FALCON ON 60 MINUTES

If you saw the "Bird" anchored in the bay of La Spezia recently, you might have noted cameras and film crews all over the boat. We will be on 60 Minutes November 4th. The Boss will be interviewed by Lesley Stahl and there will be footage of the Falcon under sail. If you have a chance, catch the show. Also, on November 1st Tom's book, Valley Boy, published by Penguin, will be in book stores in the U.S and the U.K. It's a sort of autobiography, really more snapshots of various episodes, from his life in Silicon Valley, and in boats and other adventures. There is even a photograph of me! So don't fail to buy a copy! Chris

KEN FRIEVOKH'S NEW FALCON RIG DESIGN

Here is a design for a new 65 Meter twin masted FalconRig from Ken Freivokh. Ken incorporates a number of innovative ideas for the interior, including a very attractive and effective split level layout. We hope a Perini client will soon build this beautiful "little sister" to the Falcon. T.P.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

Timmy Attard, our awesome Second Mate, has computer as well as sailing skills (he's also hard to beat at poker dice)----Tim has compiled some interesting data on the Falcon's activities since launch last year, shown in the two accompanying charts. The fact jumps out that we have spent half out time at sea, some more at anchor, and not much at the dock or in the yard. (The sea time is about 60% under sail, and only 40% under power---we count motor sailing as being under power.) The numbers speak for themselves, and help account for the some 28,000 nautical miles we have on the log since leaving the Perini yard in Istanbul, mid last year. T.P.

Maltese Falcon gets on 'YouTube'

The Maltese Falcon has been spotted on www.youtube.com , if you put Maltese
Falcon into the search engine you come up with quite a few hits, but the
crew favourite is this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtRwnVIKf0M&mode=related&search=

which has some good shots of us sailing during the 2006 Antigua Superyacht
Cup.

Enjoy!!

George

NOT RECOMMENDED READING

There is a new book out by David Kaplan, an editor from Newsweek, with a photo of the Falcon on the cover.  In spite of its risqué title, Mine's Bigger, the book is mostly a rehash of old public material from the owner's personal and business life, and only partly about the yacht.  If you have been following the Falcon in any of the yachting magazines, you already know more about the boat than you will learn here.  Kaplan, a non sailor, laboriously explains basics, as the difference between tacking and gybing, and, unfortunately, most of the boat's new technology is over his head.  Sorry David, but to site visitors, we recommend not wasting your time or money on this one.

 

 

 

The Maltese Falcon arrives in Venice

The Maltese Falcon arrives in Venice after a four day trip from Palma, Mallorca where we sailed in the Super Yacht Cup with some of the worlds top Sailing yachts.

Here is a photo of us in front of the San Marco plaza which was taken by our onboard professional photographer, George Gill.

Stay tuned for more news regarding the Maltese Falcon.

Regards,

Chris Gartner

Captain

GLOBAL WARMING COMPLICATES PALMA SUPERYACHT CUP---FALCON SWEEPS THE BOARD IN MONACO

Dateline: Palma/Monaco The SuperYacht Cup, Palma 2007, was the biggest ever, with 52 competing boats, and maybe the most beset by surly wind djinns, who either didn't blow at all or conspired to offer breaths of wind from (literally) all directions simultaneously. The Falcon participated, and at twice the size of the other competitors, we didn't expect to win---anticipating a rating that would be a serious obstacle to overcome. Still, the pursuit race idea of handicapping is sound. The committee for race one guesses the results in advance of the starts, for a somewhat arbitrary starting order; then on day two the actual first day finishing order is inverted---so, theoretically, on race three (which counts most, by far, in the points) any boat can win. This assumes a, more or less, constant wind on each day. But on that assumption, this regatta went seriously off the track. Day one saw very light winds; so light that about a third of the competitors couldn't finish within the time limit. The Falcon came in ninth, not too bad for such soft air. Day two was truly bizarre. We had a good start and in the initial wind, of some 14 knots, were holding our own against Ranger and other fast yachts to the first mark. Then the wind died. I mean really died, so that steerage-way was tough. The fleet had to gamble. Would the sea breeze fill in from port---or would the unusual South-East wind from the first leg return? We picked port, and that was wrong. During this strange day the wind, quite truly, blew (but oh so tentatively) from each point of the compass, sometimes all at once---I have never before seen spinnakers holding, simultaneously, from each quadrant. At each shift we guessed wrong---our two local experts (one an Olympic level competitor) were mortified. They blamed everything on global warming. Anyway, we never finished and had eventually to use our engines to get in. So, on day three, the committee not knowing what our real potential was, gave us a start 56 minutes behind our competitors. The wind was "normal;" a sea breeze of 20 knots, and we sailed very well, but couldn't make up that handicap. Still, it was a great day with a number of exciting private races as we caught up on the fleet. Towards the end we were surging at nearly seventeen knots, and had the race gone on for a couple of more hours we would have won---haven't you heard that line before? But, it was a great regatta with excellent social events for both guests and crews. We'll be back. The Falcon left the next day for Venice, and the Perini folks, the Dijkstra boys, Damon Roberts (who built out spars) and I departed immediately for The ShowBoats award ceremonies in Monaco. We collected the top four awards (the most ever given to a single yacht): Interior; Best in Class; Best Technology; and Best Overall Sailing Yacht. There were none that we missed! A great event following a wonderful regatta. There will be a superb "coffee table" book out in the fall on the Maltese Falcon, published by the people at The Yacht Report, consisting mostly of wonderful photos from really top photographers. Best, Tom

