9/26/2023 0 Comments Maltese falcon yacht mast heightThe rigging system for the Maltese Falcon - designed and developed by UK carbon fibre specialist Insensys - is a little smaller than that envisaged by Prolss. Sadly for Prolss, despite numerous attempts to interest shipbuilding companies around the world, no one was prepared to build his system - until now. He believed that his technology could be applied to tankers, bulk carriers and even cruise ships to create big, fast, automated sailing vessels capable of speeds of up to 18kt. Prolss envisaged vessels with over six masts and sail areas of 12,000m2 that could be operated by a crew no larger than those on diesel-powered vessels. His vision was for the use of hydraulic motors to ensure that the mast, yards and sail surfaces would be automatically aligned with the wind. Known as Dynarig, the concept for the system was first hit upon in the 1960 by German hydraulics engineer Wilhelm Prolss. ‘The brief was for a fast boat - and if you want that then of course you go for a square rig and not a fore and aft rig because a square rig goes harder on the ocean.’ This is an important consideration, as the boat’s billionaire owner, Silicon Valley pioneer, venture capitalist and longtime sailing enthusiast Tom Perkins, has reportedly set his sights on some of the speed records set by earlier racing clippers.īut while notable for being one of a very small handful of clippers to be built since the 1930s, the yacht’s real claim to fame lies in its automatic rigging system. Gerry Dijsktra, the acclaimed Dutch naval architect who has been responsible for the overall design of the yacht, explained the decision to go for a clipper. By contrast, other big sailing vessels, such as schooners or sloops, typically use fore and aft rigs which consist of sails that are set along the line of the keel. Renowned for their speed - Maltese Falcon is expected to be capable of 18–25 knots - clippers use a slender hull and a square rig, where the main horizontal spars (or yardarms) are perpendicular to the keel. The boat is a clipper, the kind of vessel that ruled the sea in the golden age of sail. The 87.5m vessel, which is in the final stages of construction at the Istanbul shipyard of Italian superyacht specialist Perini Navi, will also be one the largest and fastest personal sailing boats in the world. When it enters the water for the first time early next year the Maltese Falcon will become just about the most advanced privately owned yacht in existence.
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