Like all Greeks, Nikolas Pateras has an inherent love for the sea, but his passion for seafaring goes beyond that of even his most water loving countrymen. Born into a seventh generation shipping family, Nikolas has been raised on the water, surrounded by yachts and vessels of all sizes. At the age of only 33 he acquired his first yacht, the 31.5-metre classic Benetti Moongoddess, which sparked a lifetime's journey of yacht ownership that has seen him own eight yachts over the past twenty seven years. Today Nikolas is the proud owner of both the 65.25-metre Adamas V and the renowned Pendennis built sailing yacht Wally B. This January Francesca Webster sat down with Nikolas to hear the story of his life aboard boats.
Originating from the tiny island of Oinousses, Nikolas’ family earned their living in the 1700s by transporting goods from the Turkish coast to the island of Chios. By the late 1800s, the familial business had grown from small wooden vessels to clipper ships and by 1902 they purchased the first steamship.
A legacy of perseverance and determination, the family business has been through good years and tough times, losing all their ships in both World Wars. Nikolas first joined the company Pateras Brother Ltd, in 1986 at the age of 23, and since joining has managed 150 vessels. In 2015 he moved into the container ship market with Contships Management Inc. While cargo ships are his business, it is in yachts that Nikolas and his family get the most pleasure. “My father and uncle had boats from the early 1970s, and my uncle built a trawler with accommodation in the bow. I used to spend all my time onboard, working as crew at the age of 14-15 during the summer holidays learning the ropes. It became my dream to buy my own when I was grown up.”
Photo: Merijn de Waard / SuperYacht Times“When I saw Moongoddess in Monte Carlo I fell in love. I’d always wanted a canoe stern yacht and she was built like a pocket size mega yacht. White hull and traditional lines. The lady I acquired her from even gave me the Hermes cigar humidor that was originally onboard, which I still have to this day. ”She was the first Adamas, the Greek word for Diamond”. His daughter Anastasia was born in 1996, the year he acquired Moongoddess but not long after Anastasia’s birth came a second child, and around the same time many of Nikolas’ friends were also building families and wanting to spend time onboard, so it was time to scale up.
Photo: Camper & Nicholsons InternationalWalking through Rotterdam airport one morning in 1998, Nikolas picked up an industry magazine and flicking through the pages, found a Burgess advert for Azzam, which later became his Adamas II on the market for $16 million. The 59-metre yacht had an interesting history having been owned and built by the Emir of Abu Dhabi as an almost exact copy of the 61-metre Feadship superyacht Sanoo. “She was an interesting size and had nice Feadship-esque lines, so I called the broker and offered $8 million. He said that it was never going to happen, and that they had two American clients offering $14. But not long after I got a call back because the Americans would only take the yacht if she was delivered to the Med, and the owner was refusing to send the yacht through the Suez Canal, so whoever took delivery would have to do so in Abu Dhabi. I sent a few guys down there, and they looked her over, said she was in great condition so we put the offer back on the table. The Emir accepted and even left all the furnishings and cutlery onboard, as well as two Riva tenders.’’
Photo: Merijn de Waard / SuperYacht TimesNikolas brought her back to the Piraeus, where all of his commercial work takes place, for a refit, and he kept the yacht for 10 years, cruising her through the Mediterranean and Aegean with his family. Today she is moored around the corner from the Nikolas’ office in Athens, renamed Itoto.
With Adamas II sold in 2006, along came Gloria, a beautiful 38.4-metre Jongert ketch; “I’d wanted a sailing yacht for quite a few years and had owned smaller yachts in my youth. It was my dream that the children would grow up sailing as I had, but while they loved being onboard, neither took to sailing particularly. Then one day in 2010 my captain called me and said that there was a man sitting on the dock staring at Gloria. I sent one of the crew to approach the guy, who turned out to be Peter De Savary, previously owner of Pendennis. Peter had fallen in love with the yacht and we came to an agreement for him to buy her.”
