Super Yacht NAHLIN is a 91.44 metre vessel first designed in 1929 by G.L. Watson & Co. and built in 1930 by John Brown & Co.. Rediscovered a few years back, she was completely restored to her full splendour by Nobiskrug Shipyard and Blohm + Voss Shipyard over the past four five years.
MotorYacht Nahlin can accommodate up to 14 guests aboard together with a crew of around 47 members. Her beam measures 11.03 metres in width, which reflects her very spacious proportions. She is also reasonably deep with a draught of 4.51 metres. Connected to her Curtis-Brown engine(s) are twin screw propellers. The main engine of the yacht produces 2200 horse power (or 1619 kilowatts). She is fitted with 4 engines. The total power for the boat is therefore 8800 HP or 6475 KW.
SuperYacht Nahlin in her full splendor on the river Dart
SUPER YACHT NAHLIN’S HISTORY goes right back to 1929, when G.L. Watson & Co. were commissioned by the heiress Lady Yule to design a steam yacht that would take her to every part of the globe she desired to see. G.L. Watson & Co. then went on to design the very impressive yacht of her times, which was at the top of the evolution of clipper bow and counter stern steam yachts. She was then Clyde-built by John Brown & Co. and became a very acclaimed yacht of her day and she remains the ultimate classic power-yacht to this day, thanks to her amazing survival.
Lady Yule made several extended cruises on board of the Yacht Nahlin. In 1932 she wrote to Nahlin’s designer James Rennie Barnett , senior partner of G.L. Watson & Co., that Nahlin Yacht was “the most beautiful yacht in the worlds and the most seaworthy”. Having seen “every corner of the globe she desired to visit”, in 1936 Lady Yule decided to make superyacht Nahlin available for charter or sale. In August 1936 she was chartered by King Edward VIII for a private cruise. In 1937 King Carol II acquired Yacht Nahlin, however less than two years later, with the outbreak of the war, Kind Carol resigned his throne and left yacht Nahlin on the river Danube. Amazingly Nahlin superyacht survived almost unmodified since then.
Super Yacht Nahlin before
She was discovered in 1988, when the young yachtsman, William Collier set about to investigate yacht Nahlin’s whereabouts, encouraged by the broker Nicholas Edmiston. Collier discovered Super Yacht Nahlin operating as a floating restaurant on the river Danube in Romania. With the collapse of the Soviet block the yacht was sold to a privatised company. Here, Edmiston and Collier began to work hard on her purchase and repatriation. After large amount of frustration and hard work, finally, in 1999 Motor Yacht Nahlin returned home to British waters. She is once again registered in her home port of Glasgow.
From 1999 to 2005 G.L. Watson & Co started a comprehensive programme to stabilise her condition, document all surviving material and began to prepare her for restoration. Her hull was thoroughly examined, while she was dry-docked. Her interior was also cross-examined and CAD drawings were produced of her interior and panelling schemes.
In 2005 the restoration of the Motor Yacht Nahlin began under the supervision of G.L. Watson & Co., who acted as overall project managers, in collaboration with Owner’s Representative, Design Authority, Exterior Designer, Yacht Manager and Interior Designer of Crew & Service Areas.
The first stage of her restoration work on hull of the Luxury Motor Yacht NAHLIN was carried out by Nobiskrug Shipyard in Rendsburg. The following stage, the engineering and fit-out continued at the Blohm + Voss Shipyard in Hamburg. On the project other firms were participating from across the UK, Europe and beyond. These include Scottish and Merseyside engineering companies, who supplied John Brown’s about eighty years ago.
