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Boat of the Week: Meet ‘Cujo,’ the 80-Foot Yacht Where Late Movie Producer Dodi Al-Fayed Once Wooed Princess Diana

The couple spent some of their final summer cruising around saint-tropez aboard this fast, military-looking yacht., howard walker, howard walker's most recent stories.

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For a few brief weeks back in the summer of 1997, Cujo was the most famous boat in the world.

Not because of her intimidating military lines, or blistering 40-knot performance. It’s because Diana, Princess of Wales, hung out aboard in Saint-Tropez with the boat’s owner, and romantic partner Dodi Al-Fayed.

Countless paparazzi shots show the once future Queen of England on Cujo‘s narrow sidedecks, soaking up the Mediterranean sun. By the end of August that year, both Diana and Dodi would be dead after that fatal car wreck in Paris.

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Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed spent some of their final summer cruising around Saint-Tropez aboard Cujo .  Courtesy Patrick Bar-Nice Matin/AP Images

Yet this rakish 80-footer was a headliner long before Diana stepped on board. Her first owner was Austrian Johnny Von Neumann, an entrepreneur, playboy and passionate sports-car racer who became the largest Porsche-VW distributor in the US.

In 1972, Von Neumann commissioned the Italian shipyard Baglietto to build him a boat with one goal: It had to go fast—faster than any other motoryacht on the water. To deliver, the shipyard installed twin 54-liter V-18 turbo diesels delivering a combined 2,700 horsepower.

Flat out, Cujo —said to be an ancient Indian word meaning “unstoppable force”—could easily top 40 knots, or 46 mph. Von Neumann blasted up and down the Cote d’Azur for a few years before ordering an even faster Baglietto—this time with jet turbine power. He sold Cujo to arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi who, at the time, was reckoned to be the richest man in the world.

The fast, military exterior gives way to an almost old-fashioned cockpit with wood cabinets and leather seats.  Courtesy Simon Kidston

Khashoggi eventually passed the boat on to his nephew Dodi Al-Fayed, who immediately sent her to the CARM shipyard in Lavagna, Italy, for a full refit.

Back in Saint-Tropez, and moored in her reserved spot on the town’s main quay outside the famed Le Sénéquier restaurant, Fayed would invite many of his Hollywood friends for a cruise. During the summers, everyone from Clint Eastwood, Tony Curtis, Bruce Willis and one-time girlfriend, Brooke Shields, were seen aboard.

Following Dodi and Diana’s death, Cujo quickly fell into disrepair. Decommissioned in 1999, she was hauled out at the CARM yard and spent several years in storage.

The main salon is smaller than many contemporary 80-foot motoryachts, but few other boats its size have the same 40-knots-plus top end.  Courtesy Simon Kidston

The boat was eventually rescued by Dodi’s cousin Moody Al-Fayed, who spent over $1 million bringing her back to life. Part of the work included uprating those massive diesels to deliver 1,650 hp each.

Now fast forward to February last year. After two summers of cruising Cujo around Sardinia and Italy’s Amalfi coast, Moody decided to sell. Strangely, he entered the boat in the Retromobile classic car auction in Paris.

That’s where well-known British car collector, buyer, seller and restorer Simon Kidston appeared. Kidston had spied Cujo in the Retromobile auction catalog, read that it was being sold by his old school-friend Fayed, and decided to bid.

The 1972 Baglietto has innovative features like the amidships helm and social area, and two sunbeds on the foredeck.  Courtesy Simon Kidston

“On the day of the auction, I was tied up with clients so asked a colleague to go down and take a look. I told him that if it was going cheaply, put in a bid for a bit of fun,” Kidston tells Robb Report .

“The bidding opened at just 150,000 Euros—that’s around $165,000. My colleague bid 160,000 Euros,” says Kidston. “Trouble was, no one else bid. The hammer went down and I had bought a boat. The feeling was a mix of excitement, tinged with terror.”

Unfortunately, just as Simon took delivery of Cujo at Lavagna, where she was moored, Europe was starting to lock down with the coronavirus pandemic.