Photo: Merijn de Waard / SuperYacht TimesFamously the only yacht he’d ever made money from selling, after Gloria, Nikolas decided to take a sabbatical from both yacht ownership and shipping, selling his entire fleet of 50 ships in 2008. He became a shareholder of the Greek football team Panathinaikos F.C., in his own words, “the Chelsea of Greece,” but after winning the Super Cup and the Championship “and spending €20 million in the process” he decided it was time to return to shipping, and in turn yacht ownership.Deciding to go for something lighter than Adamas II, Nikolas found the 39.7-metre Survetta II, described by his daughter Anastasia as “a very special yacht, with a blue hull and yellow funnel, we absolutely loved her, but she was in a very bad state when we bought her.” Previously owned by the Goulandris family, Nikolas renamed her Arionas, after one of the Greek muses, and spent over €4 million on her refit.
Photo: Ocean Independence
Eventually deciding in 2014 to go for a faster boat, the 38-metre Cantieri di Pisa yacht Multiple, later renamed Adamas III, he sold Arionas to the opera singer Cecilia Bartoli. Nikolas explains, “Cecilia was in Mykonos with her husband and saw the boat and asked to come onboard. They loved the yacht and asked to buy her. I told them I was considering a faster yacht, but selling her was a big mistake. She is the only boat I truly regret having sold, she has beautiful classic lines and by the time we had finished the work on her, she was perfect.”
From Adamas III, Nikolas then acquired a second Cantieri di Pisa yacht in 2022, the 32-metre My Nat, which became Adamas IV, a smaller, faster and slightly younger yacht. Despite acquiring two Cantieri di Pisa yachts over the course of eight years, the style of vessel wasn’t really for him. In 2017 while cruising Adamas III in Corfu, Nikolas saw the 32.72-metre, black-hulled Wally B for the first time. Belonging then to Mr Nathaniel Rothschild and on the market for €4.5 million, Nikolas reached out to the broker to enquire if she could be bought for €2.5 million - the answer was a resounding no.
Photo: Merijn de Waard / SuperYacht TimesA large beam for a Wally at nearly 8 metres and a large central cockpit, Wally B is a high performance carbon yacht that also caters to liveaboard periods and the type of entertaining that Nikolas and his family enjoy aboard their yachts. A year after his first inquiry, Nikolas received a call from Mr Rothschild, who was about to launch the 73.2-metre Planet Nine, and was looking to sell Wally B. A deal was made and eventually Nikolas took ownership of the yacht, which at the time was in bad shape having been mostly unused for over a year. 
Photo: Fraser Yachts“We brought the boat to Piraeus, did a huge amount of work on her, including painting her hull white replacing the sails and my children and wife fell in love with her. I even tried to sell her once or twice, but my wife threatened to shoot me if I sell the boat – in fact she is a wonderful yacht and we enjoy her a huge amount. Low maintenance, lovely lines that were futuristic at the time, but are now completely contemporary, and very seaworthy, we all enjoy cruising the Greek islands with her.”
Photo: Mike O'NeillNikolas’ most recent acquisition in 2023 is the 65.25-metre Adamas V, previously Yaakun, originally built for the Emir of Qatar as Al Menwar. An unusual yacht in regards to her configuration with all guest staterooms on the sundeck and a huge engine room and crew quarters Nikolas explains that part of his reason for this acquisition was that she was, at the time, the only reasonably priced 60 plus metre yacht on the market. She has since undergone a significant refit of over €5 million to bring her up to European standards under the supervision of Giorgio Vafiadis. “A very solid, large fast displacement yacht able to cruise at 21 knots, Adamas V had an unusual appeal to me and I knew after inspection that she had the potential to become a fantastic superyacht.”
Photo: Mike O'NeillWhile Nikolas enjoyed the yacht over the past summer, his eyes are once again set on the horizon and Adamas V may be soon placed in the market, freshly refitted and looking better than ever. With Wally B the family favourite, Nikolas would like to build a 30-metre displacement yacht to cruise between the Greek islands and entertain friends, as he said, “Adamas VI will be the boat they bury me in!”
Despite this assurance, it's hard to believe that after an extraordinary repertoire of eight superyachts behind him, Nikolas will be one to throw in the towel, so who knows how many Adamas we may see in the future. For now, for anyone that has the chance to race in or witness the Posidonia Regatta 2024 this coming June, keep an eye out for the reigning champion Wally B that is sure to be at the head of the fleet with Nikolas at the helm.
Photo: Merijn de Waard / SuperYacht TimesThis article is featured in Issue 48 of the SuperYacht Times newspaper. Subscribe now to receive your copy straight to your door and never miss another issue.