James Dyson, the brilliant British industrial designer who re-invented the vacuum cleaner and has since moved on to equally alluring innovations, has restored a classic 1930 steam yacht with an impressive pedigree. The stunning 300 ft. long Nahlin designed by G.L. Watson was originally built for heiress Lady Annie Henrietta Yule in 1930 by the John Brown shipyard and was later owned by the Romanian Royal Family. She was also chartered in the 1930s by England’s King Edward VIII and was for a time the setting of his controversial romance with Wallis Simpson which led to his abdication and the couple’s becoming the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
Discovered some years back operating as a somewhat dilapidated floating restaurant on the Danube, she caught Dyson’s eye via yacht broker Nicholas Edmiston who brought the ship back to England. With help from yachting historian Dr. William Collier, owner of the G.L. Watson archives, the yacht was completely restored and refitted at Blohm + Voss in Germany with new diesel engines in place of the inoperable steam machine. The original paneling and plaster moldings have been replaced with several technological updates befitting a fellow of Dyson’s reputation. We can’t wait to see this beauty’s interior.
