telecommunications between the US and the UK. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Aji-Petri resumed her position as a passenger ferry before being used, in her original form, as a pleasure yacht in Tunisia.

Some 50 years after her build, she was discovered by a French gentleman. It was during a colossal seven-year, multimillion-dollar restoration in Casablanca that the yard unearthed several espionage instruments, including a radioactivity detector and several electronic devices from the Cold War. With the addition of her raised bow, touch-and-go helipad, machinery, piping and wiring, commercial engine and a huge keel, the rechristened La Sultana emerged from the shipyard as a majestic cruising yacht.

Today, her striking interior features Art Deco touches that draw inspiration from the stylish vessels of the 1920s, while the Arabian Nights-inspired decor is both eccentric and exotic. The new layout features an indoor 16-ft counter-current swimming pool and hammam, and seven luxurious staterooms, including a vast master suite on the upper deck, two VIP staterooms on the main deck, and four staterooms on the lower deck, all with en suites — quite a difference from the original build with its 102 cabins.

Her large deck areas include lots of relaxation and entertainment areas, as well as a classically styled spa pool on the foredeck, located forward of the new helipad. With more than a nod to the golden age of yachting, the rebuilt La Sultana is a classic motor yacht for modern times.

€12,500,000 (approx. $14,095,937). Contact Charles Ehrardt, senior sales broker, [email protected] , camperandnicholsons.com

Builder: Camper & Nicholsons Refit: Pendennis Built: 1937 Refit: 2015 LOA: 164 ft Number of guests: 10 Crew: 11

Designed by Charles E Nicholson and built by Camper & Nicholsons in 1937, Malahne is one of just a handful of British-built, pre-war motor yachts to have survived into the 21st century. Originally commissioned by William Stephenson, head of the British arm of the Woolworth store chain and a passionate yachtsman, this classic 1930s gentleman’s yacht has led a glamorous and colorful life, with many ups and downs. Stephenson owned both the J-Class yacht Velsheda and Malahne , and named them after his daughters Velma, Sheila and Daphne, with the first few letters of their names forming ‘Velsheda’ and the last few letters ‘ Malahne .’

She spent her first few years cruising the Mediterranean, and crossed the Atlantic a number of times before being handed over for military needs during World War II. During her time serving as a patrol cruiser in the English Channel, Malahne also participated in the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk.

Post war, Malahne passed through a few different hands before being acquired by the legendary Hollywood producer Sam Spiegel, who anchored her off Jordan to be used as a floating office while shooting Lawrence of Arabia. On retiring from her filming duties, Malahne became a fixture along the glittering Côte d’Azur, where Spiegel entertained Hollywood A-listers including Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Jack Nicholson. She also starred in the 1973 murder mystery The Last of Sheila , starring Raquel Welch.

A decade later, she was sold to a Saudi sheikh who renamed her Adel XII and changed her beyond recognition, with an almost sacrilegious angular new superstructure and modern interior quite out of keeping with her classic past. Twenty years later, she passed into more sympathetic hands, and underwent a hugely ambitious restoration at the British shipyard Pendennis. The restoration experts there sought to bring her back to her original classic yacht form, but with the addition of a few 21st-century comforts.

While Pendennis worked on recreating her original hull form and undoing the damage wrought by the previous owner, classic yacht experts GL Watson & Co were drafted to rework her exterior lines; meanwhile, design experts from Oliver Laws — who designed the Art Deco interiors of the Connaught hotel and Claridge’s — set to work on her interior, producing a design more faithful to the original, including a number of original antique 1930s pieces but with a modern Art Deco twist.

Today, thanks to such a comprehensive and sympathetic refit by her devoted British owner, Malahne is a tribute to modern engineering and British craftsmanship. One of the finest classic yachts for charter , she features state-of-the-art equipment and Art Deco interior styling. Were he still alive, there’s no doubt that Sinatra would be delighted to tap his dancing shoes once again on board her stunningly restored teak decks.

From €145,000 to €165,000 (approx. $164,000 to $186,6500) per week. Contact Michaela Beitz-Biggi, head of charter fleet management, [email protected] , +44 207 495 5151, edmiston.com

Key facts Builder: Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Refit: Devonport Yachts Built: 1930 Refit: 1993, 2009 LOA: 262 ft Number of guests: 12 Crew: 20

With her flared clipper bow, impressive funnels and traditional counter stern, there couldn’t be a more classic-looking yacht reflecting the golden age of yachting than Talitha . Originally commissioned by Russell Algar of the Packard Motor Car Company, the originally named Reveler was sadly not yet delivered by the German shipyard F. Krupp in Kiel when Algar died.

Sold to Charles McCann of the Woolworth family and renamed Chalena, she was later requisitioned by the US Maritime Commission in 1942, and entered service as a gunboat with new armaments mounted fore and aft. Operating under her new military name of USS Beaumont in the waters between Midway Island and Pearl Harbor, she survived the war without serious incident, and in 1946 was decommissioned and returned to private ownership.

Post war, like many of her classic cousins, she spent many years lying abandoned — in her case on the Greek island of Petali, before being rescued by the Australian film producer Robert Stigwood and renamed Jezebel. Stigwood spent millions restoring much of her original elegance, with the addition of modern comforts including air conditioning and satellite communications systems.

Described by The New York Times as a “floating fantasy,” she featured a re-design of the distinctive clipper bow and new teak decks but, sadly, it wasn’t to last and, following some engine problems, she was laid up once again in the late 1980s. In 1993 she was brought to the attention of her next and current owner Sir John Paul Getty Jr.

Under the guidance of legendary designer Jon Bannenberg, she was painstakingly restored to her former glory, with both exterior and interior redesign and brand new engines. The addition of a pair of funnels and an extended wheelhouse was at the time criticized by many, but Bannenberg’s vision proved them wrong when the renamed Talitha G (named after Getty’s second wife) was relaunched to great acclaim, with more than a nod to her 1930s design.

One of the most detailed, distinctive and beautiful classic motor yachts to be relaunched in recent times, Talitha is suitably reflective of an incredibly glamorous era of yachting. Featuring an all-new Art Deco interior with all of the trappings of a modern classic, she is a real head-turner, not only for the Hollywood celebrities spotted on board, but for her own stunning looks.

Builder: Brooke Marine Built: 1939 Refit: 1999, 2016, 2019 LOA : 115 ft Number of guests: 8 Crew: 5

Delivered in 1939 by British shipyard Brooks Motor Craft, the classic sailing yacht Eros has led a colorful past, with lords, ladies and royalty all captivated by her charm and beautiful lines over her eight decades afloat. Originally christened Jeanry , she was commissioned for the daughter and son-in-law of a British lord who unfortunately spent very little time on board her before she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy to participate in the evacuation efforts at Dunkirk during World War II.

Following the end of her wartime service she went on to be owned by Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, second only to Aristotle Onassis in the shipping magnate stakes and also the first man to be called a billionaire. Niarchos rechristened her Eros in honor of the Greek god of love and passion, and under his ownership the wooden schooner became a fixture on the Mediterranean yachting circuit, hosting the cream of European society, including King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain.

Niarchos gifted the newlyweds the use of Eros along with his private Greek island, Spetsopoula, for their honeymoon in 1962. The island also hosted Prince Charles and Princess Diana for the latter part of their honeymoon while they cruised through the Mediterranean and Aegean on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Eros went on to change ownership just one more time before being rescued by her current owner in 1992. Meticulously restored to her original grandeur over the course of 18 years, she was relaunched in 2016 and now offers the refinement of a bygone era combined with the latest superyacht luxuries. Retaining many original details, including the Admiralty bronze fittings of the ship’s bell and restored Burmese teak planks, her complete overhaul involved repairs and replacements to her steel structure, and over 20,000 new bronze bolts, among many other things.

