classic yacht

Historic Steam-Powered Superyacht Gets a $20 Million Price Cut

Back in January when we reported that the SS Delphine (above), one of the last great private steamships of the 1920s, built for motorcar magnate Horace Dodge, was for sale at $70 million we assumed it would be snapped up right away. Now the astounding superyacht has been listed on global luxury marketplace JamesList for just $53 million, a price cut of nearly $20 million, making it a truly exceptional bargain. The listing also includes some great images of the classic craft which we've included in the gallery below. When the 257-ft. yacht was launched in 1921 Dodge had it fitted out with an interior by Tiffany & Co., acres of wood paneling and every conceivable luxury a gentleman could purchase.

She was pressed into service during World War II as the flagship for Admiral Ernest Joseph King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy. Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt are said to have met aboard her prior to convening the Yalta Conference with Stalin in 1945, but she was sadly allowed to rust away in subsequent years. A European clothing mogul had her fully restored to former glory, including the steam engines, several years ago at a cost of $60 million. Along with accommodations for 26 guests and 28 crew members, there's a music salon, cinema, fitness center, spa, sauna, smoking room, swimming pool and original fixtures like the telegraph machine in the mahogany pilothouse.

Gallery: SS Delphine

Tags: classic yacht, Delphine, JamesList, SS Delphine, superyacht, Tiffany, Tiffany Co., Winston Churchill, yacht

Classic Yachts Battle It Out at Panerai Regatta in Antibes

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Events, Sports

The first Mediterranean leg of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge 2010 sponsored by the luxe Italian watch brand is now complete with an impressive showing amongst the elegant craft. The yachts Mariska, an auric cutter from 1908; Rowdy, a Marconi cutter from 1916; and Chaplin, a 16-metre Italian Navy vessel built in 1974, won in the "Big Boats", "Vintage" and "Classic" categories respectively during the race days at the famous French resort of Antibes on the Cote d'Azur. The winners each received a Radiomir Regatta 1/8th Second Titanio - 47 mm watch, specially created by Officine Panerai for this new season of regattas and produced in a limited edition of just 500 pieces. In total 51 boats split into seven categories participated in the event which was organized by the Yacht Club d'Antibes and the Club Nautique d'Antibes. Also present in Antibes, though not participating in the regattas, was Eilean, the classic 1936 yacht built by Scottish boatyard Fife, recently restored by Officine Panerai, which we wrote about in April.

Gallery: Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge 2010 Antibes

Tags: Antibes, classic yacht, Cote dAzur, France, Mediterranean, Officine Panerai, Panerai, regatta, sailing, sailing yacht, watches, yacht, yacht racing

Cruise Like Madonna & Harrison Ford Aboard the Mariner III

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Yachts & Sailing, Celebrity Shopping

Last month we told you about Johnny Depp's yacht being offered for charter this summer. If the $130,000 per week he's charging seems a bit steep, you can still cruise like a celebrity aboard the classic Mariner III (above) for a fraction of that price. The stylish 122-ft. fantail motor yacht, built in 1926, appealed to Harrison Ford so much that he used the craft as his personal quarters for three-and-a-half months while filming a movie in the Caribbean. Other stars who have chartered the classic cruiser include Madonna, Kate Winslet, Robert DeNiro, Bruce Willis and Brooke Shields, and she's also played host to several fashion shoots including the Victoria's Secret catalog. Now docked at New York City's Chelsea Piers in the summer months and the Palm Beach Yacht Club in winter, she's available for charter in New England, Southern Florida and the Caribbean at $30,000 a week. With rich varnished teak, gleaming brass, and hand crafted beveled lead crystal windows from Paris adorning the luxe interior, the yacht features seven staterooms plus quarters for a crew of six.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: classic yacht, Harrison Ford, Madonna, Mariner III, motor yacht, Palm Beach, Robert DeNiro, yacht, yacht charter

Dennis Conner's New Yacht Has A Long History

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Famous racing skipper Dennis Conner has a new toy. The sailing enthusiast who won the America's Cup four times has bought a beautiful old boat. Classic Boat says that Conner picked up the 40-foot BB Crowninshield-designed gaff schooner Fame. The yacht was the winner of many Great Lakes races but she has seen better days. Conner bought Fame for $17,000 and is hoping to have her sailing this summer, her centenary year. Fame is a 1910 Long Island Sound Schooner that was designed and built by B. B. Crowninshield for his personal use. He wanted to create "the largest and fastest boat he could handle and take care of alone." She was sunk in 1995 but was quickly rescued. She will likely get a new lease on life under Conner's care and may take part in a few races.

Tags: americas cup, classic yacht, dennis conner, sailing yacht

Regatta Revives Golden Age of Millionaire Yacht Races

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Events, Wealth

A new classic yacht regatta launching this summer aims to revive the "Big Class" races of the 1900s when millionaires and royalty pitted their massive sailboats against one another. The invitation-only Westward Cup Regatta, set to take place July 5 – 11 in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, is named in honor of the 100th anniversary of the launch of the famed Westward racing yacht, the fastest schooner in the world at the time. Staged by the Royal Yacht Squadron (Cowes), the famed New York Yacht Club, and the Yacht Club de Monaco (Monte Carlo), the Westward Regatta will feature large classic yachts competing for a prestigious prize. Among the contenders will be the 162-ft. Westward replica the Eleonora (above); the Brittania, a replica of King George V's royal yacht of the same name; the perfectly-restored Mariquita, built in 1911; and the Mariette designed in 1915 by the famous Nathaniel Herreshoff. In addition to the regatta itself several posh events are planned including an owner's dinner at the Royal Yacht Squadron and a banquet at Queen Victoria's Isle of Wight estate, Osborne House.

