Designed and built by Camper & Nicholsons in 1937 for the owner of the famous J-Class, VELSHEDA the 50 metre MALAHNE has been the subject of one of the most detailed restoration projects at Pendennis Shipyard under the supervision of Edmiston Yacht Management / G L Watson with fabulous new interior by leading London designer, Guy Oliver.
Truly a yacht for the connoisseur.
From 1936 to now
MALAHNE was built in 1937 by William Laurence Stephenson, the charismatic founder of the British Woolworths company and one of the most prominent yachtsmen of the 1930’s.
For his first yacht Velsheda, Stephenson, had combined the opening letters of his three daughters names, for this new yacht it would be the closing letters of Velma, Sheila and Daphne.
During wartime, MALAHNE joined the Channel Patrol and took part in Operation Dynamo; evacuating British troops from Dunkirk. Thereafter she was assigned to the Fleet Air Arm and based in Lamlash on the Isle of Aran, Scotland. There she served as a target vessel for torpedo bombing practice. During this time, future British Prime Minister James Callaghan served as a rating on board and it is rumoured that Winston Churchill visited her.
In 1960 Malahne was acquired by legendary film producer Sam Spiegel whose custody she would remain for the next 23 years. Malahne played a central role in Spiegel’s life and by extension in that of both Hollywood and the jet set of the 1960s and 70s, in what was reported as an “endless Spiegel production”. The initial justification for acquiring Malahne stemmed from an understandable requirement for off-shore accommodation during the filming Lawrence of Arabia in Jordan, but thereafter Malahne simply became indispensable because she attracted girls, business partners, young and old Hollywood and royalty, with Spiegel presiding over them all.
In 1983 Malahne was sold to Sheikh Adel Al Mojil and what many have long thought of as a nautical crime was undertaken. In a massive conversion it was attempted to superimpose a modern profile and superstructure onto Malahne. The classic yacht emerged in 1984 as Adel XII and was barely recognisable. Thus disguised she remained in service until 2012 when she was acquired by her current owner who undertook a meticulous restoration to the original designs.