Today, Eros offers charter guests the chance to experience genuine sailing on a stunning classic yacht, either cruising in the Caribbean or Mediterranean or racing in classic regattas in the Caribbean and New England. Boasting state-of-the-art technology, 22 hydraulically assisted winches and 9,000 sq ft of sail, Eros can reach speeds of up to 10 knots under sail.

And for those looking to simply sit back and relax, her four guest cabins include a master stateroom with private en suite featuring a Jacuzzi bath, a double stateroom with en suite, and two twin cabins with shared bathroom. Out on deck, she boasts numerous seating and lounging areas for socializing, relaxing and alfresco dining.

Eros also offers plenty of on-the-water entertainment, with a great selection of water toys for her more active guests to enjoy.

From $44,000 to $48,000 per week. Contact Dominic Meredith Hardy, director, [email protected] , +44 781 840 3524, classic-charters.com

[See also: What Do We Know About Jeff Bezos and his Yacht?]

This article appears in the 04 Mar 2022 issue of the New Statesman, Spring 2022

Miriam Cain

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Most beautiful superyachts: 10 of the best as chosen by top designers

• Superyachts

What turns a superyacht into a thing of beauty? We asked scores of the world's leading yacht designers to list the 10 most beautiful superyachts ever built...

The only rules were that they couldn’t pick one of their own and they had to be luxury superyachts over 30 metres. With the votes counted, we can now reveal our definitive rundown of the most beautiful yachts in the world.

We’ve even enlisted some of those same designers to explain what makes the final ten yachts so special. Scroll down to see the full top 10 and read more about each model.

10 of the most beautiful superyachts of all time

10. Limitless

James Roy, managing director of BMT Nigel Gee believes her to be one of the most beautiful superyachts in the world and writes:

“One of the earlier breed of superyachts Limitless is in my opinion from a period when the volume of superstructures were not over imposing producing a well balanced yacht. These proportions coupled with the sheer line and well matched angles of bow profile and rake of superstructure ends all work together.”

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Certainly with her dark blue hull and glistening white superstructure she cuts quite a dash and at night her comprehensive array of on deck illumination and underwater lighting make her look nothing short of spectacular proving that yachts can have beauty 24 hours a day.

Year: 1997 – LOA: 96.25m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Jon Bannenburg – Interior: Catroux

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“It’s a great pleasure to pay tribute to an iconic thoroughbred such as Skat , still standing tall on the horizon,” says Tim Saunders of Rainsford Saunders Design. “Despite her military looks, this is a true superyacht, engineered as a ship at heart and built from the keel up, with every square metre fulfilling the owner’s brief. Skat is a unique design but has not broken traditional yachting rules for the sake of it.

She is a superyacht that has been devised to offer the owner a well-considered relationship between external and internal living spaces, and unlike many of her sisters, she doesn’t opt for maximum density. Skat ’s combination of poise, elegance and balance comes from a clever use of straight, angular lines, facetted surfaces and enhanced ship details.

Each component comes together in a harmonious relationship to offer a daring and bold statement that from a distance has the grace and elegance of something far more organic. She is a yacht that catches your eye from all angles.”

Year: 2002 – LOA: 70.7m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Espin Oeino – Interior: Marco Zanini

8. Alfa Nero

“When we first saw Alfa Nero we were impressed by her smooth exterior lines,” say Mareid Moosbrugger and Georg Decker of Egg and Dart Design. “The superstructure is sleek and elegant without any angular or hard corners. We consider her to be one of the most beautiful yachts afloat today, and we can easily understand why our colleagues agree.

“Walking around her at the 2007 Monaco Yacht Show , we felt the three-dimensional use of space was harmonious with the elements, and there was a true balance between the inside and outside areas of the yacht, with the exterior spaces maintaining a close connection with the natural environment of the sea and sky.

“The decks are open and airy, yet there is a feeling of being safely cocooned, and the superb aft deck in particular maintains a feeling of being at one with the ocean, which is emphasised by the huge pool. The yacht impressed us as a gentle giant: on the one hand huge, voluminous and technically advanced; on the other, stylish, glossy and surprisingly cosy.

“The beautiful interior features a timeless but modern design with elements of Art Deco, and everywhere you can see that the smallest details have been attended to. This yacht is a perfect combination of design, functionality and vision, and offers a unique ambience.”

Year: 2007 – LOA: 81.27m – Builder: Oceanco – Exterior: Nuvolari-Lenard – Interior: Alberto Pinto

Designer Reymond Langton says: “At the time of her creation, she was the largest yacht that we had signed and would be the largest the yard had built. The client is a very experienced yacht owner and for him to have put his trust in us when we had nothing of our own in the water at the time was a massive vote of confidence.

“He allowed us to be a little experimental with the design – this was the first large yacht with a plumb bow. It was fantastic to have landed another contract where we were able to design the exterior and interior as it gave us much more control over the whole project, and gave us the scope to really harmonise the spaces.

“It also allowed us to work hand in hand together, which we thoroughly enjoy and believe delivers the best results for the client. We think she stands out because she has a very striking profile that is easily recognisable from a distance.

“She has a lot of presence on the water due to her powerful lines. Anyone who has been on board will tell you that the high-volume interior feels incredibly luxurious.”

Year: 2007 – LOA: 68.0m – Builder: Abeking & Rasmussen – Exterior: Reymond Langton Design – Interior: Reymond Langton Design

6. Carinthia VII

The Austrian supermarket heiress Heidi Horten replaced Carinthia VI (see below) with this very secret yacht rumoured to run at 26 knots. Voting her as his most beautiful yacht, Rupert Mann of Rainsford Mann Design said, “97m is a good length for a designer to work with, as it gives an opportunity to design longitudinally not vertically and therefore create an elegant yacht which appears low and sleek.

“What makes the design of Carinthia VII so successful is the enhancement of this due to the pure and elegant sheer line that draws your eye from the bow to stern so effortlessly. The clever trick of dropping the sheer line one deck down aft, gives it a dynamic and purposeful bow shape forward, as if carving its path with consummate ease.

The horizontal lines of the super structure are equally uncomplicated, in this instance resisting the addition of unnecessary detail such as fashion plates that often complicate a design. Ultimately I think the strength of the design manifests through its simplicity. It is the most successful of designs, which can be called a ‘timeless classic’.

“A design that will be successful in every genre modern or classic and in every decade, that even 7 years later still is relevant and pleasing to the eye. I would suspect it is this timeless styling and the sheer simplicity, coupled with the poise and balance of the whole composition, that is so appealing to so many of us.”

Year: 2002 – LOA: 97m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Tim Heywood – Interior: Tim Heywood

5. Maltese Falcon

The designer Ken Freivoch, responsible for the way this beautiful yacht looks says, “We are delighted that our fellow designers should have included Maltese Falcon within their shortlist. She was designed without any attempt to be ostentatious or to conform to a set style – it was very much a case of “form follows function”, albeit with very careful attention to essential design principles, balanced proportions and uncluttered and purposeful shapes totally derived from the function they are designed to perform.

The yacht is significant in her innovative sailing system, and our studio took this as a clue to develop the design around such technology, with every effort to develop beautiful and unique solutions aimed at highlighting her unique rig. I can only surmise that a reason why she may have been selected by designers is that she is not a “trendy” design, but the result of going back to first principles, coming out with original and unique solutions, and achieve continuity of concept through from the external styling to the interior design.

