An epic romance

Cujo

The yacht Cujo is inseparable from the romance between Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed. Designed for speed and luxury, she has had an eventful history, from her construction to her sinking in 2023.

Cujo is said to have Native American origins (sometimes attributed to the Sioux or Cherokee peoples), and to mean “irresistible force” or “unstoppable force”. This force was born of the encounter between the Baglietto shipyard and a man of character, John von Neumann.

It all started with Baglietto

The Baglietto shipyard, an iconic Italian luxury yachting institution renowned for its craftsmanship, has a rich and fascinating heritage dating back to 1854. Founded by Pietro Baglietto, the company initially distinguished itself in the construction of dinghies, before quickly turning its attention to racing yachts. At the beginning of the 20th century, its expertise extended to the construction of yachts for renowned personalities, princes and tycoons. He is to sailing what Ferrari is to the automobile. A myth born of regattas and races, the object for which the world’s powerful are prepared to queue up to be received at the yard. Among his customers, there was one who, more than any other, embodied and personified the Baglietto spirit. John von Neumann was an Austrian who emigrated to the United States in his youth. In the 1950s, he pioneered the import of prestige European cars across the Atlantic. An automobile enthusiast and talented driver, he introduced the Volkswagen, Porsche and Ferrari brands to the American West Coast. His role was decisive in the spread of these icons across the Atlantic.

John von Neumann, who spent his vacations in Italy, immediately fell in love with the motoryachts produced by Baglietto, and liked to tell his friends that “a boat is not a house, but a means of getting around quickly”. In the early 1970s, John von Neumann ordered two boats with a structure based on armored marine plywood: the 16.50 m Geronimo (JVN4), and the 20 m Cochise (JVN5). Cochise, later christened Cujo, made extensive use of mahogany. The hull was covered with a layer of steel. John von Neumann wanted to build the fastest yacht of his generation. His demands won over Baglietto’s engineers, who boldly took up the challenge. Together, they designed a sleek 20 m yacht (projet civil 20M), powered by two Castellanza CRM W18 turbo diesel engines with 54-liter displacement and 1,350 hp each, capable of propelling the unit at over 42 kts, and consuming 450 L every hour for a range of 460 Nm. Castellanza based his design on the Isotta Fraschini Asso gasoline engines used in aeronautics on seaplanes and airships, featuring three banks of six cylinders arranged at 40°. This unique project, which perfectly illustrates the fusion of Italian style and American competitive spirit, is the basis for the fifty-seven coastguard boats built by Baglietto for the Guardia di Finanza.

A long Mercato

In 1978, John von Neumann, wishing to acquire a larger boat, sold Cochise to Thierry Roussel (husband of Christina Onassis and daughter of Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis). Roussel then sold Cochise to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, who renamed her Cujo. Khashoggi is known for his extravagant lifestyle, and his fascination with yachts illustrates his taste for prestige, power and money. He even owns the legendary Nabila, one of the largest and most luxurious yachts of its time, over 85 m long. For the record, the boat was seized in 1987 and its new owner christened it Trump Princess. It’s easy to guess the identity of her new owner!

But back to Cujo. Khashoggi sold it to his nephew Dodi Al-Fayed, who undertook a complete refit at CARM Cantieri Navali, in Lavagna (Italy), before setting sail. Dodi Al-Fayed is a film producer and businessman, also known as the son of Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, former owner of Harrods department store in London. In the 1980s, he began producing films in Hollywood. Outside the film world, Dodi is best known for his social lifestyle, his association with VIP circles and his relationships with famous personalities. Cujo has become a symbol of his glamorous lifestyle, often seen off the Mediterranean between the Côte d’Azur, Monaco and Sardinia. Dodi regularly entertains celebrities, models, actresses and friends from international high society. They include Clint Eastwood, Tony Curtis, Robert Downey Jr, Bruce Willis, Brooke Shields and Cindy Crawford. His taste for discreet luxury and influential connections makes Cujo a popular meeting place, where business, charm and pleasure mingle. But the most famous guest seen on board in the summer of 1997 was Princess Diana, just a few weeks before the couple disappeared. For a few years, Cujo remained in the family, but over the years lost her former splendor, relegated to the role of cab boat for the Al-Fayed family. Withdrawn from service in 1999 and stored dry at the CARM shipyard in Lavagna, cousin Moody Al-Fayed restored her around 2017 at a cost of 800,000 euros. Tommaso Spadolini was entrusted with all the interior fittings and the redesign of the exterior lines. The other part of the refit involves working on the engines, increasing them from 1,350 hp to 1,650 hp each. Despite the refit and improvements, Moody sails for two summers in the Mediterranean and decides to auction her off in 2020.

A parallel history to the automobile

Cujo changes hands for a sum well below the estimate, and becomes the property of a specialist with a passion for vintage cars, who ventures into the world of boating somewhat by accident. The yacht reminds him of the British MTBs (Motor Torpedo Boats) that his father piloted during the Second World War. On auction day, he explains: “The bidding opened at just 150,000 euros, or around 165,000 dollars. My colleague bid 160,000 euros. The problem was that no one else bid. The hammer fell and I’d bought a boat. The feeling was a mixture of excitement, tinged with terror.” Yet this fear is justified. Just as the ship was being sold “ready to sail” by the auction house, the shipyard announced to its new owner that it had to carry out a lot of work on the vessel, and that it needed to assemble a crew of three to be able to sail. Between two confinements, always keen to gather the best for our enjoyment, this Geneva-based collector presents us with the rare Cujo in navigation and two high-quality automobiles for a short film, in Portofino: surrounded for the occasion by a Lamborghini Miura SV and one of four right-hand-drive Maserati Ghibli Spyder SS cabriolets. And her new owner adds: “Cujo has immense presence. No boat of this size attracts so much attention when it enters a port. Especially an Italian port where nervous local boat owners think he’s with the financial police.”

In 2022, Cujo was finally sold to a large family of Italian entrepreneurs. On Saturday, July 29, 2023, at around 12:30 p.m., Cujo made a distress call 18 nautical miles off Beaulieu-sur-Mer, after discovering a leak in the starboard bow hull. The seven people on board – an Italian family, skipper and deckhand – quickly left the ship. A nearby sailboat responded to the call, followed by the Antibes nautical brigade, and rescued everyone. Despite efforts to pump out the water, Cujo sank to a depth of 2,000 m in less than two hours. And so his story comes to a tragic end, a fate every bit as dramatic as the romance that made him famous.