El Primero, the Oldest Power Superyacht in the World

While modern megayachts are technical marvels, arguably some of the most interesting luxury yachts date back not just decades, but more than a century. One of the best examples is El Primero, the first steam yacht built on the U.S. West Coast. Launch date: August 1893. She’s still cruising, too, and historically significant as the oldest power superyacht in the world. Her present is just as remarkable as her long, storied past.

The Union Iron Works shipyard in San Francisco launched the 135-foot (41.15-meter) yacht in 1893 for Edward W. Hopkins. An American heir to a hotel fortune, he reportedly spent $250,000 to build her, a sum close to $10 million today. Sizable for her era, El Primero featured a steam engine and auxiliary sails. A crew of 10 kept her iron hull and topsides pristine. Among the accommodations for 12 passengers, Hopkins’ master suite was the grandest, with a fireplace. Dining, reading, and conversations took place amid mahogany-paneled relaxation areas.

Hopkins owned the yacht until 1906, selling her to fellow American Chester Thorne. One of the leading bankers in the Pacific Northwest, Thorne was further a founder of the Port of Tacoma in Washington State. He used the yacht in Puget Sound, entertaining among others President William Howard Taft onboard. Unfortunately, Thorne’s ownership ended abruptly in 1911. He lost her to the local newspaper publisher Sidney Albert “Sam” Perkins in a poker game.

Perkins’ ownership lasted significantly longer, through to his death in 1955. He welcomed presidents onboard, too, specifically Warren G. Harding and Herbert Hoover. While the yacht pressed into military service on behalf of the U.S. Navy during World War II, she returned to Perkins for personal use in 1947.

El Primero passed through the hands of just three subsequent owners from the mid-1950s to 2000, including one who swapped out her steam engine for diesels in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the 135-footer went out of service in 2000 in Washington State, languishing for the following decade.

El Primero received a new lease on life in 2010 when Christian Lint, a tugboat captain and engineer from Seattle, acquired her and had her hauled for repairs in Port Townsend, Washington. He continued looking after her in Puget Sound, intending to restore her fully for use as a floating museum. Following another refit in Port Townsend in 2017, Lint took the megayacht to Astoria, Oregon to seek further restoration work. Setback after setback plagued the restoration and museum plans, however. He couldn’t secure dock space where he wished, for instance, having to keep her at Pier 39 in the city. Another setback: In 2020 a storm collapsed her dock.

Enter Jeff Anderson, a homebuilder from Portland, Oregon who’s owned several sportfishing yachts, earlier this year. He began learning about Lint’s plans and the yacht herself, simultaneously working with Lint to acquire El Primero. He became her owner in August, and with Lint as her captain intended to send El Primero to South America for restoration as well as interior woodwork. The idea is to be as close to the source of the timber as possible, plus take advantage of the weather. Tragically, Lint died in September, so with his brother Rick, Anderson took the yacht to Eureka, California in October.

While we’ve attempted to get an update from the Andersons since that time, Jeff Anderson did tell an Oregon newspaper that he plans to spend about a year in South America. Upon completion of the work, El Primero will return stateside, possibly for charters. (Editor’s note: A reader sent the photo above, of her at Reincke Marine Fabrication, in January 2023.)

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