A FAST PASSAGE FOR THE FALCON

The Falcon arrived Back in La Spezia after a fast, 15 day, passage from St Martin. The wind was complicated by a lingering low near the usual Azores high, and daily updates were used from Met-France, which we found to be extremely accurate. We also used the SeaTech route planning software, which incorporates the yacht's polar curves, into the projected weather, plotting the best route to follow in sailing. This program was very useful and impressive. The weather ranged from dead flat calm, through which we motored at around 13 knots, to two periods of strong winds in the Atlantic of force seven and eight, through which we sailed at 18 to 20 knots. As we had good favorable wind through Gibraltar, we didn't' stop, and sailed directly to Italy, encountering a force nine and ten gale in the Golfe du Lion. In the past twenty years I have never been in this part of the Med without encountering such a mistral. With only our lower tops set, we never-the-less held our sailing speed to 17--18 knots---faster speeds are, of course, possible but it's uncomfortable in the short period waves for which the region is notorious. And so, in less than a year from our departure from Istanbul, and with 21 thousand nautical miles under our belts, we are back for a couple of weeks in the yard before we begin our Summer season in the Med. I am happy to report that the DynaRig (FalconRig) has performed flawlessly, and no servicing of its sails or systems is on our work list. In the recent passage, Christian only went aloft once to check a connection---there were no actual problems. I have mixed feelings about the prospects of more FalconRig yachts from Perini, a number of clients are considering their 66 meter design. On the one hand it would be nice to see the concept validated by others; on the other, it's nice to have the only one. Tom

FALCON FILLS THE BUCKET

The Maltese Falcon completed her first St. Barth's "Bucket" regatta and won the ":Wow Factor," if not the race. Her record was a Ist, a 3rd, and a dead last. Basically, she sails on a triangular course (which is what the Bucket's courses are, in effect) about as fast as any of the better competitors. So, when on day one, her (pursuit) start was second off the line, she finished first by some thirty minutes. The committee punished her on day two with a start at the the bottom of the fleet, so she obliged by finishing last. On day three they gave her a start mid-way in the fleet, and she climbed readily to third place. The Bucket, though, is more about fun than performance, and she had plenty of that. A huge number of the competitors complimented us on her performance, and admired her looks. On the second race, by the time her start came around, the wind had built and she crossed the finishing line at 18.8 knots; a sight that, apparently, few will forget. Unfortunately there is not a prize for the yacht with the best starts---if there had been, surely the Falcon would have won it. Her TOTAL time for being late was less than five seconds for the three races. Two one second late days and (a real screw up) two seconds late for one day's race. Given her 289 some feet, we think this is awesome, if we say so ourselves. Allen Prior took some great shots, some of which we share with you here. Mid-April we are off back to the Med, and we'll be racing again at the Palma Superyacht Regatta in June. Tom

Status update

Well the end of another year and the Maltese Falcon continues to show her mettle

11800 N miles in 6 Months
Highest recorded speed 24.8 Kts
Highest recorded wind speed 68Kts
Best days run 335 N miles
110 days at sea
76 days in port including yard time

We have had a great first season and the winter in the Caribbean is showing that wherever we go, the world is fascinated and amazed.

 

It was great to be back in Antigua which is one of the crews favourite spots in the Caribbean. All of us have great memories and lots of friends here and we are looking forward to spending time there, especially as the help there allows us to keep the Falcon looking good and running well for our owner and guests.