A case in point would be the design of the “spider” feature at the aft deck – originally the result of a last minute request from the naval architects to achieve optimum separation between the bearings at the mizzen mast, the announcement from Gerry Dijkstra came something like: “Hey Ken, if we had to place the top bearing for the aft mast 1m above the deck, in the middle of the aft deck – would that be a problem?

“Can you come up with a way to do this, which Tom will not object to? We took this as a clue to design an elegant and purposeful set of arches or buttresses to shore up the bearing in question, and at the same time underline what a unique “machine” the Falcon is – express such function very much along the lines of a watchmaker showing the inner workings of a beautifully crafted watch. Maltese Falcon was a great challenge, exactly the type of challenge that our design team relishes.

For us, the thrill, the excitement and the ultimate satisfaction is to come up with totally unique, “out-of-the-box” solutions, and achieve a design which the owner can feel was truly conceived and executed in response to his brief, to his preferences and to the very specific requirements set out for the project.”

Year: 2006 – LOA: 88m – Builder: Perini Navi – Exterior: Gerard Dijstra – Interior: Ken Freivoch

Espen Oenio was at the time of the design working with Martin Francis and describes the commissioning owner – Mexican media magnate Emilio Azcarraga – as a wonderfully charismatic man. He remembers one meeting in particular early on in the project.

They were at the time sitting on board the owner’s then yacht Lady Azteca (now Achilles ), when he laid out what was to become the mission statement for the whole design process. He told the design team: “I am a very private man. I never spend time in port, I am always cruising. But when I do go into port, I want my presence to be felt through my boat.”

James Roy of BMT Nigel Gee is one designer who voted for Enigma . “It was not until I set eyes on her in the flesh at Cowes Week in 1999 that I really came to appreciate her beauty,” he says.

“The reverse sheer, the sweeping aft deck and those iconic windows – they all meld together to produce a yacht that visually works to perfection and is thoroughly striking even today, 18 years after her launch. It’s very different from anything else that is around.”

Theo Werner of Werner Yacht Design is equally enthusiastic. “When the design of this yacht was first published, I was stunned,” he says. “And when the first photographs appeared in the magazines, I was even more stunned.

“She introduced a new way of thinking that even surpassed the designs of Bannenberg, who I admire very much. Eco included many aspects that are foreign to other ships and yachts, yet Martin Francis managed to combine these with everything that make a ship pretty, such as sleekness, the suggestion of a low freeboard a small superstructure.”

She was subsequently sold to Larry Ellison and is now owned by the British businessman Aidan Barclay and his brother.

Year: 1991 – LOA: 74.5m – Builder: Blomhm & Voss – Exterior: Martin Francis – Interior: Francois Zuretti

3. Endeavour

“Endeavour is one of my favourite yachts for a number of reasons,” Ed Dubois told SuperYacht World . “Firstly, she is a J Class yacht – one of only a few ever built. This class epitomised the very peak of yacht design before World War II and remains still, in technical terms, a class apart. These yachts were extreme in every way and demanded technology that was then in its infancy.

“They were superb yachts to sail upwind, but they were also fast reaching and downwind. They demanded a very high level of sailing skill, and indeed a high level of boatbuilding skill.

“ Endeavour , I believe, is the most beautiful of all the Js built. Her purity of line is exquisite and I think the shape of the sheer is slightly better than any of the others including Velsheda (by the same designer).

“Charles Nicholson designed Endeavour in 1933 and she was used to challenge for the America’s Cup in 1934. It was universally acknowledged that she was faster than the defender Rainbow , and she won the first two races, but better sailing by the Americans allowed them to win overall.

“She has captured the imagination of so many people including, happily, Elizabeth Meyer, who acquired the yacht in the seventies and rebuilt her almost from scratch.

“I believe there is some original plate still present but the hull was rebuilt in the UK and then taken to Royal Huisman Shipyard to be fitted out. The interior, by John Munford, is beautiful – obviously not what was fitted originally when she was a pure racing yacht, but Munford created something that is entirely fitting.

“Endeavour is not a practical yacht to own. She can only be sailed in reasonable conditions, she requires a large crew to race her, most of whom by necessity must sleep ashore, and maintaining a yacht of this type, particularly with regard to sails, rigging, etc is not inexpensive. However, for sheer sailing performance, romantic appeal and beauty I believe she is second to none.”

Year: 1934 – LOA: 39.6m – Builder: Camper & Nicholson – Exterior: C & N – Interior: C & N

Designer Tim Heywood says: “When a client gives you carte blanche to create a design, it is a blessing and a curse, if you do not rise to the challenge, you will not gain the approval of your client or, eventually, the respect of your peers.

“ Pelorus was a great project for us and we are extremely pleased with the end result, as was the client. I was able to develop the internal general arrangement plan, the external global styling themes and the practical engineering details to a level I had not achieved before.

The organic curves & forms of the superstructure are echoed in the lines of the hull, tying the two forms together, to produce a harmony that is easy on the eye, was quite unique at the time and, hopefully, will not date.

“The belt line that runs forward from the stern and sweeps down towards the anchor pocket, is inspired by the armour plating of the light cruiser HMS Belfast , which still lives just up stream from our old London studio.

“If I succeeded in creating a yacht that is thought of as attractive, by my brothers in arms of the design world, I am very pleased. Informed comments from professional, talented designers and client, means more than from any other source, especially if they are not negative!

“My partner, Vanessa, came up with our project name, we always give a name to our yachts, rather than a sterile number, and the client liked the name so much that he confirmed Pelorus as the yacht’s eventual name. The yacht has changed hands, but we are very pleased to see that she has retained her original name.”

“If I succeeded in creating a yacht that is thought of as attractive by my brothers-in-arms of the design world, I am very pleased. Informed comment from professional, talented designers and clients means more than from any other source – especially when they are positive!”

Year: 2003 – LOA: 115m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Tim Heywood – Interior: Terrence Disdale

1. Carinthia VI

Dickie Bannenburg of Bannenburg Designs say: “Famously, and perhaps notoriously, Carinthia VI owes her existence to the fact that her elder sibling Carinthia V survived for only a few months before ending her days several fathoms down in Greek waters.

:The unfortunate captain struggled ashore to find a phone to have an awkward phone conversation with Helmut Horten, his Owner. Mr Horten rang my father up almost the following day and told him to start work on her replacement which has now become, in an often over used phrase, a yachting icon.

“She certainly wasn’t an icon when she appeared out of the Lürssen shed for the first time. With dramatic superstructure on a slim frigate-based hull, grilles and that distinctive blue windshield forward of the wheelhouse, my father’s design scared the pants off people and the perception of him hardened amongst conventional designers and naval architects as a dangerous radical. But now her pared down lines and slender masculinity scream good taste, restraint and a sense of suave style that is rarely seen these days.

“Certainly her interior was purposeful, code for slightly austere, and by today’s standards there was not much interior volume for lavish living, not least due to the presence of three mighty MTU diesels. There are no swoops, no complicated fashion plates and absolutely no ability to walk down steps at the transom to a nice bathing platform.

“But all the better for it. Life on board was, I understand, conducted with a certain Austrian precision and Carinthia ’s elegant and taut exterior, with deep blue paintwork and her gold coachwork stripe cut an unmistakeable dash in the harbours of the Cote d’Azur as she still does today.

“My father was very proud of her. Of course I’m even more proud that his design of almost forty years ago has such an enduring impact.”

Year: 2003 – LOA: 115m – Builder: Lürssen – Exterior: Bannenberg – Interior: Bannenberg

First published in the January 2015 issue of Superyacht World.

