Make me the biggest yacht in the world—bigger than anyone has ever seen,” he commanded. It was a mold-breaking commission for the Benetti shipyard more than 40 years ago, from a client keen to tout his wealth. The Italian firm had already earned accolades for making fine yachts, but this was to be a new kind of vessel, a “superyacht,” if you will.

Benetti’s designers embraced the brief with gusto, and the resulting craft, though perhaps not the biggest yacht ever, was the epitome of oceangoing glamour: At 282 feet, it had five decks equipped with 11 cabins, a cinema and exhaust funnels sloped outward to allow helicopters to land on the helipad more easily. There was even a disco—it was 1979, after all.