The internal helm station is outfitted with modern electronics, but in a nod to its historic past, the wheel is definitely old school.  Courtesy Simon Kidston

But he did get to take her out during a video shoot in and around Portofino  for his YouTube channel Kidston Productions, where the boat meets up with Simon’s own ’70s Lamborghini Miura supercar. Entitled A Portofino Affair, the footage of Cujo at speed is breathtaking.

“She has immense presence,” said Kidston. “No boat of its size commands that kind of attention when she comes into a harbor.” Especially an Italian harbor when nervous local boat owners think she’s with the financial police.

“As you’d expect, those engines have tons and tons of performance,” Kidston adds. “We’ve seen 41 knots. But they have a very different sound than I was expecting; instead of a roar from the exhausts, there’s this amazing whistle from the turbos.”

The diesel engines were upgraded from the original 2,700 to 3,300 horsepower.  Courtesy Simon Kidston

While Kidston and his family had planned to cruise the Med this summer, the car enthusiast received an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“A young member of a prominent Italian business family—he’s 30 years old—had seen Cujo in Lavagna, fallen in love with her and asked if she was for sale,” he says. “He took delivery last week, just in time for his birthday.”

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Boat of the Week: Meet ‘Cujo,’ the 80-Foot Yacht Where Late Movie Producer Dodi Al-Fayed Once Wooed Princess Diana

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For a few brief weeks back in the summer of 1997, Cujo was the most famous boat in the world.

Not because of her intimidating military lines, or blistering 40-knot performance. It’s because Diana, Princess of Wales , hung out aboard in Saint-Tropez with the boat’s owner, and romantic partner Dodi Al-Fayed.

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Countless paparazzi shots show the once future Queen of England on Cujo‘s narrow sidedecks, soaking up the Mediterranean sun. By the end of August that year, both Diana and Dodi would be dead after that fatal car wreck in Paris.

Yet this rakish 80-footer was a headliner long before Diana stepped on board. Her first owner was Austrian Johnny Von Neumann, an entrepreneur, playboy and passionate sports-car racer who became the largest Porsche-VW distributor in the US.

In 1972, Von Neumann commissioned the Italian shipyard Baglietto to build him a boat with one goal: It had to go fast—faster than any other motoryacht on the water. To deliver, the shipyard installed twin 54-liter V-18 turbo diesels delivering a combined 2,700 horsepower.

Flat out, Cujo —said to be an ancient Indian word meaning “unstoppable force”—could easily top 40 knots, or 46 mph. Von Neumann blasted up and down the Cote d’Azur for a few years before ordering an even faster Baglietto—this time with jet turbine power. He sold Cujo to arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi who, at the time, was reckoned to be the richest man in the world.

Khashoggi eventually passed the boat on to his nephew Dodi Al-Fayed, who immediately sent her to the CARM shipyard in Lavagna, Italy, for a full refit.

Back in Saint-Tropez, and moored in her reserved spot on the town’s main quay outside the famed Le Sénéquier restaurant, Fayed would invite many of his Hollywood friends for a cruise. During the summers, everyone from Clint Eastwood, Tony Curtis, Bruce Willis and one-time girlfriend, Brooke Shields, were seen aboard.

Following Dodi and Diana’s death, Cujo quickly fell into disrepair. Decommissioned in 1999, she was hauled out at the CARM yard and spent several years in storage.

The boat was eventually rescued by Dodi’s cousin Moody Al-Fayed, who spent over $1 million bringing her back to life. Part of the work included uprating those massive diesels to deliver 1,650 hp each.

Now fast forward to February last year. After two summers of cruising Cujo around Sardinia and Italy’s Amalfi coast, Moody decided to sell. Strangely, he entered the boat in the Retromobile classic car auction in Paris.

That’s where well-known British car collector, buyer, seller and restorer Simon Kidston appeared. Kidston had spied Cujo in the Retromobile auction catalog, read that it was being sold by his old school-friend Fayed, and decided to bid.

“On the day of the auction, I was tied up with clients so asked a colleague to go down and take a look. I told him that if it was going cheaply, put in a bid for a bit of fun,” Kidston tells Robb Report .