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Top 10 Most Beautiful Sailing Yachts

Sailing dates back to early 3,000 BC and is one of the first sea-going ships in human history. From racing to luxurious vacations, it’s known to be one of the most efficient, long distance travel methods of its kind. According to Statista, the global luxury sailing yacht market is projected to more than double between 2019 and 2030. We hope you enjoy the top 10 sail boats!

maltese falcon

Year Built: 1990 Maker: Perini Navi Length: 289' Owner: Tom Perkins (American)

sailing yacht a

Year Built: 2015 Maker: Nobiskrug Length: 468.5' Owner: Andrey Melnichenko (Russian)

black pearl

Year Built: 2016 Maker: Oceano Length: 350' Owner: Oleg Burlakov (Russian)

Year Built: 2015 Maker: Oceano / Vitters Length: 282' Owner: Kjell Inge Røkke (Norwegian)

Mirabella V

Year Built: 2003 Maker: VT Shipbuilding Length: 254'6" Owner: Rodney Lewis (American)

Year Built: 2016 Maker: Perni Navi Length: 230' Owner: King of Morocco (Moroccan)

Year Built: 2004 Maker: Royal Huisman Length: 295' Owner: James H. Clark (American)

Year Built: 2011 Maker: Alloy Yachts Length: 220' Owner: Rupert Murdoch (Australian/American)

Year Built: 2017 Maker: Perni Navi Length: 197' Owner: Ennio Doris (Italian)

Year Built: 2014 Maker: Nautor Swan OY ‍Length: Owner: Unknown

Beautiful Yachts profiles the most luxurious and beautiful yachts around the world. If you have a great photo of a beautiful yacht, please email us at [email protected]

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

25 of the best small sailing boat designs

• Nic Compton
• August 10, 2022

Nic Compton looks at the 25 yachts under 40ft which have had the biggest impact on UK sailing

There’s nothing like a list of best small sailing boat designs to get the blood pumping.

Everyone has their favourites, and everyone has their pet hates.

This is my list of the 25 best small sailing boat designs, honed down from the list of 55 yachts I started with.

I’ve tried to be objective and have included several boats I don’t particularly like but which have undeniably had an impact on sailing in the UK – and yes, it would be quite a different list if I was writing about another country.

If your favourite isn’t on the best small sailing boat designs list, then send an email to [email protected] to argue the case for your best-loved boat.

Ready? Take a deep breath…

Credit: Bob Aylott

Laurent Giles is best known for designing wholesome wooden cruising boats such as the Vertue and Wanderer III , yet his most successful design was the 26ft Centaur he designed for Westerly, of which a remarkable 2,444 were built between 1969 and 1980.

It might not be the prettiest boat on the water, but it sure packs a lot of accommodation.

The Westerly Centaur was one of the first production boats to be tank tested, so it sails surprisingly well too. Jack L Giles knew what he was doing.

Colin Archer

Credit: Nic Compton

Only 32 Colin Archer lifeboats were built during their designer’s lifetime, starting with Colin Archer in 1893 and finishing with Johan Bruusgaard in 1924.

Yet their reputation for safety spawned hundreds of copycat designs, the most famous of which was Sir Robin Knox-Johnston ’s Suhaili , which he sailed around the world singlehanded in 1968-9.

The term Colin Archer has become so generic it is often used to describe any double-ender – so beware!

Contessa 32

Assent ‘s performance in the 1979 Fastnet Race makes the Contessa 32 a worth entry in the 25 best small sailing boat designs list. Credit: Nic Compton

Designed by David Sadler as a bigger alternative to the popular Contessa 26, the Contessa 32 was built by Jeremy Rogers in Lymington from 1970.

The yacht’s credentials were established when Assent , the Contessa 32 owned by Willy Kerr and skippered by his son Alan, became the only yacht in her class to complete the deadly 1979 Fastnet Race .

When UK production ceased in 1983, more than 700 had been built, and another 20 have been built since 1996.

Cornish Crabber 24

It seemed a daft idea to build a gaff-rigged boat in 1974, just when everyone else had embraced the ‘modern’ Bermudan rig.

Yet the first Cornish Crabber 24, designed by Roger Dongray, tapped into a feeling that would grow and grow and eventually become a movement.

The 24 was followed in 1979 by the even more successful Shrimper 19 – now ubiquitous in almost every harbour in England – and the rest is history.

Drascombe Lugger

Credit: David Harding

There are faster, lighter and more comfortable boats than a Drascombe Lugger.

And yet, 57 years after John Watkinson designed the first ‘lugger’ (soon changed to gunter rig), more than 2,000 have been built and the design is still going strong.

More than any other boat, the Drascombe Lugger opened up dinghy cruising, exemplified by Ken Duxbury’s Greek voyages in the 1970s and Webb Chiles’s near-circumnavigation on Chidiock Tichbourne I and II .

The 26ft Eventide. Credit: David Harding

It’s been described as the Morris Minor of the boating world – except that the majority of the 1,000 Eventides built were lovingly assembled by their owners, not on a production line.

After you’d tested your skills building the Mirror dinghy, you could progress to building a yacht.

And at 24ft long, the Eventide packed a surprising amount of living space.

It was Maurice Griffiths’ most successful design and helped bring yachting to a wider audience.

You either love ’em or you hate ’em – motorsailers, that is.

The Fisher 30 was brought into production in 1971 and was one of the first out-and-out motorsailers.

With its long keel , heavy displacement and high bulwarks, it was intended to evoke the spirit of North Sea fishing boats.

It might not sail brilliantly but it provided an exceptional level of comfort for its size and it would look after you when things turned nasty.

Significantly, it was also fitted with a large engine.

Credit: Rupert Holmes

It should have been a disaster.

In 1941, when the Scandinavian Sailing Federation couldn’t choose a winner for their competition to design an affordable sailing boat, they gave six designs to naval architect Tord Sundén and asked him to combine the best features from each.

The result was a sweet-lined 25ft sloop which was very seaworthy and fast.

The design has been built in GRP since the 1970s and now numbers more than 4,000, with fleets all over the world.

Credit: Kevin Barber

There’s something disconcerting about a boat with two unstayed masts and no foresails, and certainly the Freedom range has its detractors.

Yet as Garry Hoyt proved, first with the Freedom 40, designed in collaboration with Halsey Herreshoff, and then the Freedom 33 , designed with Jay Paris, the boats are simple to sail (none of those clattering jib sheets every time you tack) and surprisingly fast – at least off the wind .

Other ‘cat ketch’ designs followed but the Freedoms developed their own cult following.

Hillyard 12-tonner

The old joke about Hillyards is that you won’t drown on one but you might starve to death getting there.

And yet this religious boatbuilder from Littlehampton built up to 800 yachts which travelled around the world – you can find them cruising far-flung destinations.

Sizes ranged from 2.5 to 20 tons, though the 9- and 12-ton are best for long cruises.

The innovations on Jester means she is one of the best small sailing boat designs in the last 100 years. Credit: Ewen Southby-Tailyour

Blondie Hasler was one of the great sailing innovators and Jester was his testing ground.

She was enclosed, carvel planked and had an unstayed junk rig.

Steering was via a windvane system Hasler created.

Hasler came second in the first OSTAR , proving small boats can achieve great things.

Moody kicked off the era of comfort-oriented boats with its very first design.

The Moody 33, designed by Angus Primrose, had a wide beam and high topside to produce a voluminous hull .

The centre cockpit allowed for an aft cabin, resulting in a 33-footer with two sleeping cabins – an almost unheard of concept in 1973 –full-beam heads and spacious galley.

What’s more, her performance under sail was more than adequate for cruising.

Finally, here was a yacht that all the family could enjoy.

