Perini Navi - Maltese Falcon; Sailing Yacht

I agree, there is obviously a hidden agenda! I wonder what flavour dip the presenter would like with that chip on her shoulder?? (sorry for the poor humour!)

James

A video celebrating the birth of Maltese Falcon, courtesy of Perini Navi (I thought I had posted this, but I guess not)

http://www.*****.com/SynfoTV/synfotvLargeScreen.asp?video=1078

Thaks Brian,

It's a great video but no sound or commentary! Do you know if there is a sound/commentary version?

Coffee Table Book

...in case you haven't seen the ads for this new 'coffee table book'..


"The Maltese Falcon"
by SuperYacht Art, 240 pages, hardcover. Published by TRP Magazines, printed by Butler & Tanner. 50.00 GBP.


The Maltese Falcon is certainly one of the world's most recognisable and impressive yachts, but I must confess that I was less than impressed with the look of it's superstructure. To my mind's eye, square rigs belonged on wooden vessels from the 1800's through the end of the clipper era. Tossing three columns of what appear at first glance to be updated Chinese Junk rigs onto a modern Perini Navi hull seemed, well, odd.

It wasn't until I viewed a long piece on the 60 Minutes television show about the boat and its owner Tom Perkins that I got past my prejudices to look a bit deeper into the technology behind the boat, and when this huge coffee table book landed with an audible thud on my desktop I began to look with real wonder at just how Perkins brought his childhood dreams to fruition:

"Cutty Sark was the iconic clipper, capable of running before strong trade winds at speeds over 20 knots and logging hundreds of miles per day. As a kid I studied her log books, which had been preserved and annotated by sailing historian Basil Lubbock. I must have been a hand aboard a clipper in some previous incarnation because I have always been drawn to these square-riggers. After decades of ownership of sailing yachts... I was still obsessed with the clipper square-rigger concept.

"So I wondered if it would be possible to bring forward the advantages of this design into the 21st century. Could one create a clipper which would be practical and not require dozens of young crew to set and hand her towering clouds of sail? My good friend Fabio Perini had built a superbly beautiful hull of 88m, but it remained unfinished. Might it be the platform for an entirely new idea? I asked Perini Navi to explore the clipper 'yacht' possibility. This triggered the submission of a plan by renowned Dutch naval architect Gerard Dijkstra which caught my attention."

The story of the build project and the engineering and programming needed to enable a single person to control all the sails and steering is astonishing. More than an engineering masterpiece, the rigging on the Maltese Falcon is functional sculpture. Wait until you see how the interior's been fitted out...

Thousands of photos from an array of world famous photographers including two of my favorites Carlo Borlenghi and Franco Pace.

This book is available for purchase by visiting superyachtart.

Electric Fever Habit

A friend recently sent me this very funny parody on John Masefield's famous poem, 'The Call of the Running Tide'.

While there certainly is an element of truth in this poem, I don't intend to demean the wonderful,technological Maltese Falcon, as I am awed by her. But I also chuckled with this excerpt,
"I must go down to the sea again, with RAM in gigabytes,
and teraflops of processing for hobbies that I like,
And software suiting all my wants, seated at my console
And pushing on the buttons which give me complete control."


Here is the full poem: (and I am not the author)

I must go down to the sea again, in a modern high-tech boat,
And all I ask is electric, for comfort while afloat,
And alternators, and solar panels, and generators going,
And deep cycle batteries with many amperes flowing.

I must go down to the sea again, to the autopilot’s ways,
And all I ask is a GPS, and a radar, and displays,
And a cell phone, and a weatherfax, and a shortwave radio,
And compact disks, computer games and TV videos.

I must go down to the sea again, with a freezer full of steaks,
And all I ask is a microwave, and a blender for milkshakes,
And a watermaker, air-conditioner, hot water in the sink,
And e-mail and a VHF to see what my buddies think.

I must go down to the sea again, with power-furling sails,
And chart displays of all the seas, and a bullhorn for loud hails,
And motors pulling anchor chains, and push-button sheets,
And programs which take full charge of tacking during beats.

I must go down to the sea again, and not leave friends behind,
And so they never get seasick we’ll use the web online,
And all I ask is an Internet with satellites over me,
And beaming all the data up, my friends sail virtually.

I must go down to the sea again, record the humpback whales,
Compute until I decipher their language and their tales,
And learn to sing in harmony, converse beneath the waves,
And befriend the gentle giants as my synthesizer plays.