 

The Superyacht cup in Antigua was great fun with some beautiful yachts including the impressive Mirabella V sailing alongside us. Hopefully there will be many more occasions like that, for not only is it fun for us but hopefully the spectators enjoyed the show as well.

 

We are now very busy with charters and trips with the Boss and friends. We have visited St Martin, St Barts, Anguilla and Barbuda and have had some awesome sailing in-between. We are all looking forward to some rest when we head back to Antigua mid-January and a chance to catch up on all those little jobs that tend to get forgotten when extremely busy.
Watch out Antigua, here we come!!!!!!!

THE CARIBBEAN AND CHRISTMAS

It has been a busy time since we arrived here in the Caribbean, with firstly doing the Antigua Charter Show where yet again the Falcon dazzled the crowds. It is always a pleasure to show people around the Falcon and to see the faces of people seeing her in-depth for the first time. This time the guests on the whole were all charter brokers a tough crowd to please but the yacht speaks for herself and I do not think anyone went away without being impressed, in fact it was noted that many brokers did the tour a couple of times!! 

During the show a competition was also held for the chefs from the various yachts and as a crew we were proud that our chef Peter won first equal with the chef from Magna Griscia. Producing a meal from the mystery bag, items of which included the lesser spotted Caribbean duck.

Having completed the show we then got stuck into the Antigua Superyacht Cup, this was a three day event with pursuit racing against a variety of yachts over 24 mtrs. The first day was great fun, as Mirabella V came out to follow us around the course, we did okay on the reach but they sailed a great day, to come past us upwind, fantastic for the spectators to see the two yachts playing together. Unfortunately we did not fair to well in the other two days either, but never the less it was great to be out there and learning more and more how the Falcon likes to be sailed.

Following on from that we had a couple of day’s preparation and picked up the first of our Caribbean charters in St Martin.

That’s all for now, it is now Christmas day and myself and all the crew bid our families and friends a very Merry Christmas.

Fast passage

After an extremely rough trip from La Spezia to Gibraltar, during which we experienced winds to 65 knots in the Gulf du Lion's usual Mistral and  while under only three sails achieving 24.8 knots, the balance of our passage across the Atlantic was delightful.
 
The weather routing took us South through the Canaries and we had sufficient wind to sail among these islands, we didn't stop, but effectively departed from their shelter on November 15th.  We had steady, if light, winds across the Atlantic to our landfall in beautiful St. Barth's, everyone's favorite island.  We arrived yesterday November 28th.   We were able to sail-sail 60% of the time and motor sail another 20%, the balance, of course, was wiht our motors.  Typically the wind would drop away to a whisper on the 4-8 AM watch, and the engines would be fired up.  We called those watch keepers the "motor heads".  Usually by 9:00 AM with the sun rising the wind would rediscover its self and we would kill the power.
 
But during the passage through the mid-Atlantic we had steady wind in the 20 knot range and we made two days of 100% sailing, exceeding 300nm for a best of 312.  That's not too far short of Cutty Sark's record of 363 nm.  Given twenty four hours of 30 knots, or more, we are confident of breaking the 400nm figure.
 
We arrived in great shape.  No damage what so ever to sails or systems, with everything else looking like we had just been for a day sail.  We sailed to our anchor in light breeze, showing off to the end, for an audience in small boats which came out to meet us.
 
We will try to up-date this log more frequently in the future.

Speed record

After a busy 30 days at Perini's La Spezia yard, to attend to a long list of details, we are underway to Antigua, and we will try to keep you
posted from time to time on our progress.

 

The weather forecast predicted a mistral with gusts to 60 knots on Sunday, so we left the dock at 5:30 Saturday evening and first motored and then motor-sailed towards St. Tropez in order to get a better slant when the mistral set in. We continued to motor into the teeth of the rising wind until off Marseilles, when we turned south-west and began to sail on a broad reach, mid-Sunday afternoon.

 

As I write, we are sailing in forty knots, with the occasional gust to fifty, with the two courses and the cro'jack set---just three sails out of 15---but we are sailing at 15 to 16 knots in building seas. Mistrals, typically, are beautifully clear, and the sunlight on the foaming crests is truly beautiful.

 

We hope to clear Gibraltar, where we will stop to take on fuel, before a predicted westerly storm begins mid next week. We'll attempt to sail directly to Antigua, as the Trade Winds have failed due to a low over the Azores, but we may have to sail south to find the wind.

