The Nahlin yacht is a historic vessel, built in the United Kingdom by Brown J and delivered in 1930. However, its historical significance goes beyond just its age. This pleasure craft, once home to the would-be King Edward VIII and his lover Wallis Simpson, is now owned by billionaire Sir James Dyson, famed for his vacuum cleaners. Just six years shy of a century old, Nahlin features an exterior designed by G.L. Watson & Co. Ltd and an interior crafted by Sir Charles Allom and Rémi Tessier. The motor yacht accommodates 14 guests and provides quarters for 47 crew members.
A true seafaring beauty, Nahlin was originally a turbine-powered steam yacht until 2005 when it was refitted with four Curtis-Brown engines, giving it a top speed of 18 knots. The yacht is equipped with a gymnasium, a ladies’ sitting room with sea views on three sides, and a library.
Interestingly, Nahlin did not initially feature a wine cellar, as the woman who registered the yacht in Glasgow in the 1930s was a teetotaler. It was during Edward’s ownership that the books were replaced with countless bottles of wine. While most yachts boast numerous amenities and luxurious features, Nahlin’s rich history remains its most talked-about feature.
In 1937, after its early years in private British ownership marked by the infamous affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the yacht became the royal yacht of King Carol II of Romania. In 1948, it was renamed Libertatea, and in 1998, yacht broker Nicholas Edmiston bought Libertatea for $265,000. The boat was brought back to the United Kingdom in 1999 and restored to its original name, Nahlin. The following decade was spent in Germany undergoing further refits, and in 2006, Sir James and Lady Dyson acquired the yacht from Anthony Bamford.
About Sir James Dyson –
Once you learn about Sir James Dyson, the inventor worth $13.5 billion, it’s easy to see what drew him to the Nahlin Yacht. This entrepreneur has devoted his life to solving problems and developing products—so a straightforward superyacht would hardly appeal to his maverick nature. The founder and Chairman of Dyson, which now employs more than 5,000 engineers worldwide, attended art school in London and doesn’t even have an engineering degree. As a child with a passion for competitive long-distance running, Dyson attended Gresham’s School, followed by the Byam Shaw School of Art, before studying architectural design at the Royal College of Art.
His early career saw him designing a mushroom-shaped theater building, a high-speed landing craft called Sea Truck, the Ballbarrow, and many other machines. However, it was his family’s frustrating vacuum that led Dyson to invent a product that catapulted him to new heights of fame and success. After five years of testing and 5,127 prototypes, Dyson invented the world’s first bagless vacuum cleaner—and the rest is history.