Tags: classic yacht, classic yachts, Cowes, Isle of Wight, King George V, Monaco, New York Yacht Club, Queen Victoria, regatta, sailboat, sailing, sailing yacht, schooner, westward cup regatta, yacht

Gianni Agnelli's Classic Yacht for Sale at $1.8 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Men's Style

Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli, who died in 2003 at the age of 81, was one of the most stylish men who ever walked the Earth. An avid playboy and racecar driver (Fiat of course owns Ferrari), Agnelli was also a keen yachtsman, and enjoyed many years of sailing his Knut Reimer-designed 82-ft. yawl Agneta with its distinctive port-wine colored sails and superb varnished hull, built in 1948. Now the stylish yacht with its restored Burmese teak deck has been listed for sale in France via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for about $1.8 million.

A regular on the on the Mediterranean Classic Yacht regatta racing circuit, the Agneta's spacious owner's stateroom features a marble fireplace and en-suite bath suitable for an elegant gentleman, while interiors are fitted with polished paneling and exotic inlays. We don't know for certain but can speculate that Agnelli, whose estate was worth $4.4 billion, entertained famed female companions like Anita Ekberg, Rita Hayworth and (rumored) Jackie Onassis aboard the beautiful boat.

Gallery: Gianni Agnelli's Agneta

Tags: classic yacht, Ferrari, Fiat, Gianni Agnelli, Italy, JamesList, Mediterranean, playboy, sailing, sailing yacht, wooden boat, yacht

Classic 1931 Gentleman's Yacht for Sale at $9 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Many people admired the classic 1936 sailing yacht restored by Italian watch brand Panerai that we wrote about last month. Now you can buy your own version, an even larger classic gentleman's yacht built buy the same famed Scottish boatyard as Panerai's craft, for $9 million. The 134-ft. Altair, a gaff rigged topsail schooner, was originally commissioned by Captain H. MacCaw who asked William Fife for "a sound, safe cruiser to go to the South Sea Islands in with no difficulty." She then passed through a series of notable owners including Viscount Runciman, a British Member of Parliament, before being acquired by the British Admiralty in World War II. Completely restored in 1987 and refitted in 2007, the teak on oak with teak deck Altair now ranks as one of the best-preserved large high-quality pre-war yachts in the world. The interior is considered one of the most beautiful and authentic of any classic yacht, with fine French polished walnut throughout the five cabin guest accommodations.

Tags: altair, classic yacht, Panerai, sailing yacht, schooner, teak, wooden boat, yacht

The Classicist: Set Sail on a 100-Year-Old Superyacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Yachts & Sailing, The Classicist

Among yachting historians the name Nathanael Herreshoff is spoken with awe. With a degree in mechanical engineering from M.I.T., Herreshoff - known as "Captain Nat" - revolutionized the world of yacht design and produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup winners between 1893–1920. The elegant yachts he designed for those who could afford them were the largest, most expensive and most powerful ever built to defend the famed sailing trophy. Among the moguls who commissioned sailing superyachts from the Rhode Island-based naval architect were Jay Gould, William Randolph Hearst, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt, Harry Payne Whitney and Morton F. Plant.

Plant, who liked to be known as "Commodore", was a financier, yachtsman and philanthropist who founded the Connecticut College for Women. These days however he is best remembered as the man who traded his opulent Fifth Avenue mansion to Parisian jeweler Cartier in 1917 for $100 and a pearl necklace. Plant owned several yachts during his lifetime, but one of the most famous was the "peerless schooner" (according to the New York Times) Elena which he commissioned from Herreshoff in 1910. His instructions to the great naval architect were simple: "Build me a schooner that can win!" The yacht claimed several victories before Plant's death in 1918, later passing into the hands of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Elena's crowning triumph came in 1928 when she won the 3,400 mile King's Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain.

All ancient history, you're probably thinking; but the Elena (above) has now been rebuilt and relaunched in all its original splendor, and what's more it is now listed for sale in the South of France via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for $12 million. Spain's Factoria Naval de Marin tracked down 320 original hand-drawn plans, in the possession of Herreshoff's alma mater MIT, prior to beginning the restoration process. Historic images of the yacht were painstakingly studied to ensure that every detail was restored to perfection, from her towering masts and nearly 1,200 square meter sail plan to the wide teak deck and luxurious appointments. The Elena can accommodate 10 guests in Gilded Age luxury, with beautiful woodwork throughout and elegant, period correct fittings discreetly updated with modern technology. All guest cabins are exquisitely finished with mahogany panellng, while all interior ornamental details follow the original Herreshoff designs. Check out the gallery for glorious images.

Gallery: The Elena