Yachts: The Impossible Collection

Since time immemorial, monarchs, nobility and the aristocracy have yearned to spend their leisure time on the water. From Cleopatra’s fabled luxury barge to Her Majesty’s Royal Yacht Britannia, from elegant Jazz Age vessels such as Nahlin, once chartered by King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, to the swinging ’60s Hollywood royalty invited aboard Aristotle Onassis’ Christina O, the yachting scene has always attracted celebrities, high society and the top 0.1%. But with over three thousand sizable yachts currently in the global fleet, not to mention those legendary vessels that are sadly no longer in existence, how do we distinguish the crème de la crème of this exclusive breed?