Ultimate Classic Yachts 20 of the World's Most Beautiful Classic Yachts

Former Classic Boat editor Nic Compton has spent over 20 years sailing and photographing classic yachts, and this is the culmination of his decades-long passion--a stunning collection showcasing the 20 most beautiful and fascinating classic boats still sailing today.

They include:

Bona Fide--the original fin-keeler that was 70 years ahead of her time

Inward Bound--a 35-foot cutter built in Argentina using salvaged timber from the General Belgrano

Madoc--a 24-foot clinker yawl built by hand on a Tasmanian beach

Partridge--an 1885 cutter that took 18 years to restore

Solway Maid--the last surviving William Fife yacht

Timeless and magnificent, these yachts all have a story to tell, and they are captured with glorious full color photography.

Nic Compton was brought up on boats until the age of fifteen. He worked as a shipwright before becoming a full-time writer and photographer. He was editor of Classic Boat magazine until 2000, and has written several books on nautical subjects, including, most recently, The Sea: A Photographic Celebration and Titanic on Trial, both published by Adlard Coles Nautical.

: Introduction : : PARTRIDGE (1885) : The 1885 Beavor-Webb cutter that set a new standard for classic yachts after one man's 18-year restoration : MARIAN (1889) : The 1889 Bristol Channel pilot cutter owned by the laziest skipper in the Western Approaches : BONA FIDE (1899) : The original fin-keeler that was 70 years ahead of her time : STAVANGER (1901) : The last voyage of the most original Colin Archer rescue boat, before being preserved for posterity by the Norwegian national maritime museum : CORAL OF COWES (1902) : The Fred Shepherd yawl restored in South Africa and sailed back to the northern hemisphere for the first time in over 70 years : RAWENE (1908) : Owned by the same family for 90 years, the New Zealand kauri classic is a floating time capsule : THE LADY ANNE (1912) : The 15-Metre yacht was banned from racing in the Med because of carbon fibre in her topmast. She came back without it and won everything anyway : LULWORTH (1920) : The largest cutter in the world, built in Southampton in 1920 and recently restored in Italy : BRILLIANT (1932) : Olin Stephen's Atlantic record-breaker, now used by Mystic Seaport for sail training 9,000 youngsters : STORMY WEATHER (1934) : The legendary S&amp;S Fastnet winner which became Italy's best-loved classic : BLOODHOUND (1936) : Built by the legendary Camper &amp; Nicholson yard in Gosport, <i>Bloodhound</i> was one of the most successful racers of her day. She became a Royal Yacht in the 1960s when she was owned by Prince Philip and hosted the entire royal family : VANITY V (1936) : The exquisite Fife 12-metre meticulously restored by a pair of used car salesmen who showed the experts how it should done : SOLWAY MAID (1938) The 'last Fife' has survived remarkably intact, thanks to two periods of 'suspended animation' : FANEROMENI (1945) : The classic yacht revival reaches Greece with the restoration of Aegean schooners such as this 1945 Perama caique : INWARD BOUND (1962) : A 35ft S&amp;S cutter built in Argentina using salvaged timber from General Belgrano : BLUE SALUKI (1964) : Despite being built to Lloyds 100 A1 by a top boatyard, <i>Blue Saluki</i> was the last of a dying breed and was soundly beaten by modern multihulls in the first round Britain race. Unlike most of them, however, she's still turning heads : MADOC (1990) : A 24ft American clinker yawl built by an Englishman on a beach in Tasmania using local timbers and no power tools : SAVANNAH (1997) : The 'modern classic' which combined the best of Fife with a fin keel, and took the Mediterranean classic boat circuit by storm : ELEONORA (2000) : Exact replica of Herreshoff schooner <i>Westward</i>, on which Captain Barr set an Atlantic record which remained unbroken for 100 years : INTEGRITY (2012) : A brand new Victorian cutter which holds her own against the 'real' 100-year-old Victorian cutters : : Index : Acknowledgements