World's biggest (and most advanced) sailing yacht

[unixronin]

"The most daring advance in sailing technology in 150 years"

The Maltese Falcon.  289 feet at the waterline.  1,367 tons.  Three 192-foot carbon-fiber masts carrying fifteen sails totalling 26,000 square feet, set and reefed by 75 electric motors.  Computers co-ordinate the operation, but the captain manually controls every step.

Perkins insisted that electronics not govern the whole process.  The vessel would not be sailed by computer.  "No way Bill Gates is controlling my boat," he likes to crack.  "I don't ever want to have to press Control-Alt-Delete to restart, to make my boat go."

I don't know about you, but in my book, that is a seriously cool ship.

And damn, she's pretty.

Comments

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

I looked at the gallery. The interior looks like something straight out of a James Bond film. It would be the villain's floating headquarters of course.

The thing is, this tech could very well be commercialized. Imagine huge sails like this on a large cargo vessel. It probably wouldn't obviate the need for a full-size engine, but it would certainly reduce fuel consumption.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The interior looks like something straight out of a James Bond film. It would be the villain's floating headquarters of course.

Yeah, it does have a bit of that look about it, doesn't it? It's an interesting blend of classical with ultra-modern.

The thing is, this tech could very well be commercialized. Imagine huge sails like this on a large cargo vessel. It probably wouldn't obviate the need for a full-size engine, but it would certainly reduce fuel consumption.

Oh yeah, absolutely. A lot of cargo ships aren't that fast in the first place — I can see non-perishable goods going by sail. A new Age of Sail would be a great coolness, IMHO.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, though you'd still want to have a motor to get yourself out of the doldrums.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, stipulated. Not to mention to make it easier docking and leaving port without having to wait for a favorable wind. The concept of the "auxiliary steamer", using sail when the wind is favorable and engine power when it's not (or, as radarrider noted, both at once to increase speed while saving fuel), is hardly new.

[johnkzin.livejournal.com]

When I was in elementary school (in the 70s), I saw a poster that had a big Japanese cargo ship that had big metal "sails" (not unlike the shape of those, but metal) on swivels. Dunno why it didn't take off though.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Too heavy?