 

During the 12:00 to 4;00 night watch Monday the wind built into the force twelve range gusting to 66.5 knots, and still with only our three sails we reached a speed of 24.8 knots (as measured by GPS) which is a new record for us. With hind-sight we wish that we had set our check-stays; had they been in place, I would have tried doubled our sail area and shot for maybe 30 knots. In the gusts one of our tender covers blew away, but there was no other damage. However our aft EPIRB , was triggered by a wave and sent out a false alaem. We got a call almost immediately, and assured the Authorities that all is well.

 

Best, Tom

FORCE TEN FALCON SAILING

Patrick O'Brian had a joyful sail with me the first time I closed upon Mahon in the Balearic Islands, but I wonder if he would have enjoyed the passage of the Falcon to his fictional hero's favorite port on this occasion.  It was pretty rough.
 
After our happy tussle with Mirabella, we wanted to find some stronger wind to test our systems.  A Mistral was developing in the Gulf of Lyon, so we thought that would do---the forecast was for thirty knots from the North.  We waited for it to develop at anchor in the shelter of the Porquerolle Islands, and at seven am the following day we sailed away to find it.
 
We got a lot more wind than we had bargained for, as the Mistral grew to over fifty knots and the seas rose to the nasty, steep, shortly spaced waves this region is infamous for---it's hard to estimate wave heights, but we think the average was five meters, and the big ones had to be at least eight.  Unfortunately, there was a strong Westerly slant to the wind so we were unable to run down wind, as we had hoped.  Our goal was to cruise at 25 knots, but on the broad reach we had to sail, and with these waves on our quarter, we rarely exceeded twenty.   The waves were our speed problem---we really bashed into them, and the spray engulfed the yacht.  I think that only the upper yards escaped a drenching at one time or another.  Several times our aft cockpit was under a couple of feet of water, and our rescue boat was lifted from its chocks, but fortunately it did not come adrift.  I cannot adequately describe the thrill of sailing at eighteen plus knots through seas this large in the bright sunshine of the Mistral---the seascape was simply magnificent.
 
As the wind increased, we furled away our sails, until in the fifty knots of the afternoon, we carried only our lower topsails on each mast.  Our speed rarely dropped below fourteen knots, and we were delighted that our automated sail systems worked flawlessly in force ten.  In all, it was a great test for the Big Bird, and a reassuring confirmation of the concept. 
 
We plan to putter around in the Balearics until next week when we will drop in to watch the St.Tropez regatta.  Of course, we wouldn't dream of showing off in front of our old classic yacht competitors.
 
Tom

MIRABELLA V AND THE FALCON PLAY TOGETHER OFF MONACO

After a frantic week at the Monaco Boat Show, which found the Bird side by side with the beautiful Mirabella V (her incredible 300ft. mast---dwarfing our rig) both boats were up for a bit of a go on Sunday after the show.  A Discovery Channel film crew was on hand for a long scheduled shoot of Joe Vittoria's big sloop, and Joe encouraged us to come out to play with them.
 
It was an overcast day with the true wind was out of the  N.E. at twenty knots with gusts to twenty five, and M V set her full main with a big jib and a staysail---she was really powered up, and designer Ron Holland was aboard to supervise the sail trim.  We had (of course) everything set as well, and I need to note to our respective insurance carriers that we were NOT racing---we were just sailing together as fast as possible, purely to be sociable.  On the wind, both yachts held each other, neither gaining or loosing. Our GPS showed 14.5 knots, and it was the same for M V.  The Falcon buried her rail a couple of times in the gusts, and finally we furled our mizzen royal to ease the helm, but we didn't slow at all. We sailed together for about twelve miles and then we bore off for a speed run..  The Falcon cranked up to 17 knots and we pulled a little ahead.  The photos show M V  really creaming through the waves, looking very, very fast, and very, very beautiful.
 
When it was time to tack, M V had some minor mishap and tore her mainsail slightly, so she we sailed back to Monaco, and she motored back in.  We dropped our guests, and she dropped her hook to effect repairs.  Then the Falcon sailed on to Antibes for shelter from the waves starting to build, at around 18 knots.  Mirabella made her repairs quicker than we had anticipated, and she followed to anchor nearby in the same shelter; we heard from a friend aboard that she sailed at nearly our speed as well.
 
It was a great day for both yachts.  Each sailed aggressively, and very fast, giving their respective hard working crews a superb day out.  We hope to have many future encounters with this remarkable yacht, but surely,  it was a day we will never forget.
 