Continues below…

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Will Bruton looks at the latest trends and innovations shaping the boats we sail

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James Jermain looks at the main keel types, their typical performance and the pros and cons of each

Boat handling: How to use your yacht’s hull shape to your advantage

Whether you have a long keel or twin keel rudders, there will be pros and cons when it comes to…

Nicholson 32

Credit: Genevieve Leaper

Charles Nicholson was a giant of the wooden boat era but one of his last designs – created with his son Peter – was a pioneering fibreglass boat that would become an enduring classic.

With its long keel and heavy displacement, the Nicholson 32 is in many ways a wooden boat built in fibreglass – and indeed the design was based on Nicholson’s South Coast One Design.

From 1966 to 1977, the ‘Nic 32’ went through 11 variations.

Credit: Hallberg-Rassy

In the beginning there was… the Rasmus 35. This was the first yacht built by the company that would become Hallberg-Rassy and which would eventually build more than 9,000 boats.

The Rasmus 35, designed by Olle Enderlein, was a conservative design, featuring a centre cockpit, long keel and well-appointed accommodation.

Some 760 boats were built between 1967 and 1978.

Credit: Larry & Lin Pardey

Lyle Hess was ahead of his time when he designed Renegade in 1949.

Despite winning the Newport to Ensenada race, the 25ft wooden cutter went largely unnoticed.

Hess had to build bridges for 15 years before Larry Pardey asked him to design the 24ft Seraffyn , closely based on Renegade ’s lines but with a Bermudan rig.

Pardey’s subsequent voyages around the world cemented Hess’s reputation and success of the Renegade design.

Would the Rustler 36 make it on your best small sailing boat list? Credit: Rustler Yachts

Six out of 18 entries for the 2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR) were Rustler 36s, with the top three places all going to Rustler 36 skippers.

It was a fantastic endorsement for a long-keel yacht designed by Holman & Pye 40 years before.

Expect to see more Rustler 36s in the 2022 edition of the GGR!

It was Ted Heath who first brought the S&S 34 to prominence with his boat Morning Cloud .

In 1969 the yacht won the Sydney to Hobart Race, despite being one of the smallest boats in the race.

Other epic S&S 34 voyages include the first ever single-handed double circumnavigation by Jon Sanders in 1981

Credit: Colin Work

The Contessa 32 might seem an impossible boat to improve upon, but that’s what her designer David Sadler attempted to do in 1979 with the launch of the Sadler 32 .

That was followed two years later by the Sadler 29 , a tidy little boat that managed to pack in six berths in a comfortable open-plan interior.

The boat was billed as ‘unsinkable’, with a double-skinned hull separated by closed cell foam buoyancy.

What’s more, it was fast, notching up to 12 knots.

Credit: Dick Durham/Yachting Monthly

Another modern take on the Contessa theme was the Sigma 33, designed by David Thomas in 1979.

A modern underwater body combined with greater beam and higher freeboard produced a faster boat with greater accommodation.

And, like the Contessa, the Sigma 33 earned its stripes at the 1979 Fastnet, when two of the boats survived to tell the tale.

A lively one-design fleet soon developed on the Solent which is still active to this day.

A replica of Joshua Slocum’s Spray . Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

The boat Joshua Slocum used for his first singlehanded circumnavigation of the world wasn’t intended to sail much further than the Chesapeake Bay.

The 37ft Spray was a rotten old oyster sloop which a friend gave him and which he had to spend 13 months fixing up.

Yet this boxy little tub, with its over-optimistic clipper bow, not only took Slocum safely around the world but has spawned dozens of modern copies that have undertaken long ocean passages.

Credit: James Wharram Designs

What are boats for if not for dreaming? And James Wharram had big dreams.

First he sailed across the Atlantic on the 23ft 6in catamaran Tangaroa .

He then built the 40ft Rongo on the beach in Trinidad (with a little help from French legend Bernard Moitessier) and sailed back to the UK.

Then he drew the 34ft Tangaroa (based on Rongo ) for others to follow in his wake and sold 500 plans in 10 years.

Credit: Graham Snook/Yachting Monthly

The Twister was designed in a hurry.

Kim Holman wanted a boat at short notice for the 1963 season and, having had some success with his Stella design (based on the Folkboat), he rushed out a ‘knockabout cruising boat for the summer with some racing for fun’.

The result was a Bermudan sloop that proved nigh on unbeatable on the East Anglian circuit.

It proved to be Holman’s most popular design with more than 200 built.

Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

Laurent Giles’s design No15 was drawn in 1935 for a Guernsey solicitor who wanted ‘a boat that would spin on a sixpence and I could sail single-handed ’.

What the young Jack Giles gave him was a pretty transom-sterned cutter, with a nicely raked stem.

Despite being moderate in every way, the boat proved extremely able and was soon racking up long distances, including Humphrey Barton’s famous transatlantic crossing on Vertue XXXV in 1950.

Wanderer II and III

Credit: Thies Matzen

Eric and Susan Hiscock couldn’t afford a Vertue, so Laurent Giles designed a smaller, 21ft version for them which they named Wanderer II .

They were back a few years later, this time wanting a bigger version: the 30ft Wanderer III .

It was this boat they sailed around the world between 1952-55, writing articles and sailing books along the way.

In doing so, they introduced a whole generation of amateur sailors to the possibilities of long-distance cruising.

Westerly 22

The origins of Westerly Marine were incredibly modest.

Commander Denys Rayner started building plywood dinghies in the 1950s which morphed into a 22ft pocket cruiser called the Westcoaster.

Realising the potential of fibreglass, in 1963 he adapted the design to create the Westerly 22, an affordable cruising boat with bilge keels and a reverse sheer coachroof.

Some 332 boats were built to the design before it was relaunched as the Nomad (267 built).

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Superyacht for charter

Make: Camper & Nicholsons | Lenght: 65.3m (214.2ft) | Pax: 11 guests in 6 cabins

Rate from (per week)

The world’s largest wooden sailing yacht, and indeed one of the most beautiful classic sailing yachts of all time, the three-masted schooner CREOLE was a masterpiece when launched in 1927, and remains so today. An example of magnificent craftsmanship combined with meticulous design, she has led a colourful life. Designed with a towering rig, she was launched with a stumpy rig due to her owner’s demands and was not restored to her original design until a decade later when under new ownership. She then had her rig removed and deck works changed during her service in the Second World War, which left her unrecognisable. She was returned to the beautifully appointed and fast CREOLE that her designer had intended with a major restoration in the mid 20th Century.

Description

Today, CREOLE accommodates 11 guests in six cabins including a master suite, two double cabins and two twin cabins. Timeless styling and beautiful furnishings in warm, rich tones create an elegant and comfortable atmosphere, surrounding her guests in all manner of comfort with luxurious facilities. Her aft deck is perfect for both daytime and evening entertainment, while her formal dining salon and vast main salon are perfect interior spaces for formal occasions.

With all the pleasures of being under sail, she is perfect for the peerless charterer.

Key Features

• One of the most iconic vessels in the world
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SuperyachtClassics

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Talitha of 1929.

An elegant 80m classic with a glorious & glamorous history of artists &  impresarios past 

Skylark of 1937

A beautiful S&S yawl which has cruised around the world and raced in over 70 regattas

BlueBird of 1938

Steeped in history, built & owned by a true British hero, a speed king of the last century

Baruna of 1938

One of the most famous sailing classics of all time, now saved and beautifully restored

From those onboard

"Team Baruna combines comedy and competence, glamour and grit, beauty and the odd beast, but most of all we have fun, loads of it. Let's hope we always leave a trail of giggling mermaids in our wake."

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"The moment you step onboard you have a great feeling, a feeling of style with her beautiful varnished teak, a feeling of elegance, a feeling I am going to have a great day out on the water aboard a beautiful classic." 

