When a bigger boat doesn’t exist, you build it. Meet Blue Legend: the 80ft custom Nelson motor yacht that was quite literally bought into existence
There’s a classic line in Cannonball Run II when Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel, a wealthy Arabian potentate who failed to win the first race, is ordered back to the USA by his father, the king, to make sure he wins this time. His plea of “But pop, there is no Cannonball Run this year,” is met by a shrug and the utterance, “So? Buy one!”
Imagine if you could just buy something you wanted into existence. Imagine, for example, that you’ve enjoyed a Nelson 32 so much that you decide to go for a 45. And after a few years of that, you decide you want a much larger one, but it simply doesn’t exist. So? Buy one! And that is exactly how this beautiful Nelson motor yacht came into existence. Twice!
Arthur Mursell of TT Boat Designs, who came up with the original Nelson hull format for builders like Halmatic, Dale Nelson and Seaward Boats, was the first port of call. He agreed to design a 68ft Nelson and oversee the build, for which Richardson’s Yacht Services, on the Isle of Wight, was commissioned.
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Build started in 1994 and took two years. There was no budget beyond a preliminary idea of cost, and the boat evolved to owner specification as it was built. In fact it was constructed to Lloyds 100A1 Ship Classification standard at huge expense.
It was essentially a luxury yacht built to commercial standards. Inside was a feast of limed oak woodwork, Connolly leather and custom woven carpets. Powered to over 20 knots by a pair of 1,000hp Caterpillar diesels, the finished result was simply magnificent!
But the story doesn’t end there because 10 years later, with the previously hands-on owner wanting to be less involved with the running of the boat, there was a need for more space and more crew cabins. Out came the cheque book again and this time Blue Legend was taken to a boatyard in Palma, where the length was extended to 80ft, creating space for two separate crew cabins as well as a rework of the interior layout to include things like a much larger galley.
The interior is a feast of limed oak
Meanwhile, the scale model that the owner had commissioned when the real boat was built went back to the model maker to, you’ve guessed it, have a corresponding increase in size!
The owner and his family went on to cruise the Mediterranean from Mallorca to the south of France, Italy, Sardinia and Corsica, always becoming one of the coolest boats in the harbour.
Nelson 80 Blue Legend specifications
Year: 1996/2006
LOA: 81ft 2in (24.76m)
Beam: 20ft 0in (6.1m)
Power: Twin 1,000hp Caterpillar 3412 diesel engines
Speed: 22 knots
Price when new: Unknown
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