News of a big sale comes in overnight from the US as Whit Kirkland of Bradford Marine Yacht Sales announces that he has sold the 46m motor yacht The Highlander. He was the only broker in the deal.
An iconic Feadship yacht that was ordered by the Forbes family for corporate use and delivered by the De Vries yard in 1986, The Highlander was the successor to a long line of yachts of the same name - most of which have been Feadships. The outstanding lines of her superstructure and her semi-cruising stern were created by Jon Bannenberg, and the yacht's exterior is uniquely green - the colour of money, and a reference to the yacht's staunchly capitalist role. Above all, it represented the ultimate customisation with the implicit declaration that this was a Forbes yacht as much as it was a Feadship.
Whit Kirkland noted that his father had sold The Highlander as a new build to Malcolm Forbes, and now the circle is complete as he has sold her to her second owner. 'It is a passing of great yacht, synonymous with New York and an icon of American Yachting, to a new life and adventure. I will be glad to see her back on the open seas entertaining her new owners and their guests,' he says.
The final asking price of The Highlander was $4.99 million.