"Craft like these are rarities, floating objects of art. The history of BlueBird is astounding and I feel responsible each day for preserving decades of history. Not just a

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"The old classic yachts are a passion, a labour of love. Everyone involved strives for perfection. Even  after 20 years of service we are still working every hour of every day to make her even better."

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“Everyone that came aboard her had the same impression. Nobody wanted to wait to sail her. She's undoubtedly the prettiest girl at the dance and still improving with age. She will outlive us all”

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Dream daysailers: 13 of the best boats for a great day out on the water

• Toby Hodges
• July 16, 2020

Toby Hodges looks at the best daysailer yachts on the market, from ultra-modern cruisers to classically-styled masterpieces

Modern daysailers

1. saffier se 33 ud.

Saffier Yachts now has eight designs between 21ft and 37ft. The investment and knowhow the Hennevanger brothers have put into the production facility really shows too – the vacuum-infused builds and finish quality are top class.

Saffier builds seaworthy designs , tests all new models thoroughly in the North Sea and ensures its yachts can be sailed easily single-handedly.

Launched in 2014, the Saffier Se 33 is a sporty design but with a practical self-draining cockpit and optional solid sprayhood, which help it handle most weather conditions. It has a fast underwater shape, a generous sailplan and a fixed carbon bowsprit. The extra-large cockpit features 2m benches and a folding transom and there is space enough for four to sleep below.

Saffier’s brand new Se 27 also looks like a seriously fun design and has been averaging speeds in the mid-teens with the kite up, clocking over 20 knots in its early trials this spring.

Prices for the Se 33 start at €114,500 (ex. VAT).

2. Domani S30

The S30, launched in 2018, is Belgian company Domani’s first model – a trailable sportsboat designed to be comfortable, fast and beautiful, says founder Michael Goddaert.

Inspired by Riva’s Aquarama motor boat , it has a large minimalist cockpit, spacious aft sunbed and a classy-looking compact interior. The narrow-beamed S30 weighs only 1,700kg, is offered with a long, two-part carbon rig, and has an electric drive as standard. A Lounge version is being developed which is similar to the Tofinou 9.7 in terms of deck layout.

Price ex. VAT: €88,000.

Article continues below…

Tofinou 9.7 review: This Peugeot-designed daysailer is a thing of great beauty

There are some too-rare boats that turn every head, and everything about them attracts your attention. The new Tofinou 9.7…

Saffier SE37 Lounge test: A veritable supercar of the seas

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3. Black Pepper Code 0.1

Those lucky enough to have sailed at Les Voiles de St Tropez may have seen these neo-classic daysailers from chic brand Black Pepper.

As well as this range of Code-branded daysailers/weekenders, the yard has just launched a new Sam Manuard-designed, scow-bowed IMOCA 60 for Armel Tripon’s Vendée Globe campaign.

The original Code 0, by Marc Lombard, is a high-performance dayboat with a distinctive squared coachroof, which is built light in carbon and epoxy with half its displacement in the keel bulb.

A new Code 0.1 version (pictured) launched last year, and is available in Open and Spirit (performance/regatta) versions.

Price ex. VAT: £148,000.

4. A-Yachts A27 / A33

A-Yachts founder. Michael Gilhofer helped to develop the original B30 (pictured below) and was distributor for B-Yachts in Germany for 17 years. He commissioned the in-demand Lorenzo Argento, who formerly worked with Luca Brenta, to design a new range of luxury daysailers built in Slovenia and finished in Austria.

The first two A-Yachts models (the A27 is pictured above) are focused on performance daysailing, whereas B-Yachts has gone for more cruising comfort below. An exciting new model, the A39, is due for launch in 2021.

Prices ex. VAT: A27 €98,500, A33 €215,000.

5. B-Yachts B30 / B34

The Brenta B30 is the iconic Italian daysailer. A real looker to keep berthed at your Portofino residence, it has a lightweight carbon/epoxy build and a high ballast ratio, for tantalising light airs sailing. B-Yachts is the brand that took the daysailing concept to the limit with the fiendishly indulgent (and very white) B60, which we tested, open-mouthed, back in 2008.

Although stagnant for some years, the company was acquired by Luca Brenta’s cousin Alberto Castiglioni in late 2018. Brenta, along with designer Alessia Lee, has worked up the design for a new B34 model due to launch this year, and they are now working on a B40.

The B30 (above) is now a modern classic, with more than 40 built, but the refreshed company has made some upgrades including a new rudder profile, fixed bowsprit, revised deck gear, a more functional interior and the option for an electric engine. But it’s still got those killer lines.

Prices ex. VAT: B30 €118,000, B34 €190,000.

6. Esse 330

This is the sixth model from Josef Schuchter’s yard on Lake Zurich, which builds fast, stiff and sporty designs. The new 330 is the first Esse that offers the ability for weekend/overnight sailing. Schuchter told us it is designed more for pleasure sailing than racing but has the same performance as the yard’s 990, using a 1m shorter mast and with greater stability and comfort.

Umberto Felci designed the 330 with a self-tacking jib, a carbon deck-stepped mast with no backstay and a high ballast ratio to help ensure it can easily be sailed short-handed. A lifting keel reduces draught to 1.55m and an electric drive is offered.

Price ex. VAT: €134,000.

A plumb stem and square coachroof give an alluring pilot classic style to this Judel/Vrolijk design, but it is the materials from which it is crafted that are most intriguing. Built by Bremen-based Greenboats, the flax (plant) or linen (fibre) is vacuum-infused with bio epoxy and can be given a clearcoat finish to help show off the fibres.

The focus is on weight-saving for this performance daysailer, using recycled PET as the core material. The deck is made from cork, the ropes are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles and the sails are recyclable.

Price ex. VAT, ready to sail: €126,000.

Modern-classic daysailers

8. eagle 38.

The Boersma brothers founded Leonardo Yachts in the northern part of the Netherlands to build top quality gentleman’s daysailers and weekenders.

Its range of gorgeous designs are inspired by the timeless lines and overhangs of the J Class , but with modern appendages.

The new Hoek-designed Eagle 38 is the smallest of a range that now extends to 70ft. It is devised for easy handling, with jib winches in reach of the helmsman/tiller, in a deep self-draining cockpit that can seat six in comfort.

The varnished mahogany interior can sleep three and includes cooking facilities and a neatly hidden toilet.

Price ex. VAT: €177,500.

9. Wally Nano MkII

Wally stunned us with the unveiling of its incomparable Nano in 2009. The Andre Hoek-designed masterpiece certainly elevated the standard of extravagance (and price) for a daysailer. This Wally Nano MkII model released eight years later is a refined version of the achingly cool design, which marries Italian styling with Dutch workmanship and ingenuity.

A pilot cutter-influenced plumb bow, bowsprit and low, squared coachroof set off a retro style, finished by an elegantly overhanging counter. These classic lines meet contemporary construction and attention to detail at Joop Doomernik’s traditional Dragon building yard. The top class composite work includes a keel grid built from 33 layers of carbon. Believe me, the result on the water is a truly intoxicating ride, both upwind and down!

Price ex. VAT: €390,000.

10. Rustler 33

The Stephen Jones design has the elegant lines and overhangs of the Cornish yard’s earlier Rustler 24, but with a comfortable handmade interior that makes it enticing to overnight on too – there is a proper heads compartment including wet hanging area.

With the addition of stanchions, this becomes a Class B offshore yacht. It’s a stiff boat to sail with a deep, dry cockpit, in which it is comfortable to sit, perch on the chunky coaming or stand to handle the tiller.

Rustler says recent clients for the Rustler 33 are ordering them with carbon masts and electric engines.

Price ex. VAT: £165,000.

