Has anybody here actually ever seen the yacht MALTESE FALCON? Thumbs up, or down?

I passed Maltese Falcon in the straits of Bonifacio. (what I mean is that we were on opposite courses!)
I saw what I thought was an old square rigger in the distance but was amazed at how quickly it approached. It was creaming along at 20+knots and went swishing past about 100metres from us . Fantastic!!!
 
It would be quite an engineering achievement to roller furl the sails into a curved spar

To anyone who hasnt sailed a unstayed rig-the absence of stays makes it wonderfully quiet in a blow - and you save 'that' riggers bill every 10 years.

I would love to have a go on MF, looks like they really enjoy getting the best out of it at sea. And watching a giant movie on the sail while barreling along at night, surreal!
 
Certainly, Maltese Falcon's weird rig seems to owe more to the simple, efficiently powerful use of sail, than to intentional aesthetics.

I wonder how quickly the sails can be furled, in the event of sudden squalls?

I also wonder to what extent that monstrous pylon in the bows, adds windage? No doubt the equipment is vital to navigation and communication, but it surely is hideously ugly.
 
Freedom from wire?

If indeed standing rigging can be made redundant by clever engineering with alloys etc, why do so few yachts go that way?

Isn't the ability to alter rig tension a benefit, at times? Unstayed masts are more than just tough, if they can self-adjust like a racing rig.

I can't picture Freedom yachts with rigs like Finn dinghies, bending terrifyingly...:eek::eek::D
 
dancrane said:
If indeed standing rigging can be made redundant by clever engineering with alloys etc, why do so few yachts go that way?

New masts are hideously expensive - chummy with a Freedom ketch reckoned £15k for a new mast.

Isn't the ability to alter rig tension a benefit, at times? Unstayed masts are more than just tough, if they can self-adjust like a racing rig.

it's not controllable bend (except at the design stage), they tend to bend-off thus spilling wind, in stronger breezes.

I can't picture Freedom yachts with rigs like Finn dinghies, bending terrifyingly...:eek::eek::D
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SHUG said:
It was creaming along at 20+knots and went swishing past about 100metres from us . Fantastic!!!
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I remember reading somewhere that she is considerably faster than all other superyachts here size, which says something about the efficiency of the rig.

When function actually works I'm happy to put function over form.....
 
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Took this shot of her in the BVI a couple of years ago.

She is very impressive in the flesh.
 
The sails are indeed stowed in her masts, unfurling horizontally along the yards from vertical slots in the mast.

Having had a good look at her in Antigua, I think she's a marvellous piece of engineering, but somewhat ugly.

She's not exactly economical under sail either. On one passage, she covered a little under 4500 miles under sail alone over 16 days, and yet consumed 10,200 litres of diesel to run her generators. That's a little under eight and a half tons, or around £15,000 worth at today's pump prices. :rolleyes:
 
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I saw here in 2010 sailing into the caldera in santorini, with the sunset behind her. We were in Oia, watching down on her under full sail. Somehow i dont think it was coincidental that she passed through this very location with the sun right about to go down below the horizon. Well planned ide say, and ide say that there was a million pics of her taken at this very precise moment! Still, it was a beautiful sight! One of the worlds most amazing locations to watch the sunset, and then this big ol girl arrived to add to the excitement!
 
Simondjuk said:
The sails are indeed stowed in her masts, unfurling horizontally along the yards from vertical slots in the mast.

Having had a good look at her in Antigua, I think she's a marvellous piece of engineering, but somewhat ugly.

She's not exactly economical under sail either. On one passage, she covered a little under 4500 miles under sail alone over 16 days, and yet consumed 10,200 litres of diesel to run her generators. That's a little under eight and a half tons, or around £15,000 worth at today's pump prices. :rolleyes:
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I dunno, burning half a tonne of diesel per day for a vessel of this size is pretty economical really, especially when you consider that a similar sized motor yacht travelling at 12 knots might easily be burning 20 tonnes (or more?) a day on a transatlantic passage.
 
http://youtu.be/XxumuEGtaCI

Great Vid here. Bear with it. Its taken by an amateur on the shore as she starts the Transat. Develops into a riveting watch.

Seems she was doing 17 knots. Wouldn't want to get T Boned by her then..

http://youtu.be/iF580eL05ow

Far shorter vid of the same start, but shows her tacking and swinging the yards (can we call them that?) as she fills her sails on starboard for the line crossing.
And here http://youtu.be/mmpOLEcogrg sailing out of Antigua.
 
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You're right, considering how little happens, that is very watchable. But let's hope the photographer gets a tripod, next birthday!

Interesting how a large vessel seems not to be going very fast, seen at a distance. And a massive vessel is barely moving...

...but she's actually making better pace than anything else out there.

I watched a Youtube Perini Navi vid straight afterward, and I still prefer coventional rigs. But, Maltese Falcon is very cool.

I guess her sheer size detracts from the lively motion I expect from a sailing yacht in a breeze like that; she's really a ship.
 
dancrane said:
If indeed standing rigging can be made redundant by clever engineering with alloys etc, why do so few yachts go that way?

Isn't the ability to alter rig tension a benefit, at times? Unstayed masts are more than just tough, if they can self-adjust like a racing rig.

I can't picture Freedom yachts with rigs like Finn dinghies, bending terrifyingly...:eek::eek::D
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Downside of free standing rigs is that you can't fly a jib off them - or if you do, you need backstays, and then you're altering the auto responsive mast bend - particularly useful upwind.

So you need a schooner (or a ketch). Like this:

FarfarerFeb2011.jpg


Have to admit that an unpainted alloy version of this for high latitude cruising would be my lottery boat.
 
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