Last week's FT Weekend paper had a special boating edition of its crazy How to Spend It supplement, which is the ideal magazine for the squillionaire in your life.
Among the things that made me happy was that learning that oenophiles are still commissioning state-of-the-art wine cellars for their massive yachts, in spite of all the difficulties involved. The move towards eco-yachts also pleases me, though I suppose it's all relative. But mainly, I now love the idea of George Nicholson, international chairman of the yacht brokerage Camper & Nicholsons.
It turns out that C&N have been going since 1782, since when it has been synonymous with the world's leading yachts. What were these in Georgian era? I now want to know.
Ok. Things started with a guy called Francis Amos, who opened a shipyard near Gosport and soon apprenticed a relative called Camper. The yacht business got going in the 1820s, and the yard's name was first really made by a fast yacht called Breeze, though things went a bit tits-up when we lost the America's Cup and yachting ceased during the Crimean War. Stupid War.
A youngster called Ben Nicholson, some comings and goings, and the firm got its current name in the 1860s. No, my mistake. Camper and Nicholson then, and Nicholsons when Ben's three sons joined later. The golden era was between the wars, as you might imagine. Here are some shipyward staff from 1930.
If you want a massive custom yacht, you should probably know, and C&N certainly tell you, that it is a serious investment and requires long-term commitment.
I'm not finished with yachts.
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