MEET
THE WEATHERBIRD
The Philosophy
Not just a yacht. A trip in time.
1931
Year launched
94
Years at sea
11+
Famous Guests
8
Major Refits
A YACHT FOR THE GOLDEN AGE
Weather Bird is more than a classic, wooden boat. The 101-foot staysail schooner is a whispering storybook from the 1930s when luminaries like Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter rubbed shoulders out at sea. Coco Chanel walked her teak decks. Pablo Picasso found inspiration amid the rich varnished woodwork. Louis Armstrong reportedly wrote a song about the yacht and then hid the record deep inside the frames of the wooden hull.
THE TIMELINE
1928
The record that named her
Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines record "Weatherbird" — one of the most celebrated jazz duets in history. Three years later a copy would be sealed into the keel of a schooner that bore its name.
1931
Launched in Fécamp, France
Commissioned by Sara and Gerald Murphy. Designed by Victor Orloff and Henri Rambaud. Delivered November 1931 — the third and final Murphy yacht, and by far the most famous.
1931–1933
The golden years on the Riviera
Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Chanel, Cole Porter, Man Ray, Dorothy Parker — all sailed these teak decks. Picasso designed the burgee. Fernand Léger painted a portfolio of watercolours on board. F. Scott Fitzgerald began shaping what would become Tender is the Night.
1933
The Murphys sell her
As Mussolini's shadow spread over Europe and their son Patrick fell gravely ill, the Murphys returned to America. They sold Weatherbird and never sailed her again.
1933–2020
Eight decades, many lives
Known variously as Java and Irina across the decades. Said to have carried a Swiss count arrested for smuggling gold from Turkey to France. Rumoured to have appeared in an Orson Welles film. Refitted in 1969, 1980, 1993, 1995, 1998 (Italy), 2011 (Turkey), and 2016.
2020
Found in Palermo
A Greek owner discovers her in a Palermo marina. "I fell in love with it." The most comprehensive refit in her 90-year history begins.
2020–2021
17-month rebirth
New Cummins engines, generators, full electrical system, electric sails, watermaker, Lutron smart controls, bespoke Art Deco interiors — all while the original oak hull, teak deck, and deckhouse were meticulously preserved.
Today
Homeported in Athens
Available for charter in the East Mediterranean. Eight guests, four crew, and 94 years of stories written into the wood.
The Hosts
Sara and Gerald Murphy were, by all accounts, the finest hosts of their generation — warm, generous, brilliant, and possessed of an almost supernatural gift for bringing extraordinary people together. They were the reason Weatherbird was not simply a yacht, but a floating salon. Without them, none of the names below would ever have stepped aboard.
Gerald Murphy
Yale graduate, aesthete, son of the founder of the Mark Cross luxury goods company. Moved to Paris in 1921 to escape New York.
Sara Murphy
Grand-niece of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. Daughter of a Cincinnati millionaire. Grew up in a 30-room beachfront estate in East Hampton.