Tom

Great job

What an experience this yacht is, from sailing fast, to showing off!

One of the many things I love about yachting is the mix of experiences that occur in our day to day life. One minute I’m up to my ears in engineering problems, the next we are moored stern too in Portofino with the local police trying to clear the traffic jam caused by people stopping to photograph us on a nearby road.

And then a few days later, I’m in the middle of Monaco, showing Royalty, prospective charterers, famous designers or incredulous friends, the amazing yacht we have built.
Then the unexpected, a chance in a million, a casual internet chat, that leads to an introduction onboard a very outstanding yacht and the next thing I know I’m at the top of the highest mast in the world, looking down on the MF from 30m above the top of her flags. Sat in a bosuns chair, 100m above the water, with all of Monaco seemingly at my feet, and two of the most amazing yachts far below me, I realised how much I love this job!!!!!

We had an awesome Monaco Yacht Show.Thanks for all the questions and thanks for all the compliments, it makes us all very proud to show the world what an outstanding yacht we have built.

Jed

Perini Cup and 20 knots barrier

"We have been very busy with our big bird, and tardy in up dating this site---we have two nice pieces of news:  First, we won the Perini Cup in Porto Rotondo, Sardinia September 8th ---10th.  The winds were, uncharacteristically, very light, never much over 10 knots, and averaging around only 6.  We were, therefore, very pleased to be able to point as high as any competitors and to make excellent VMG.  The Dubois designed Squall, was the boat to beat, and she had flown in a crew of "rock stars" to make her go fast (but we had our our stars in Gerry Dijkstra, Robbie Doyle and Damon Roberts aboard).  Squall beat us on the first day, and we took second place among the some 15 competing yachts.  But on day two, after recovering from an appalling late start on my part, we cranked up, and beat her for a tie breaking first place to Squall's second place.  Much champagne was drunk, and the silver trophy looks good in our salon.
 
Our second bit of news is that we broke the twenty knot barrier on the way back to the mainland.  Sailing in 28 knots true wind, we achieved numerous bursts over twenty knots (as measured by GPS) the best being 20.3.  We were carrying full sail and were exactly on our polars---135 degrees true and 93 degrees apparent.  We are confident of speeds in the mid twenty range in future winds above thirty knots.
 
We will drop in on the St. Tropez regatta (but not race) and then go to the Perini Navi yard in La Spezia for some warranty work, before we head off for an Atlantic crossing in November.
 
Tom

Viareggio

Well another few weeks have past and we apologise for the lack of ‘notes’

We’ve been a bit busy with preparing for a charter and trying to finish all the little jobs that seem to take forever

We left La Spezia with guests from Perini on board and did an awesome sail by Viareggio, crowds gathered on the shoreline and a helicopter recorded the occasion (see the new front page)
Then we dropped off back in La Spezia and headed south for Sardinia and our first charter.

We had a great sail down with the wind slowly rising to 30 Kts and as we passed the straits of Bonafacio with only 5 sails set, we broke our sailing speed record with an awesome 18.3 kts. The ‘Falcon’ sails like a dream, and we are slowly learning all of the ways to make her go well. Its one of the most amazing things I have ever done, sailing fast in a huge yacht with relative ease and comfort.
We are now well into our first charter and so far so good, the guests seem impressed and we have even sailed off an anchorage, along the coast and back at a pleasant 4Kts in 5.5Kts of breeze and back onto the anchorage again with no dramas and a very impressed flotilla of local sightseers.

Every where we go, from secluded anchorages to the busy beaches of St Tropez, it doesn’t take long before the crowds arrive and we are sat amidst a flotilla of well-wishers’ with cameras flashing and mouths agape. And as soon as the sails are set, we are followed for miles. It’s a bit disconcerting at first but we are getting used to the fame, all we need now is the fortune bit!!

Jed White Chief Engineer

Well! What a week

We arrived at the Beconcini Yard on the Wednesday and within minutes were swamped by yard workers, who leapt into action sorting out the numerous problems that had materialised on the trip from Istanbul.

It was great to see Italy again and especially Tuscany, a long term favourite of us all.
We had much work to do but with a little help from our ‘friends’ the Maltese Falcon shone throughout the weekend.