“The bidding opened at just 150,000 Euros—that’s around $165,000. My colleague bid 160,000 Euros,” says Kidston. “Trouble was, no one else bid. The hammer went down and I had bought a boat. The feeling was a mix of excitement, tinged with terror.”

Unfortunately, just as Simon took delivery of Cujo at Lavagna, where she was moored, Europe was starting to lock down with the coronavirus pandemic.

But he did get to take her out during a video shoot in and around Portofino for his YouTube channel Kidston Productions, where the boat meets up with Simon’s own ’70s Lamborghini Miura supercar. Entitled A Portofino Affair, the footage of Cujo at speed is breathtaking.

“She has immense presence,” said Kidston. “No boat of its size commands that kind of attention when she comes into a harbor.” Especially an Italian harbor when nervous local boat owners think she’s with the financial police.

“As you’d expect, those engines have tons and tons of performance,” Kidston adds. “We’ve seen 41 knots. But they have a very different sound than I was expecting; instead of a roar from the exhausts, there’s this amazing whistle from the turbos.”

While Kidston and his family had planned to cruise the Med this summer, the car enthusiast received an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“A young member of a prominent Italian business family—he’s 30 years old—had seen Cujo in Lavagna, fallen in love with her and asked if she was for sale,” he says. “He took delivery last week, just in time for his birthday.”

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Princess Diana and Dodi’s ‘love boat’ is now at the bottom of the ocean

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Over 20 years after Princess Diana’s tragic death, the scene of one of her final photos has now met its own demise.

A yacht that Princess Diana used as her so-called “love boat” with Dodi Al-Fayed has sunk. 

Called Cujo, the yacht reportedly developed a hole after it struck an unidentified object off Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, according to the Times of London . 

Cujo’s owner is an Italian with a home on the Riviera.

Seven people were on board at the time of the accident, but they were rescued and unharmed.

The yacht sank and is at the bottom of the Mediterranean. 

“The skipper of the Cujo issued a mayday,” local police said , according to the Daily Mail. “His ship was sinking due to a leak. Rescue boats were sent from Antibes and, after making sure everyone was safe, gendarmes detected a significant water leak at the level of the starboard front hull. Her owner had activated the pumps and kept the engines running, but this didn’t stop the boat sinking.”

Cujo became famous in 1997 when Diana was photographed on board with her millionaire film producer boyfriend, Fayed – just a few weeks before their fatal car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. 

The couple’s photos on the luxury boat were their first pictures together. Those photos sparked the tabloid furor around Diana and Fayed.

A photo of Diana on the boat was one of the final images taken before her death at 36.

According to the Times of London, the yacht was built in Italy in 1972 for John von Neumann, a businessman who made his fortune selling Porsche and Volkswagen cars. After von Neumann, Cujo was then owned by the son of arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, before it ended up in the hands of his cousin, Fayed. 

Fayed moored the yacht off St-Tropez, where he hosted the rich and famous – such as Brooke Shields , Clint Eastwood, and Diana. 

After Fayed’s death, the yacht fell into disrepair and sold at auction to its current owner for $250,000 in 2020. 

French reports imply that Cujo was not in good condition at the time it sank, and regularly had maintenance problems. 

Diana’s death will controversially be depicted in the sixth and final season of Netflix’s hit royal drama, “The Crown.” Khalid Abdalla will play Fayed . The season premiere is slated for sometime this fall.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first meeting and early days will also be depicted.

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- Ex-Dodi Al-Fayed - Unique history and provenance - In the same family for over 30 years - Over €800 000 in invoices for a complete refit in 2017/2018 - No reserve

