Member's logbook: Shirish Saraf on restoring 50m classic yacht Kalizma ahead of the Cannes Film Festival

Every month, superyacht owners reveal where they are in the world and share their future plans. This month, BOAT catches up with Shirish Saraf as his 50-metre Ramage & Ferguson heritage yacht Kalizma nears the end of a transformative refit in Malta – just in time for a starring role on the Riviera.

Shirish Saraf

Yacht: Kalizma
Length: 50m
Year: 1906
Location: Malta

Whereabouts is Kalizma now?

She’s in Malta undergoing a refit and when the work is finished, it will mark the complete transformation of the yacht from when I took ownership. We’ve totally remade the upper decks, made them much more comfortable, and upgraded furnishings throughout the yacht. 

She’s going to come out of the yard looking incredible and ready for her berth in Cannes during the Film Festival. I was talking to Vijay Mallya, the former owner of Kalizma, recently and he’s amazed at what the yacht has become – and how capable she is now.

Where are you heading in the yacht this season?

After Cannes, we’ll aim for Saint-Tropez and then I hope to be in Corsica in June and July. Before the end of the year, I also want to reach Montenegro and Croatia. We really want to maximise usage this summer. We got a call from Monaco Classic Week; they’re keen to have Kalizma in port for the show, so we’ll see. TVMonaco also wants to make a show about the boat, given its incredible history.

Does the fact that she was owned by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor attract charters?

I don’t think this younger generation really knows about the Burton/Taylor romance, so we don’t get lots of Americans rushing to charter the yacht for the chance to sleep in Elizabeth Taylor’s cabin. Our charter guests mainly come for the service and the programme. We have a great crew and world-class chefs. 

We had a very well-known Italian businessman chartering recently and he called  Kalizma “paradise on sea”. The history, for our charter guests, seems to be a bonus! But I have spent a lot of time researching the boat and rebuilding its history and I now have an incredible archive of imagery and press clippings, which I have assembled into a book. 

She’s so much more than Burton and Taylor’s former boat – Kalizma’s been around for 120 years. She was the headquarters for an America’s Cup campaign, she’s welcomed royalty such as Prince Philip, even of the Hollywood variety (Clint Eastwood once stayed on board), so there is lots more to this tale. Given the Hollywood connections, I’m looking forward to being at the Cannes Film Festival on the boat – surely the right place for such a vessel!

First published in the June 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.