 

Friday we had a big party for Boss and friends, Saturday another one for Perini and then Sunday, we sailed with the press. This was a fairly gentle sail but we still managed over 11 Kts in 15 Kts of wind, dipped the lee rail a few times and hopefully showed them what we could do.
Then in the evening there was another party for all the contractors, this was where the crew could let their hair down!!!
Much fun was had by all, with a great band who played some old favourites and entertainment from the  ‘KFC Dancers’, Ken and Liz, who dazzled with their moves and then followed later on (much later) by ‘The Yacht Report Duo’, Martin and Tork who I must say, stunned us with their awesome interpretation of 60’s rock stars
Throughout the night our crew remained steadfast, refusing to leave until the dock had been cleaned, especially of half empty bottles, which were quickly dispatched to the garbage, minus their contents of course!

 

Later our captain had an impromptu swimming lesson as recognition for all his hard work over the last 5 years and an awesome job of managing to find and employ the rest of us. I think he is possibly going to regret that in years to come!!!

Perini did us all proud, not only with the parties but also with the finishing touches to the ‘Falcon’ which finalised the great job done by our build yard ‘Perini Yildiz’
We showed the yacht to many people who all came off with that ‘WOW’ look on their faces. There are few pictures that can come close to describing how awesome this yacht is but as many of you will see, there were many taken and many magazines will be featuring us in the months to come and as TP said to our amazing model making friend Robby Eddy “be prepared to be unprepared”
The ‘Maltese Falcon’ is a testament to hard work from many nations and nationalities, especially the great workers of the ‘Yildiz’ yard in Tuzla and the numerous subcontractors around the world who flew to Istanbul (normally loaded up with pork sausages and bacon for us)

 

It was a proud weekend for all the crew and I’m sure I can say the same for our amazing Boss, Tom Perkins who has had the vision and guts to create the most amazing yacht in the world.

 

Jed White Chief Engineer

Malta

Dear All:

 

The Falcon spent 20 hours visiting her home port in Malta (on her way to Italy for her “debut”), where a local photographer, Robert Weatherburn, took today's photos.

 

Normally yachts are not permitted to sail in the harbor, but our pilot was so taken with the big black bird, that he gave us special permission, and she is so easy to handle that we had no problems in our maneuvers. Doubtless we were the first square-rigger to sail out of Valletta in about 100 years.

 

We, literally, sailed every inch from Istanbul to Malta either beating to windward, or on close reaches. The wind varied from force 3 to force 7 and our speed averaged 10 knots, and was occasionally hitting 16 on the close reaches. We rotated our masts and unfurled and furled our sails, mostly the royals and t’gallants. as required by the wind strength, literally hundreds of times without a single fault. Christian, our athletic Spar Master, only went aloft twice, just to check on things---and probably also to enjoy the ride, from 190 feet above the waves.

 

We are obscenely proud of our new clipper yacht!

 

Best, Tom

Istanbul to Malta

What a terrific sail, for five days the Maltese Falcon has sailed, from Istanbul to Malta, in that time the sails have been set and furled 380 times with only two minor glitches. The main engines clocked up another five hours on the couple of occasions that the air became to light, and we experienced a good range of winds from trickling along at 6/7 knots in 10/12 knots of breeze, to hard on the wind with only a few sails set in 35 knots of breeze and doing 15 knots.

 

So it really can be considered fact, the Maltese Falcon can perform and perform well, she does it in a graceful effortless style, that treats her guests and crew to a sublime sailing experience......... it sure is a great way to cross an ocean!!

 

So on to Malta..........

 

Captain Gartner trickled the Falcon alongside the berth in the lee of Fort Angelo at around three, it seemed very fitting that Malta an island so rich in maritime history should be our first port of call and the name demands it really. After berthing we bunkered fuel and then later in the evening the yacht club where the Maltese Falcon has her berth hosted a party for the Owner, his guests and crew. During this the Commodore made a speech that bought up a very interesting point regarding the evolution of square riggers and the lack of development in this area of sailing since before the wars.

 

This has off course been turned around by the arrival of the Dynarig which has taken the square rig concept to another level and kick started the evolution again, and as the owner said in his reciprocal speech lets hope other yacht owners will see the benefits of the Dynarig and also have a go at building one. It would also be great to have someone to race against!!!

 

So as a salute to the island of Malta, the fifteen sails were set and the Maltese Falcon lowered her leeward rail and sailed out of Grand Harbour, Valetta, quite possibly the first square rigged vessel in a hundred years to have done so. As I write this Malta fades away astern of us, the bow is pointed to the East of Sicily as we go in search of fair winds to enjoy the sailing addiction further.