Built in Italy in 1972, this motor yacht was consigned to posterity in 1997, Lady Diana's last summer. She spent time on board this yacht which belonged at that time to Dodi Al Fayed. Cujo was assured of an unusual destiny before it had even been built. Its first owner was John Van Neumann, the entrepreneur who opened up the American market to Porsche and Volkswagen. In 1972, he ordered a motor yacht from the Italian shipyard Baglietto, with a specification request that was straightforward: it had to go fast, faster than anything else on the water, anywhere in the world. The two 1350 bhp diesel turbo engines, with 18 cylinders in a V, suggest that the client's demand had been understood. Built by Castellanza in Italy, these two engines allowed a maximum speed of 40 knots (close to 80 km/hour). At more economical speeds, it had a range of 460 miles which was enough to cross the Mediterranean in any direction. The businessman was completely happy with his yacht for a few years, before wanting something that was even bigger and faster. Cujo was sold to M. Kashoggi, who sold it straight on to his cousin: Dodi Al-Fayed. The boat underwent a full refit at the CARM shipyard in Lavagna, regaining its splendour, with a layout that was even more sophisticated. After that, it appears the owner was inseparable from his boat in Saint Tropez. Cujo was moored at the Suffren quay, opposite the Café de Paris and Sénéquier. As Dodi Al-Fayed was acquainted with the Hollywood world, he invited many friends on board, including Brooke Shield, Clint Eastwood, Tony Curtis, Bruce Willis... It was his guest in the summer of 1997, however, that ensured the yacht's posterity. Several times, during the month of August, Lady Diana spent time on the boat. There are photos showing the Princess in a black costume and white shorts on board. The poignant image of her in a turquoise swimsuit sitting at the end of the bow, as if on a diving board, was actually on Sokarr, the boat belonging to Dodi's father. After the couple's tragic death, the crew on Cujo were devastated. They tried to remain faithful to the memory of Dodi and his last love, but finally lost heart. The captain Stefano, began more often to take command of Sokarr, its 70-metres requiring careful manoeuvring around the ports of the Côte d'Azur.

Cujo remained in the family, assigned to the role of private taxi for special guests of Mohamed Al Fayed, and taking on the appearance of an austere life-boat. Little by little, it lost its soul. Decommissioned in 1999, it spent several years on dry land and under cover, at the CARM shipyard where it had first been refitted. Finally, one of Dodi's cousins, Moody, could no longer bear to see the boat slowly lose its dignity. He dedicated an exceptionally large budget of nearly 800 000€ (all invoices available on request) to restoring Cujo to its former glory. The interior arrangements and the new design of the exterior styling was entrusted to the celebrated Tommaso Spadolini. And so, Cujo underwent a breathtaking transformation that was more than just another rejuvenation. With this striking new appearance, it was difficult to believe that the boat was originally built in 1972. In fact, once finished, it was like a new Porsche being delivered to its first owner, offering a timeless modernity. Moody then spent the last two seasons cruising around Sardinia and the Amalfi coast. His young children, professional commitments and house in Porto-Cervo, however, took up a lot of time and he made the difficult decision to part with this precious item. The new owner can be assured that it will take to the water immediately. Moody would like the buyer to be conscious of the spiritual heritage they will assume responsibility for. His great wish is that the new owner will have as much love for Cujo as Dodi had. In any case, the boat, as presented, offers an exceptional and totally unique opportunity to acquire power, style and history in a single vessel.<ref> https://www.artcurial.com/fr/lot-1972-cujo-baglietto-no-reserve-3980-65 </ref>

https://www.pressmare.it/it/designer/tommaso-spadolini/2019-02-18/svela-quattro-esclusivi-progetti-refitting-18979

TX (RITAGLIO):

Tutto in famiglia

Cujo è un classico Baglietto di 20 metri costruito in legno, che l’armatore tiene in Sardegna e che appartiene alla stessa famiglia da quasi 30 anni. “La sfida era data dal fatto che si trattava quasi di un cimelio di famiglia,” spiega Spadolini. “La barca originale non aveva prendisole, bimini e altre dotazioni oggi considerate essenziali, quindi dovevamo apportare modifiche sostanziali agli esterni e agli interni senza perdere il classico fascino Baglietto”. Oltre ad avere aggiunto con attenzione nuove dotazioni esterne, compresa una piattaforma bagno in fibra di carbonio che potesse ospitare il tender, Spadolini ha rinfrescato il décor di coperta per renderlo attuale, mantenendo al contempo alcuni elementi originali come i dettagli in alluminio.

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