Palmer Johnson

See all ‘Palmer Johnson’ yachts

Located in America’s Great Lakes region in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with showrooms in Fort Lauderdale and Monaco, luxury yacht builder Palmer Johnson constructs high performance superyachts up to 81.4 metres in length.

History of Palmer Johnson

Nearly a century old, luxury yacht builder Palmer Johnson was founded in 1918 by boat builders Hans Johnson and Herman Gmack. By the late 1920s, the shipyard was known for building high-quality wooden sailing yachts.

In 1961, American entrepreneur Pat Haggerty, founder of Texas Instruments, purchased luxury yacht builder Palmer Johnson. Over the next four decades, the shipyard developed innovative aluminium motor and sailing yacht construction technology. In 1979, luxury yacht builder Palmer Johnson launched the aluminium 30.48-metre motor yacht Fortuna, built for King Juan Carlos of Spain. Clocked at 46 knots, Fortuna was the World’s Fastest Superyacht for over a decade.

In 2004, superyacht builder Palmer Johnson introduced its SportYacht series, featuring contemporary exterior styling and interior design by Italian yacht design firm Nuvolari Lenard. In 2012, the shipyard announced its new carbon-fibre SuperSport performance superyacht series.

Notable Palmer Johnson Yachts

The 41.5-metre PJ 135 SportYacht Dragon launched in 2007 to international acclaim. Superyacht Dragon has a maximum speed of 30 knots and a range of 1,152nm.

The first PJ 48M SuperSport, Khalilah, debuted in February 2015. Palmer Johnson superyacht Khalilah is the largest carbon composite luxury yacht ever built. The PJ 48M SuperSport has a top speed of 32 knots.