 

I bid you all farewell and have a nice evening.

ABS

Its been a while since my last entry in this diary/blog so here is an extended entry to make up for that and also to fill you in on the exciting times that the Maltese Falcon, owner and crew have been having.

 

So after our first sailing trials we went back out later for the ABS trials, for people reading this who have not had this experience a short explanation. The ABS is the American Bureau of Shipping and they are a classification society, when a boat is built to ABS they will be building a boat to a set of standards that makes sure the boat is seaworthy, safe and has been built to a high standard (Hope this lessens the worry for some of you Mothers out there). So an ABS sea trial, this involves a number of tests including a crash stop, high speed course changing, running the vessel on back up systems, making sure the alarm systems work and numerous other tests which would make me fall asleep if I was reading this!!!

 

Just to pick up on a couple though which again make for impressive reading, the crash stop was performed twice, on both occasions it went extremely well and from full ahead at 18.5 knots to a dead stop took a minute and the Falcon travelled around 180 meters, this is really good and for the engineers down below it was a good confidence boost to see the lady perform so well.

 

The other test that was also impressive was the course change, to do this you again bring the vessel up to full speed 18.5 knots and then make a full hard over 35 degree change of course. So this would be like taking an articulated lorry driving at 22 mph carrying a 1000 ton load and going fully to the right whilst balancing three Nelsons columns on the back!!! For us the vessel performed like a dream, as she went into the turn the momentum carried the Falcon over to about 8 degrees and then as she kicked her heels in she popped up to around four degrees and sat there enjoying the experience as the rest of us did to.

 

The ABS surveyor was very happy with the trial and it was another milestone for the Falcon to have reached, as we returned to Tuzla port that evening it was good to know that in a couple of weeks the next trip would be one way as we introduce this incredible vessel to the world.

 

With the Falcon back in port the realisation that delivery was imminent and the lady had to be delivered come hell or high water for the first of July got us going and we ran with it big time.

 

It is times like this that can make or break people and crews with the long hours and stress of getting things done but, and I know this is a bit of a cliché, but as a crew it has probably made us a lot more of a team with people putting everything into getting the work done and helping each other.

 

So that just about brings us up to today, and if you can stand more of my lyrical prose then carry on....................

 

July 1st 2006, 12:00, Maltese Falcon slips her tethers, and with eight guests, sixteen crew and eight technicians, glides across Tuzla harbour on her way to join the Superyacht fleet, with an overnight anchorage on the Bosphorus as her first stop, many Turkish people commuting home got to see the Falcon for the first time, a vessel that has been frequently written about in the Turkish dailies over the last couple of weeks. A party at a local hotel was held for dignitaries to admire the boat and a fire works display illuminated the Falcon, as a final farewell from the country of her birth.

 

After a quiet night the anchor was weighed and we motored out of the Bosphorus and to a local bay for bunkering, 77,000 litres and two hours later (got to love big pipes) we set out across the Sea of Marmara to the Dardanelles. Ten minutes after leaving the anchorage, the buttons are pressed and three at a time the sails are set until six minutes later, fifteen sails filled with a freshening breeze pull on three carbon fibre Dynarigs rigs which transmit their power to the 1100 tons of steel, systems, water, fuel and people and all the rest of the stuff that makes a Superyacht.

 

Before long the propellers are feathered, shaft brakes engaged and main engines turned of and away she goes throwing water of her shoulders and making light work of a short sea, 20 knots of true wind and 14 knots of boat speed we reach across the Sea of Marmara and if smiles could be measured in Lumens well, their were thirty two people who could have lit up Twickenham!

 

As the evening drew in sail was shortened as a matter of safety and to allow a very tired group of people to have a proper supper and a good nights sleep, the bridge crew sailed us safely through the night with engineers standing watches below in the ECR, even with shortened sail however, (we reduced to five, course and lower topsail on the main and fore and crowjack on mizzen) the lady still romped through the night at seven knots in 9/10 knots of breeze.

 

Daybreak saw us coming up to the Dardanelles the entrance to the Mediterranean, the pilot was bought onboard at ten and we gracefully sailed through and out into the Med.

 

Today we have slid along trying different things to the sails and enjoying the sailing and now its 21:51, the wind is coming in at 22.7 kts true and the Falcon effortlessly makes 14 kts over the ground as we head towards the Western Med.

 

Champagne sailing, you cannot beat it!!!

