2. Alexander (Photo: Janet Germano)  More of this Feature • Top 100: Part 1 • 1-8 • 9-17 • 18-26 • 27-35 • 36-44 • 45-53 • 54-62 • 63-71 • 72-80 • 81-89 • 90-100 • Yacht Spotter
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1. Savarona
408'0" · 1931/1992 Seventy years old and still a looker, Savarona once again tops our list. Fifty-two feet wide, she has all that a luxury yacht should: sumptuous staterooms (17 suites in all), 24-karat-gold-plated faucets, marble-lined baths, and grand entertaining spaces. This being no ordinary yacht, she also has some features solely her own, such as the saloon on the boat deck that's decorated to look like a Turkish majlis (coffee house), a 2,000-year-old Persian rug, and the pièce de resistance, an authentic Turkish bath featuring 60 tons of marble. When she was being restored in the late 1980s and early 1990s--a fire in 1979 all but destroyed her--workers discovered a secret passage that led from the master stateroom down to the engineer's cabin; apparently Savarona's original owner, American heiress Emily Cadwalader-Roebling, was having an affair with the crew member. Kahraman Sadikoglu, a Turkish businessman, holds a lease on the yacht (the Turkish government owns her, but doesn't use her for state business) which expires in 2038. Parties interested in purchasing her prior to then are, of course, welcome--but only if you're willing to pay $25 million, the reported asking price. If you'd rather experience a slice of what life would be like aboard, you can charter Savarona for $350,000 per week.  B: Blohm & Voss, Germany; N: Cox & Stevens; H: Steel; E: 2/3,500-hp Caterpillars

2. Alexander
400'2" · 1976/1986 For a man who's said to be publicity-shy, John Latsis has a way of getting his name into the papers. But then again, owning a former cruise ship that's been converted into a private yacht--and a blue-hulled one, at that--can do that to a person. The Greek shipping tycoon counts Prince Charles among his friends and has even permitted the king-in-waiting to use the yacht for family cruises, both with the late Princess Diana and Camilla Parker-Bowles. You and 59 friends can get in on the action, too: Alexander, which frequents the French Riviera and Greek islands, charters for $100,000 per day. B: Luebecker Flender-Werke, Germany; N: Builder; H: Steel; E: 2/8,050-hp MANs 

3. Galeb
383'9" · 1939 Last summer John Paul Papanicolaou, the same Greek yachtsman who rescued Christina O (see no. 6), purchased this former state yacht of Yugoslavia. Her name means seagull in Serbo-Croatian. Papanicolaou is having Galeb refitted to become a top-line charter yacht, preserving her original lines but redoing her interior to accommodate dozens of guests; work will continue on her through next year. When she was used by Yugoslavia's Marshall Tito, Galeb often entertained heads of state and other VIPs and made more than 100 official visits around the world. B: Ansaldo, Italy; N: Builder; H: Steel; E: B&Ws (hp unknown)

4. Atlantis ll
379'7" · 1981 Atlantis II is maintained for use by the Niarchos family of Greece. Unfortunately, though, they don't use the yacht often, making her a seemingly permanent fixture in Monaco's harbor. She was owned by the family patriarch Stavros until his death a few years ago. B: Hellenic Shipyards, Greece; N: Maierform GmbH; H: Steel; E: 2/4,800-hp S.E.M.T. Pielsticks

5. Le Grand Bleu
354'3" · 2000 She may be painted blue, but this lady is actually green--she's the first private yacht we know of to receive a provisional Environmental Protection Notation from Lloyd's. These stringent voluntary guidelines were established primarily for the shipping industry in 1998 to control pollution. Among other things, "Big Blue" (as her name translates from French) complies with strict limits on nitrogen and sulphur exhaust emissions, antifouling coating leaching, and sewage treatment and discharge. When Le Grand Bleu receives full Environmental Protection Notation status, she'll be the first private yacht to meet the rules. She's owned by a Pacific Northwesterner who also happens to be the brother of the owner of Tatoosh (see no. 10). Le Grand Bleu also carries a 70-foot "tender." B: Vulkan, Germany; N: Kusch Yachtagentur; H: Steel; E: 2/4,570-hp Deutz-MWMs

6. Lady Moura
344'0" · 1991 Nasser al-Rashid, a millionaire businessman in Saudi Arabia and an advisor to that country's King Fahd, has owned Lady Moura for the past decade. He's a strong supporter of the University of Texas, his alma mater, and recently had a 70,000-square-foot sports complex there named in his honor. Fans of the school's Longhorns teams and yacht-watchers alike won't find Lady Moura in the States, though, as she's usually in Mallorca, Spain. B: Blohm & Voss, Germany; N: Luigi Sturchio/Diana Yacht Design; H: Steel; E: 2/6,868-hp Deutz-MWMs

7. Christina O
325'0" · 1943/2001 At long last, arguably the most famous yacht in the world is back on the ocean. The last pieces of furniture and carpeting were being put in place onboard the former floating home of Aristotle Onassis just as we were going to press, and she was expected to set off on her first cruising season this month. One knowledgeable yacht broker with extensive experience in the new-construction and refit markets says he has never seen such a comprehensive refit. Christina O's owner, John Paul Papanicolaou, an Onassis family friend and shipping industry leader, tells us that 65 percent of her hull was replaced, including everything under the water, and that nearly 280,000 feet of new wiring and nearly 33,000 feet of new pipes were installed. The original steam engines were replaced with MAN diesels, permitting Christina O to reach a 19-knot cruising speed. But not everything was changed--the mosaic-inlay dance floor/swimming pool on the boat deck remains, as does the infamous bar where Onassis reveled in telling his guests they were sitting on barstools covered with whale foreskin (they really were). All told, Papanicolaou and his investors spent more than $50 million on the three-year restoration. You can check her out for yourself on charter in the Med or Caribbean for $70,000 per day. B: Canadian Vickers/Howaldtswerke; N: Prof. Pinnau (original conversion); H: Steel; E: 2/2,775-hp MANs

8. Limitless
315'7" · 1997 The largest yacht to fly the American flag is also one of the most technically advanced yachts in the world. Limitless has two foredeck hatches that conceal her RIB tenders and can be safely operated in winds up to Beaufort Force 6 (22 to 27 knots). At the helm, the captain can track the yacht's tenders on the chartplotter. Her transom opens to lie flat at the water level, with the midsection unfolding to create a teak-clad staircase leading from deck to water. Two digital displays on the stern platform give guests and Limitless' owner, Limited executive Leslie Wexner, the water's depth and temperature. B: Hellenic Shipyards, Greece; N: Maierform GmbH; H: Steel; E: 2/4,800-hp S.E.M.T. Pielsticks

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