The world's largest wooden sailing boat
I find it hard to get too excited about stories of semi-billionaires spending a small proportion of their wealth on enormous toys like the one in the article below. But you have to admit there are some good trickledown effects…
Shipwrights with solid jobs, skilled crew in permanent employment, caterers, photographers, engineers, pilots, sailmakers, insurance companies, … the list goes on and on. If your looking for a little escapism, you could do worse than read the article below from the Robb Report, but try to ignore the slightly breathless, sycophantic tone which I guess must be expected from a publication that describes itself as
“the definitive source on luxury, synonymous with the best of the best, showcasing this authority not only in print and online, but also through a calendar of premier experiences.”
(Muted vomiting sound effect)
‘A Floating Piece of History’: How the Gucci Family Restored This 214-Foot Sailing Yacht, by Tristan Rutherford
Image courtesy of Guillaume Plisson for BOAT International
Allegra Gucci’s first palpable memory was aboard her family’s sailboat, the 214-foot Creole. As she recalls growing up, the world’s largest wooden sailing yacht formed a playful cocoon for water fights, running along hundreds of feet of teak decks, swallow dives into the ocean, and, at peak performance, adrenaline rushes as the boat thundered at full sail in the Mediterranean.
Fun and games belie this superyacht’s stature. Creole is a head-turning behemoth with a crown of sails and an ink-black hull. Born in 1927, the boat is a work of genius from Charles E. Nicholson, the era’s greatest naval architect. “Creole is Nicholson’s masterpiece,” Gucci tells Robb Report in a rare interview, noting the boat has been in her family since her father purchased the then-dilapidated three-masted schooner in 1983, two years after she was born.
Image courtesy of Guillaume Plisson for BOAT International
Having grown up cruising and racing Creole, Gucci remains both nostalgic and practical about the classic vessel. She views the majestic, nearly century-old schooner as a responsibility—her responsibility—to present to the world as its finest self. “She is iconic—you have to keep her like this,” says Gucci, noting the details that define Creole but also require an uncanny amount of maintenance. “The varnish, the brass, the lights, and the soul of the sailing yacht represent the history of naval architecture.”
Image courtesy of Guillaume Plisson for BOAT International
Image courtesy of Guillaume Plisson for BOAT International