Perini Navi - Maltese Falcon; Sailing Yacht

I've been away on a little holiday down to Boguete Panama, so I missed this news of his passing. I was just going thru my emails and saw this:

Obviously I was VERY taken in by this innovative design and project,....to the extent that I proposed a single-masted version on a catamaran.
http://www.runningtideyachts.com/dynarig/

As you said HTM09, so correctly

Brian, IMHO the Dynarig has the biggest potential for the propulsion of almost any type of boat. And this as the main propulsion for sailboats / yachts and as secondary or auxillary propulsion for commercial cargo or passenger vessels. Except for the Aero Rig (which in my opinion is not very pretty to look at),



it is the only real all aspect sailing gear for all type of boats. Even your ideas about game fishing under sail, this two rigs would be the only really usable (under all practical and financial aspects). And I also agree with You, that the dynarig and a catamaran of any size (the bigger the better) would be the perfect merge. For a large single mast dynarig, I have been told by the best naval architects on this field, a multihull is a must.

Together with my sons and our R&D departement in the company, we still have the dream of introducing the dynarig to commercial shipping.


Based on this Dykstra Design, a dynarig assisted ship or even as main propulsion, this configuration would make a perfect sail training ship, a great support or shadow ship for a larger sailing yacht or many special cargo versions are possible and last but not least a very stylish (and under the political correctness point of view of course) cruise ship.

All other wind based propulsions, like square riggers, boom riggers, ultra large schooners (SY "A") or wing sails, wind turbine / electrical or mechanical propulsion and kite assisted boats may have their niche but they are not really all aspect rigs and either dangerous in heavy weather or not really practical.

This would have been a perfect candidate for a large single or multi mast dynarig, the largest sailing catamaran Hemisphere.



I am absolutely sure, that we will see more dynarig type rigs on large yachts and other type of boats in the future. When the post fossil fuel aera begins, we have to use sails again anyhow.

Just my 2 (Euro) cents (Btw. I am not so sure about the future of this Euro and the whole EU also. Next Thursday will be the day, when the British People decide to cut their chains and have their island drift away from Europe towards the east coast of America or not. At least, they have the choice, democracy at its best.

"NAVIGARE NECESSE EST – Vivere non est necesse – Sed sine vita non navigamus"

There is one problem with the Dynarig on a catamaran that needs more study,....tacking problem. The catamaran (and most all multihulls) lack that vessel weight that will help carry them thru the tacking maneuver. Add to this that momentary 'squaring off' of the Dynarig profile during the moment of tacking, and there could be a problem.

If the Dynarig on the cat could be significantly lighter in weight that that of Falcon, so maybe it can be rotated faster. I also provided for a central centerboard to provide a more central pivot point for the vessel, rather than off-set boards in each hull. I also provided for a forestay, on which a furled headsail might provide for a momentary back-winding configuration that became a mainstay for tacking Hobie cats, etc.

I was looking at other alternative square rig ideas,...several thoughts here:
Square Rig Variations
Flexible Airfoil for both Tacks
Square Rig Pointing

...and I have a few more ideas to submit, but I have been away from these discussions and thoughts for quite awhile.

Brian, I am familiar with the disadvantages of multihulls. They are the only type of boat, I have the tendency to get seasick on . The giant masts of Maltese Falcon are obviously a bit slower, when shiftet around, than on a boat with smaller masts but still amazingly fast. And I have seen plans of a smaller single mast dynarig with a kind of running furling forestay (like the one used for a Code Zero or furling gennaker). I do not believe, that this would be necessary on an at least twin mast multihull, which would not have problems with slow tacking, if both hulls would have retractable centerboards, of which the outer one being raised during the swing.

Please google: The Maltese Falcon: the realisation, HISWA symposium 2004. The lecture can be downloaded as a PDF. It was a presentation, that was given by Gerard Dijkstra and his staff with Tom Perkins being present. I was attending this symposium and the presentation, very interesting, indeed. I must admit, even being in the design- and brainstorn phase of my present sailboat, some of that scientific stuff was a little bit above my IQ level and at that time the dynarig scared me away. My present boat is a conventionell Bermuda rigged Sloop

The big trick behind a multi mast dynarig seems to be the controlling and tactical software of the sailing system. I have controlling and monitoring software included in the autopilot / tactical system, watching the loads of the standing rigging and most lines on my sailboat but this software is quite rudimentary in comparison to the tactical sailing software of Maltese Falcon. Watching the movements of the three masts of Maltese Falcon during a tacking maneuver is really interesting and looks different from what a normal mortal sailor would expect. But the problem still seems to be, that the reefing system places a lot of wear and tear on the sails, thats why I call her a sail eater. But this beast can vitually break with her sails and sail backwards.

Not that my racing sails are lasting any longer but I have only 3 of them (not including the downwind sails, of course) .

Tacking maneuver at time frame 1:18 in this video


...and for the small test vessel with single sail at 1:20

(must have created this posting a few hours ago, and then forgot to post it ??)

I'll look up that info you suggested. I believe I remember seeing it, but it has been quite some time ago.

Just ran across this other idea I had been considering for furling the sails on a Dynarig without having to furl them into a slot in the mast:
Simplfying Falcon's Dynarig
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/mo...iler-ala-maltese-falcon-16276.html#post137914

...and another couple of ideas discussed on these page(s)
camberspar, etc
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/motorsailers/dynarig-motorsailer-ala-maltese-falcon-16276-6.html

I knew I had seen that PDF before, in fact I posted a message about it here on this page of discussions:
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/maltese-falcon-hit-miss-12459-11.html#post194148

But I am still going back and reviewing it as it has been quite some time ago.

Meantime I also found a youtube clip of a model proa with a Dynarig type sail on it.

How about scaling up this 'fenced yard' idea for a simplified Dynarig that would allow for hoisting and lowering the sail area (and yards) for various wind strengths?

Looks like HISWA removed papers from 2005 and before from their site.

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