For all their size, speed and staggering statistics, there can be something lacking when it comes to modern yachts. Travel to Monaco’s Port Hercule and you’ll be met with a sea of sizeable, shiny, floating palaces. Each is deeply impressive and hugely capable in its own right, but somehow you can’t pry your eyes away from the smaller, teak and brass-laden boats.
“Every classic yacht has its own personality, history and presence,” says Hemmo Bloemers, director of brokerage at Roccabella Yachts. “They turn heads in every harbour, and offer an authenticity that is increasingly rare today.”
The covered side deck on Malahne, which features original-style teak decking and traditional varnished joinery © Adam Fussell/Edmiston
Many of the most remarkable and recognisable of these yachts were created between the 1920s and ’30s. Symbols of success, they were commissioned by industrial titans, media tycoons and political heavyweights. The few remaining are cherished assets. “There’s something special about having a beautiful 1930s yacht,” says Nicholas Edmiston, founder and chairman of Edmiston yacht brokerage.
Few yachts are as storied as Malahne; the 50m 1937 Camper & Nicholsons-built vessel was made for businessman William Lawrence Stephenson, who oversaw operations for FW Woolworth in the UK. Stephenson used the yacht to travel between the Mediterranean and New York before the second world war broke out: she even saw action during the evacuation at Dunkirk. Having survived the war, she was snapped up in 1960 by the multi-Academy Award-winning film producer Sam Spiegel, who used her as his floating production office for 23 years. It was onboard the Malahne that he hosted parties attended by Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Frank Sinatra and Jack Nicholson.