11. Morris 29

Fusing S&S lines with modern lightweight materials such as carbon and epoxy, the Morris 29 is a quintessential daysailer that’s easy to rig and maintain, a witch to sail and is as handsome as they come.

And there’s a deep, long cockpit and comfortable saloon below to keep any guests content while you hog the tiller. Now built by Hinckley and priced from US$266,500.

12. Alerion 28 / 33

Cleverly marketed as ‘the 90-minute’ getaway, the iconic Alerion daysailer fleet, from 20-33ft, is designed to get people afloat easily and with the most enjoyment possible. Above is the Alerion 33.

Often seen sporting optional Hoyt jib booms, the models are easy and a delight to sail and have inviting and well-finished interiors.

Rarely do beauty, speed and single-handed ease combine this fluidly and successfully. Prices are available on application only.

13. Friendship 36 / 40

The elegantly timeless look of the Friendship 40, its classic lines, including pronounced tumblehome and wineglass counter, are by Rhode Island’s Ted Fontaine. A Friendship’s deep cockpit and wonderfully inviting and well-appointed interior invite you to sail on through the weekend and beyond.

Fontaine says both the 36 and 40 are still available to order, but at top prices: “The Friendship 40 would be built by Yachting Developments in New Zealand where the moulds are presently stored,” (priced in the region of US $1,350,000).

“And the Friendship 36 is being offered as a cold-moulded wood epoxy built boat that would be built by Rockport Marine in Maine – the yard that built the first 36.”

First published in the June 2020 edition of Yachting World.

Become the Confident Skipper of Your Own Sailboat

10 most beautiful sailing ships.

• Post author: Anns
• Post published: November 7, 2022
• Post category: Uncategorized
• Post comments: 0 Comments

Introduction

The world of sailing ships is much more diverse than most people realize. Not only are there many types of sailing vessels, but these ships can be found all over the globe in various shapes, sizes, and designs. Some are designed for luxury while others are built for speed or for practical purposes. This article will explore some of the most beautiful sailing ships in existence today and how their design differs from more traditional vessels which have been around for hundreds of years.

The Sea Cloud is a German-built sailing cruise ship. It was originally designed by the Hamburg-based firm, Lürssen Yachts. The ship was launched in 1931 and was built for the shipping magnate Walter von Haffner.

After World War II, it was requisitioned by the United States Navy as a troop transport vessel during the Berlin Air Lift. In 1948, it returned to civilian service under its original name before being sold to several different owners over time until it finally ended up back with its original family owners in 2008.

“Fearless” is a sailing ship built in 2001 and designed by Bruce Farr. It’s length is 53 meters and has a weight of 42 tons. It can accommodate nine crew members and thirty passengers.

Dynamique 42

The Dynamique 42 is a beautiful sailing yacht designed by Dubois Naval Architects and built by Dynamique Yachts. It’s a modern version of the classic Dehler 34, which was originally built in 1956 by Dehler Yachts (now Dynamique Yachts). The hull shape is based on the original design while incorporating modern construction methods and materials, resulting in an elegant and efficient vessel with plenty of room below deck for storage.

The Dynamique 42 boasts an asymmetric spinnaker that provides impressive acceleration when running downwind. The rig can be set up to sail singlehanded or with a crew of 6-7 people, who will enjoy plenty of elbow room for socializing around the dining table or relaxing on deck after dinner.

Sea Cloud II

The Sea Cloud II was built in 1931 by Sparkman & Stephens. She was designed to cruise the Caribbean, and her size comes out at 157.5 meters (515 feet) long, 15.7 meters (51 feet) wide, and 6,560 gross tons. Her crew consisted of 31 members who could serve 42 passengers in three classes.

The ship’s design has been praised for its streamlined look that makes it resemble a cloud passing on the water’s surface rather than an actual ship.

Ethereal, a modern version of a classic sailing yacht, is a sloop with a length of 24 meters. It was built in 2001 and designed by Philippe Briand. The ship is made mostly out of aluminum, which makes it very light (about 50 tons). The Ethereal has 5 sails: mainsail, jibsails and staysails on each side of the ship and an asymmetrical spinnaker sail too.

The crew consists only 6 people! 3 sailors make up its core team while another 3 are needed for winching duty since this vessel uses winches instead of hydraulics to raise and lower sails.

While many sailing ships are built for racing and competition, the latter only being a secondary purpose, Artemis is a different story. She was designed by Philippe Starck and built in 2011, with her hull constructed from steel and aluminum. While she might seem like an ordinary ship at first glance, there’s nothing ordinary about this one: she has two masts of equal height that support three sails each (with two on either side of a central mast). Her length is 80 meters long; her width is 18 meters wide; her draft is 4 meters deep; her displacement weight is 300 tons (her gross tonnage); she has 8 cabins available for guests who want to travel on board—and they’re also welcome to use one of its two swimming pools!

It would be easy enough to call this vessel “sophisticated” or even “classy,” but those words don’t exactly capture all that makes it so special. For starters: it was built in France by Alain Thébault Yacht Design for cruising purposes only (although some races have been held on board). It’s important not just because it looks nice but also because it represents what we hope will happen with our oceans—that we’ll start seeing more ships like these moving around our seas instead of ones made purely out of plastic waste.

The Adix is a modern sailing yacht that was built in 2014 by Feadship. It has a raked bow and counter stern, with the main deck rising toward the stern, providing more space for socializing. The yacht’s interior design includes an atrium with glass stairs leading up to the bridge deck, where guests can enjoy panoramic views of their surroundings while standing on transparent floors overhanging open spaces below them.

The Ganesha is a luxury superyacht built in 2014, with a length of 68.9 meters and height of 20 meters. It displaces 11,000 tonnes and has a speed of 14 knots. The crew consists of 28 people, while it can carry 12 passengers comfortably.

Maltese Falcon

• The Maltese Falcon is a sailing yacht built by the Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman. It was launched in 2016 and can accommodate 10 guests and 8 crew members.
• At 68 meters long, it’s a bit smaller than many of its peers but still has a lot to offer onboard. There are two main saloons, both with panoramic views of the sea thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows that extend up three stories. The aft deck has an outdoor dining area, while there’s also a retractable berth on the foredeck for overnight stays at anchorages or coves along your route.*
• Neptune is a luxury sailing yacht built by Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman in 2019.
• It was designed by Dubois Naval Architects and has a length of over 140 meters.
• The main mast is 50 meters high, while the height of the stern castle is 20 meters. The yacht has been fitted with a carbon fiber rig providing approximately one million pounds of lifting force at sea level, allowing it to attain speeds in excess of 18 knots under sail alone (36km/h).

The future of sailing ships will be a combination of classic and modern designs.

The future of sailing ships is a combination of classic and modern designs. It will be a long time before we see the end of the classic type of sailing ship, as they are beautiful and romantic. They are also a great way to travel, particularly if you want to do so in an environmentally friendly way. You can buy or charter a modern or classic-styled ship today to enjoy all these benefits!

As you can see, sailing ships are still around and they are getting more beautiful. The future of sailing ships will be a combination of classic and modern designs.

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Top 25 classic boat types

What is a classic boat? The answer becomes ever harder to pin down, as more yachts are seen as ‘classic’ and as wooden boats themselves evolve.

Today the ‘classic’ fleet encompasses a vast range of floating marvels, from rugged Victorian work boats, to huge schooners raced by royalty 100 years ago, to the ‘everyman’ yachts of the 1950s, to pin-sharp Metre boats built for the America’s Cup.

This vintage fleet is now bolstered by a growing ‘Spirit of Tradition’ class of wooden yachts that have the look of yesteryear, but the fittings and performance of a modern boat.

