The Maltese Falcon

[Coastie04]

I recently came across an interesting new boat. She's ultra modern, but with a distinctly traditional look. The boat is the 298-foot Maltese Falcon, a brand new super yacht. Not only does the boat look great, she is easy to operate, and relatively simple. She's square-rigged, but she brings a whole new dimension to the concept. I still think that without at least a couple heads'ls and a spanker that there just seems to be something missing. However, that's just my opinion. Below are some pictures I got from the ship's website, www.symaltesefalcon.com.

A couple of interesting notes. She can set/douse one sail per mast at a time, and it takes about a minute per sail. There are no gaps in the sail area from the head of the royals to the foot of the courses. She's reached over 20 kts on multiple occasions, including while weathering 70 kt wind - UNDER SAIL!!! The masts and yards are fixed (and intentionaly curved), so the entire mast rotates to adjust the trim, and there is no accompanying rigging. The sails furl into the mast. With the push of a button...actually, a touch-screen with a picture of the sail plan. Sails can be set just as easily. The computer gives real-time rotational, heeling moment, and forward thrust info. The boat can be sailed by just one person. I read an article that quoted a crew member as saying that the owner really likes to sail her hard, often putting the rail in the water.

I wish I could afford such a luxery.

Coastie

[capnwilliam]

I agree: she looks too much like a Chinese junk, for my tastes. But I'm sure she's a great sailer.

In the 1970's, with the oil crisis at its worst, there was a plan to revive sailing vessels - for commercial purposes! The idea was that everything would be electricly controlled - push a button to adjust the sails - so no large crew would be needed. The vessels would use diesel engines in and out of port, or if becalmed, but wind power otherwise.

A shame the idea never went anywhere. But who knows? Oil prices aren't likely to drop, in the long run,

Capt. William

[Coastie04]

Actually, this boat was born of that idea. The problem in the 70's was that in order to power the ships of today, the masts and yards were too large, and the materials of the day could not reasonably support them and remain stable. However, with new carbon fiber materials, the rigging is strong and light. Besides, with today's computers, the sails can almost be adjusted automatically for best performance. And, they're a whole lot more efficient than the traditional square sails. Also, on the website is an explanation of how the new rig was developed. Really an interesting look at sail theory.

Coastie

[capnwilliam]

Wouldn't it be beautiful to see the return of viable commercial vessels?

Better for the environment, too.

Capt. William

[Matusalem]

Wouldn't it be beautiful to see the return of viable commercial vessels?

Better for the environment, too. 

Cap't William, no reason why that shouldn't be the case.

All boats and ships have what is known as "hull speed", that is the maximum speed that the ship can move. It doesn't matter whether the engine is 300 hp or 30, 000 hp, the boat can't go any faster. Those who understand marine architecture or boat design know what I'm talking about. Speed boats can go fast because they plane on the water....thus less displacement. Same with modern military cutters and frigates that have narrow hulls, or fast ferries that have 2 narrow hulls (basically a catamaran) which is why ferries like the AtlantiCAT are called such. It's all a matter of displacement (the amount of hull in the water).

That being said, a sailing ship can achieve the same speed as a motor-driven ship, and possibly faster if heeling causes enough of hull to leave water. Helps to have a good wind too!

[HarborMaster]

Breathtaking., that last photo is really showing off her size., thanks Coastie04.

[Black Hearted Pearl]

Wow, that is impressive. I have to show this to the boys at the AZYC. Thanks Coastie.

[Matusalem]

In case anyone missed it, or was willing to watch CBS beyond the Colts/Pats game sunday night, there wasa 60 Minutes interview of Tom Perkins, the owner of the Maltese Falcon.

Although the boat is a technical marvel, I thought Mr. Perkins came off as a bit of an egocentric egomaniac a la Howard Hughes. He even has as a website for his 289ft toy. Maltese Falcon I guess it goes with the territory.

[Black Hearted Pearl]

I just caught the segment on 60 minutesvia Yahoo. The Maltese Falcon looks like a modern teched out version of the Star of India.