I must go down to the sea again, with RAM in gigabytes,
and teraflops of processing for hobbies that I like,
And software suiting all my wants, seated at my console
And pushing on the buttons which give me complete control.

I must go down to the sea again, my concept seems quite sound,
But when I simulate this boat, some problems I have found.
The cost is astronomical, repairs will never stop,
Instead of going sailing, I’ll be shackled to the dock.

I must go down to the sea again, how can I get away?
Must I be locked in low-tech boats until my dying day?
Is there no cure for my complaint, no technologic fix?
Oh, I fear this electric fever is a habit I can’t kick



PS: No one can claim that Maltese Falcon is in any way, shackled to the dock...not with her sailing record.

It happened to see her docked for repairs in La Spezia on the 1st of October 2007

Computer Generated Video

Just ran across this computer generated video of Falcon sailing

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/965164/fsx_maltese_falcon_sailing_yacht/

The maltese falcon, spotted in Greens

spotted leavin Grenada, no shots yet but whata beautiful yacht

She left Grenada on December 29th, sailing North to Carriacou...


Seen below anchored just outside St. George's Harbor:


(Not for further publication or distribution without permission, please.)

Berthed at Port Louis Marina

(Not for further publication or distribution without permission, please.)

Hi MDG and welcome to YF,

I got a kick out of your acronym! More impressed with your photography. Hope YF will be the occasional beneficiary of your permanent appendage.

Have a GR8 '08!

Yes, I have seen this guy's photography on a 'photo website' and I was impressed when I saw the photos he took of the Maltese Falcon as well as life in Grenada. Great stuff, welcome to YF as well MDG.

San Fran bound??

Saw a brief report of her being in Costa Rica. Possible she is headed for San Francisco....a US appearance...WOW

Book Review

Mine's Bigger
by David Kaplan

As a rule books about superyachts are turgid affairs, which can quickly be classified as ’reference’. This one by David Kaplan, a senior editor at Newsweek, is an exception, a rip-roaring, revealing read about the evolution of the most extraordinary supersailing yacht ever built. It’s not just about Maltese Falcon the yacht, but also about her owner Tom Perkins whose quite extraordinary life as arguably the most successful venture capitalist America has ever seen, is a match for even the Falcon’s mesmerizing statistics.

An impressive aspect of Kaplan’s work is that he goes into immense detail, not only about the yacht herself, but also the principles of square-rigged sailing stability and other potentially esoteric, dry subject. The neat thing is he gets the message across in a very clear way.

Kaplan also puts the Falcon into context with the other two monster yachts which played a part in the Mine’s Bigger saga of a couple of years ago, Joe Vittoria’s Mlrabella V , and Jim Clark’s Athena. Kaplan is also the author of The Silicon Boys, so he is well equipped with detailed knowledge about the roles both Clark and Perkins played in the Klondike-style rush for business supremacy in California in the twilight years of the last century.

It makes for scintillating reading and Kaplan has been highly successful in interweaving the story of Silicon Valley business and the vast profits it generated, with stories of the world’s largest and most outrageous sailing boats.

This is a must-read for anyone even vaguely interested in the burgeoning supersailing phenomenon.

For sale

Yes, she's up for sale at $176M.
Go quickly to the Perini Navi USA website.

Are you sure??

The Falcon is in Tahiti on charter, 42,000 Nm so far

On the PN USA site there is only these yachts for sale;
Atmosphere - 173.8 ft
Felicità west - 210 ft
La Numero 1Uno - 128 ft

The for sale sign is on http://uk.yachtworld.com/boats/1877811/0

Jed

http://www.yachtcouncil.com/Periniusa/main.asp?-vessel_basic_info.asp-&vessels_id=74644&curr_id=7&vd=1

Its Correct !
she is for sale 115m euro camper and nicholsons the world wide agents

It will be interesting to see how long Maltese Falcon is on the market.

I wonder how 'seriously' it is for sale ...that is quite a price on her. And wasn't he having a 'sub toy' built for onboard?

I suspect Mr Perkins is not in a big hurry to sell. I don't think he has had all the fun yet. And I don't think at his age he wants to do another bigger, more spectacular project...it would be tough to top this one.

Smaller, Less Expensive 'DynaRig' Project

But come to think of I do know where someone might be able to do a smaller, MUCH less expensive 'DynaRig project' ....say 3M

http://www.runningtideyachts.com/dynarig/