Top 20 Classic Yachts

This is your definitive guide to the 20 largest classic yachts of all time. Updated regularly, it's the only source you need for the biggest classic yacht is in the world right now. Plus, don't forget to check out the 200 largest superyachts in the world.

Built in Japan in 1965, the 60.11 metre motor yacht Paloma was completely rebuilt in Malta between 2003/2004 to ABS class. Almost all of her onboard systems and equipment are brand new from interior to exterior and an all new engine room with the latest engineering equipment, coupled with ultra modern navigation and communication systems have been installed. Now MCA compliant, Paloma accommodates 12 guests in a master suite, two double, two twin and two single cabins.

Builder: Ishikawajima-Harima
Naval Architecture & Exterior Styling: Ishikawajima-Harima
Interior design: G.L. Watson

The 60.9 metre Madiz was built by Scotland’s Ailsa yard in 1902 and is the world’s oldest iron or steel vessel still to be in class with Lloyds Register. Designed by the legendary G.L. Watson, she is an elegant, good looking yacht and retains much of her original deck equipment and unique interior panelling, including Cuban mahogany in the master bedroom and solid oak in the reception areas. Extensively refitted between 2003 and 2007, Madiz accommodates up to 14 guests in a master suite and three double cabins.

Builder: Ailsa
Naval Architecture / Exterior Styling / Interior design: G.L. Watson

Voyager was built by Spain’s Astilleros y Talleres Celaya yard in 1973 and was purchased in 2005 with the purpose of transforming her into the ultimate expedition superyacht for charter guests. Carrying a helicopter with jet fuel storage and refuelling capability plus an array of tenders and toys, she was intended for extended cruising periods from remote tropical waters to extreme Alaskan winters, in comfort and style. The interior has been completely redesigned in a young and colourful style without compromising comfort, accommodating 12 guests.

Builder: Astilleros Tolleres Celaya
Naval Architecture / Exterior Styling / Interior design: Sparkman & Stephens

Shemara was delivered to British businessman Sir Bernard Docker just before the outbreak of World War II. Post-war, Docker gained notoriety for his conspicuous wealth during a lean economic period in the 1950s and early 1960s. The yacht was put on the market in 1965 for an asking price of £600,000, an enormous sum in those days, and she eventually passed into the hands of Harry Hyams, a property developer, for the lesser sum of £290,000. Following an initial refit she was seriously neglected, and for many years was laid up in Lowestoft in the United Kingdom in poor condition. The yacht has since changed hands and Shemara was relaunched in 2014 after an extensive refit at Trafalgar Wharf.

Builder: Thorneycroft
Naval architecture: John I. Thorneycroft

Rossy One (ex-Santa Maria del Mare) was originally built by Germany’s Krupp yard in 1931 as Argosy and has had a chequered history, variously serving the US Navy in WWII and then becoming a ferry. This 66 metre superyacht was rebuilt as a luxury yacht in Italy to RINA class and her Luca Dini interior will sleep 10 guests in five cabins.

Builder: Germania Werft
Naval Architecture & Exterior Styling: Cox & Stevens
Interior design: Luca Dini

La Sultana nudged her way into the list of the largest classic yachts in the world after a 2015 rebuild. Like most classic yachts, she has an interesting history - La Sultana was first a passenger ferry operating in the Black Sea. A decade after her launch she was used as a spy ship for the Soviet navy before she was rescued in 2007 and restored to glory.

Builder: Georgi Dimitrov

Dona Amelia was launched as Haida for American yeast magnate Max Fleishmann in 1929, the exterior of this then state-of-the-art oceangoing yacht featured retro styling that gave her a late-19th-century appearance. Twin Krupp diesels offered superior safety, cleanliness and efficiency over coal-fired vessels. She saw service in World War II as a US Navy patrol ship.

Post-war, she was owned successively by American businessman Larry Green, Irish brewer Löel Guinness, film producer Robert Stigwood, and latterly by a wealthy recluse before being sold into Japanese ownership in 1981. Later she was acquired by Andreas Liveras, who chartered her for many years and then sold her to her current German owner, who returned her name to Haida G. A comprehensive rebuild at Proteksan-Turquoise Yachts in Tuzla, Turkey, has replaced her entire interior and rebuilt her original engines.

Now in the hands of a new European owner, she’s a mothership for J Class Endeavour. She is featured in The Superyachts, Volume 19 as Haida G.

Builder: Germania Werft
Naval architecture: Cox & Stevens
Interior design: Verges
Former names: USS Argus, Haida, Haida G, Rosenkavalier, Sarina

Launched in 1973 as a replacement for Carinthia V (which hit an uncharted rock and sank in Greek waters on her maiden voyage), Carinthia VI also features styling and interior design by Jon Bannenberg, and its exterior lines are widely recognised as being the most beautiful among the world’s motor yachts.

Following the death of her owner, the Austrian supermarket and store mogul Helmut Horten, Carinthia VI passed into the ownership of his widow, Heidi Horton, who placed her on the market following the delivery of Carinthia VII. She was renamed The One by her new owner, an Italian.

The One was severely damaged in a fire at Marmaris Marina in January 2016, and it is currently unclear whether she will be rebuilt.

The One is featured in Volume 19 of The Superyachts and her design is the inspiration for the Lürssen superyacht Limitless.

Builder / naval architecture: Lürssen
Exterior styling / interior design: Jon Bannenberg

The Royal Yacht Dannebrog was launched by Queen Alexandrine, wife of King Christian X of Denmark, in Copenhagen in 1931and displays the distinctive retro styling from the turn of the 19th century that was fashionable among many large motor and sailing yachts built in the early 1930s.

Dannebrog remains in service as the country’s Royal Yacht, manned by nine officers, seven warrant officers and 36 seamen from the Danish Navy, and she is regularly used for official visits to neighbouring countries and the many islands that make up Denmark. The hull’s construction is of riveted steel on transverse frames. The royal apartment in the stern of the vessel can be converted for the use of patients should the yacht be required in her emergency role as a hospital ship.

Builder/designer: Danish Royal Dockyard

This yacht was built in 1930 for Mr Algar of the Packard Car Company, who named her Reveler. However, he died before delivery and the yacht was purchased by E F McCann, son-in-law of the department store magnate F W Woolworth, who changed her name to Chalena. As USS Beaumont, she was used as a patrol gunboat by the US Navy during World War II. With her engines unserviceable, she was laid up in Falmouth, England, for a period in the late 1980s before being bought by J Paul Getty Junior, who had her rebuilt in 1993 at Devonport Management Limited, later Devonport Yachts, in Plymouth, England, to the design of Jon Bannenberg. Getty renamed her Talitha G after his first wife. Following his death, she remains in use by the family and occasionally charters. Now renamed Talitha, Talitha G is featured in The Superyachts, Volume 19.

Builder: Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (1929) / Devonport Yachts (1993 & 2000)
Naval architecture: Cox & Stevens
Exterior styling: Cox & Stevens / Jon Bannenberg (rebuild)
Interior design: Jon Bannenberg (rebuild)
Former names: Carola, Chalena, Elpetal, Jezebel, Reveler, Talitha G, USS Beaumont