Oh, and don't think that Tom Perkins isn't going to sell some of the technology developed for his yacht. It may have cost upwards of $150 million, but he'll recoup the development costs and then some. That's what venture capitalists do.

[Coastie04]

Well, I saw an article a few weeks ago and forgot to post it here. Apparently, the designer of the Maltese Falcon is designing a two masted brig with the same technology, and hoping he can get a buyer to fund the building. While trying to find that article again, I came across this page: http://www.runningtideyachts.com/dynarig/ which has an interesting idea for a single masted, square rigged catamaran.

Possibly the next step in the return of square riggers? It's possible if the rig prices start to come down and they're proven to be efficient and fast.

Coastie

[Matusalem]

Thanx, Coastie!

Hey...wanna see mine? (WARNING....shameless self-promotion alert, ok, I admit it I'm being an egotisitical egomaniac)

I did this airbrush about 15 years ago after I graduated college to boster my illustration capabilities.

[Commodore Swab]

A while back when I crossed the pond (under sail) we ended up in the spanish port of Mao where the Maltese Falcon came in and anchored next to us, what an impressive ship. I didn't get the chance to go on board but I did get to look at her up close and personal.

[Coastie04]

I'd love for them to build this design, as I have a love of brigs. Also, I'd love to see the two vessels race!

Coastie

[Bart LeBaron]

Arr, when it comes to the economy, ships like that may indeed be our savior. I know that our own coast guard cutter is quite a gas guzzler! Personally, though, I think she looks a bit too modern...any proper sailin' ship ought to have riggin! If ye want te see a pretty sailin ship, take a look at the Lady Washington. She be one o' the finest vessels I ever laid me deadlights upon.

[Coastie04]

While I agree about the Lady Washington being beautiful (sailed her as crew myself), if you look at the evolution of rigging, it's all about having more sail with less rigging to maintain. Just as an example, the Lady Washington has approximately four miles of running rigging, and two miles of standing rigging. She's 112 feet long, from the tip of the jib boom to the end of the main boom and rigged as she would have been in the late 18th Century as a two masted brig. USCGC Eagle, a 295 foot, three masted barque, has 5 miles of standing rigging and 7 miles of running rigging (I've heard up to 20 miles of rigging, but that's not what I learned when sailing onboard her, and seems like a gross exaguration). Although Eagle has twice as much rigging as the Lady Washington, when you facter in that Eagle has twice as many sails, five times as much sail area, a third mast, larger masts, and is almost three times the length, twice as much rigging doesn't seem like that much. The reason? 150 years of sail evolution. The combination of better materials (steel spars and rigging vs. wood spars and natural rope rigging), streamlined rigs (got rid of unnecessary lines, changed the construction of sails to be more efficient, didn't need as much support for the spars, etc. Just think of how far airplanes or cars have come in the last 100 years and try to apply that to sailing ships. We have a much better understanding of the forces involved, computer design AND operating technology, hydraulics, carbon fiber for the masts and yards, and kevlar for sails. Those were just the ones I could come up with off the top of my head. That's not to mention hull design, smaller auxiliary engines, etc. So, the trend throughout history is to eliminate as much unnecessary rigging as possible. If this is the next step, I say go for it! However, I still would like to see those traditional ships sailing, as I do agree that they're prettier.

Coastie

[Matusalem]

if I ever was to build my own ocean-going pirate ship (you know, like the way we all wish we would win the lottery), this is basically how I'd do it:

1. Fiberglass, aluminum, or steel hull for easy maintainance and stregnth. Have some embossed effect on the hull outer surface to look like wood.

2. the entire deck and cabin of mohogany, teak, and pine ( a.k.a. the "finery") for realistic esthetics.

3. Carbon fiber masts & rigging but the outer roving in the color of wood, instead of the usual carbin fiber black. From a distance you can't tell that the masts are not wood.

4. Sails of cotton canvas.

[Coastie04]

The Providence is built like that. Wood superstructure, with a reinforced fiberglass hull. To the untrained eye, she's indestinguishable from an all wood vessel. But if you look close at the hull...

Coastie