If the answer to the question is that ‘you know one when you see one’, then a quick guide to some broad classic boat types surely wouldn’t go amiss. The following, of course, is a fraction of all the different types of traditional vessels out there. So, in no particular order…

Great yacht designs: the Nordic Folkboat

Great yacht designs: Jolie Brise

Affordable Classics: the Stella

Stormvogel: the first of the Maxis

The 100 club: the glory of centenarian yachts

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Classic yachts : These are the highlights in the new YACHT classic

Lasse Johannsen

 ·  07.12.2022

Twice a year, YACHT classic is published, a magazine that is all about classic yachts and their origins, the people behind them and the history of yachting. Now it's time again. With issue 1/2023, we are once again taking our readers into what is perhaps the most beautiful parallel world of sailing.

Colourful variety of classic yacht themes

We focus on the classic yacht scene on Lake Constance and sail with a replica of a traditionally built 8 mR yacht at the Classic Weekend Bodensee. The aft "Starling Burgess" was built at Josef Martin's shipyard according to plans by the American designer whose name it bears. The drawings were reconstructed on the computer by Juliane Hempel.

In Marstal, we accompanied the restoration of the first steel cruiser yacht "Talisman" built by Abeking & Rasmussen in 1920. The ship was completely refurbished with sustainability in mind, from the ropes to the electric drive.

Our author Marc Bielefeld reveals the secret of the bone ships, models made from animal bones by prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars.

In a comprehensive biography, we take a closer look at the Swedish designer, shipyard owner and, above all, regatta sailor Tore Holm. To this day, he is Sweden's most successful Olympian in his field.

In the south of England, our correspondent Nic Comption is on board the "Elrhuna", a 1904 sloop inspired by the royal British yacht "Britannia", which also has an exciting history.

Early in the year, the president of the J dinghy association, Manfred Jacob, invited us on board his 100-year-old "Woge". In strong winds, we set off on the steeply gaff-rigged vessel on the Elbe, which was still at winter temperatures. The result was some fast-paced shots and a good impression of the antique J dinghy.

Care and restoration of classic sailing boats

We also present a chapter from the new book by master boat builder Uwe Baykowski in an advance print. It tells you everything you need to know about decks on classic boats. From care and maintenance to restoration and new construction.

Restoration is also the subject of a photo story that was created during work on an old Zees boat. For several months, the Berlin photographer accompanied the rescue of this traditional vessel, which was originally used for fishing under sail.

And finally, in our "New Old Ones" section, we compare a wooden Neptune cruiser with one built from GRP. The standardised class, which is very actively sailed in regattas in Sweden, fits exactly into the dimensions of the 15-berth archipelago cruisers.

How to read YACHT classic

The new YACHT classic is available from today in well-stocked newsagents. You can also order the magazine in the DK shop and subscribe to it digitally and in print.

• Read YACHT classic

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Retro revival: The best modern classic yachts

Livingstone.

Many people love classic design, but old yachts, cars and aircraft often come with inevitable issues in terms of performance and comfort, not to mention a never-ending maintenance list. The modern classic offers an alternative to owning a classic superyacht , drawing inspiration from the magnificent lines of yachts from the first half of the 20th century, and yet concealing modernity beneath the waterline and within. We round up some of the best modern classic yachts in the world...

It is not just the name of the 24 metre Livingstone that recalls a bygone era - this steel-hulled cruiser from Hartman Yachts oozes 1930s charm with a canoe stern and a decorative aluminium funnel. However, these classic flourishes belie her high-tech equipment, such as an extendable passarelle that can emerge from the beautifully curved transom in a matter of seconds.

The massive modern classic Nero stretches more than 90 metres in length. Built in China by Corsair Yachts , her owner was inspired by J.P. Morgan's Corsair yachts from the 1930s. An apt replica, she resembles a small, classic cruise liner – with a smoke stack included.

Accommodating 12 guests, Nero is one of the most expensive charter yachts . Superyacht Nero is available for charter in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean , with a talented chef on board who has received some bizarre requests in his time.

More about this yacht

Yachts for charter.

She may look like she was born in a different era, but the 48.7 metre yacht Clarity was launched by Turkish yard Bilgin Yachts as recently as 2015. Styled in-house, this modern classic was based on a simple but ambitious premise: to build a yacht with a design that will last forever.

Her full-displacement hull has a bilge keel and bulbous bow for all-ocean seakeeping, while modest 707hp Caterpillar engines yield a serene cruising speed of around 10 knots befitting of Clarity ’s graceful appearance.

Photo: Eray Altay

The 38.8 metre Truly Classic  Atalante  was launched by Claasen in 2015 and combines retro good looks and modern performance . She features design from renowned modern classic designer Andre Hoek , who takes his inspiration from famous designers of old, such as William Fife , Charles Nicholson and Nathanael Herreshoff .

Atalante was built for the owner of a 27.5 metre Truly Classic of the same name, who enjoyed the smaller version so much that he ordered a larger, faster version.

“ Atalante represents the best of both worlds," said Hoek. "She performs like a modern thoroughbred and blends this with the timeless appeal of a classic yacht.”

The 28.9 metre Ardis II was built by De Cesari for superyacht and jewellery house owner Carlo Traglio . The mahogany motor yacht can often be seen moored in Porto Cervo, Sardinia .

Traglio spent much of his childhood on the classic 50 metre schooner Xarifa , before owning the  Perini Navi 80 yacht  Malizia . His experience of classic yachts acted as inspiration for building Ardis II , which can accommodate up to eight guests in four cabins. She is fitted with modern MTU diesel engines and is capable of 25 knots.

Launched in 2015 by Rossinavi , the 40 metre motor yacht Taransay was built to replicate yachts of the early 1930s . Taransay's owner is said to have been inspired to build a modern classic yacht after chartering the real classic Ocean Glory , launched in 1935.

Rossinavi married Taransay 's classic styling with modern propulsion – two Caterpillar C18 Acert engines deliver a top speed of 14 knots, and she has a range of 3,500 nautical miles at 10 knots. She also has spacious interiors and deck spaces thanks to a roomy 7.6 metre beam.

Eleonora E is an exact replica of the schooner Westward and an excellent example of a modern classic paying tribute to the original. She was built at the GraafShip yard in the Netherlands and was launched in March 2000. Since then, Eleonora E  — currently available for charter  — has successfully participated in a number of classic sailing regattas.

The 46 metre Sycara IV was a show-stopper when she was launched by Burger in 2009, displaying the US builder's diversity as it waded into retro yacht waters. With exteriors by Bruce King and interiors by Ken Freivokh and Craig Beale , the fantail stern yacht makes you do a double take as she could easily fit in alongside classic Trumpys .

But this modern classic has a shallow draft and was designed for cruising the Bahamas and the Great Lakes in style. Sycara IV  has modern touches with a spacious on-deck master stateroom, telescoping bowsprit and corrosion resistant aluminium hull.

Tempus Fugit

This modern classic yacht is a head turner on the racecourse, blending speed and style thanks to her highly varnished wooden hull. The 27.43 metre Tempus Fugit , from Arkin Pruva , was designed by Rob Humphreys to pay homage to J Class yachts , but she is beamier, offering more comfortable living accommodations below and in the cockpit during races.

And race she does —  Tempus Fugit was a surprise contender at regattas when she came onto the scene, holding her own against classic yachts and modern carbon crafts as well.

The beautiful, modern classic ketch Elfje is owned by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt . Schmidt had a very hands-on role in designing Elfje with Hoek Naval Architects and is proud of its environmental credentials, from its racing design to sustainable materials. Expect to hear a lot more about Elfje , a sailing superyacht of the ages , as she's been busy on the racecourse since her launch.

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