 

Postscript: I am not a lorry driver but I am pretty certain the articulated lorry would have fallen over, then again an artic does not have 300 tons of lead underneath it!!

 

I hope you all have a good weekend, ciao from the crew and owner of the Maltese Falcon.
 
George Gill - Second Engineer

Wings

Well we finally made it. Its been a great time in Turkey and we have all made some good friends but now it is time to take this beauty out and let her spread her wings.
Yesterday we left Istanbul mid afternoon after bunkering over 70 ton's of fuel.

 

As I write this on my engine room watch we are motoring through the Dardanelles on our way to Malta and then up to Antibes.
Yesterday we set sail and sat on around 14-15 Kts with full sail. We sailed past one of the big Star Clipper ship's it must have looked great from a distance with two huge sailing ships sailing past each other.
The crew are all well working very hard at the moment trying to get the boat running they way they want it. But as always, the feeling of being at sea again overwhelms the tiredness!

 

Well time to go do some rounds.

 

We will all be updating regularly now as we have a bit more time now that we are out of the shipyard.

 

Sam Bell - 3rd Engineer

Sailing numbers

“There has been much interest in our last posting.  The terrific photos were taken by Roger Lean-Vercoe of Boat international, and we apologize to Roger for not acknowledging him as the photographer."

There have been many questions about our sailing numbers.  In looking through these data, we discovered that our best VMG occurs at around 35 degrees apparent.  With full sails set, we may get pretty close to the 30 degrees predicted by the computer/wind tunnel tests.  Another interesting aspect, is how the boat performance changes in gusts.  Unlike essentially all other sail boats---except, perhaps the AeroRig--- which try to round-up in strong puffs, the Falcon with her DynaRig, simply accelerates, with no effect on the helm and no change in heading.  There a number of reasons for this: the center of effort of the rig is relatively low; the keel is relatively long; but most important, there is no change is the shape of the sails.  Other rigs tend for the boom to lift and the sail top to twist, which leads to an adverse change in the weather-helm.

We had allocated two days for sailing trials, but we checked off the full list on the first day, so we won’t go out again for sailing until we depart from Istanbul---the yard is grateful for the time to clean up the final details.

 
Thanks for your interest.  We will try to keep you up-to-date.   Tom

Dear all

If we could have ordered wind exactly to our specifications for sailing trials, it could not have been more perfect.  In the morning it was a smooth 8 knots, gradually  building to 16 knots---an off shore breeze with no waves. The performance satisfied our highest hopes and expectations. The Maltese Falcon has written a new page in the history of yachting, the DynaRig is no longer an experimental concept---we had a day of stunning success!

Everything worked as engineered and the yacht achieved some remarkable numbers:  hard on the wind in 15.8 knots true, at 38 degrees relative wind angle, we sailed with no fuss or strain at 10.5 knots. On a close reach at 60 degrees relative angle, the speed (still at knots 16 true wind) climbed to 14 knots.  The balance is, essentially, perfect---with weather helm never exceeding 0.6 degrees on the wind, or 2.5 degrees on a fast reach.  The angle of heel was around 15 degrees, but in a puff, once touched 20 degrees.  The leeway angle was well under 5 degrees (without the dagger-board in place).   Since it was our first day out, and we wanted to be careful, these results were achieved with the topgallants and the royals furled---so we expect even better numbers in further tests.  The maximum loading on the masts never much exceeded 50% of our (very, very, conservative) limit, so, we have plenty of room for some even better results.

There were no untoward effects from the revolutionary rig.  The automatic tacking worked smoothly in all wind strengths---tacking takes only 1.5 minutes, and curiously, she tacks quite readily in light winds, perhaps even easier than in heavier air, (because the wind force against the rigs, when backed, increases with the square of the wind velocity).  Jibing is almost trivial and, to a passenger, virtually undetectable.

The attached photos were taken from our tender, whose crew got soaked in keeping up with the gliding Falcon.  The day proceeded so perfectly, that we finished all our tests and returned to the harbor a little earlier than planned.  We had 85 people aboard, some guests, but mostly technicians of all types, who found little of concern, and thus, had a great day out.

Special credit must be given to Gerry Dijkstra and Jereon de Vos, the naval architects, whose work has lead to performance so closely adhering to their theoretical predictions  We all are delighted with this beautiful yacht, and we look forward to our “debut” in the Mediterranean.

The interior is now 100% finished, and is beautiful.  The “look” is luxury-machine.  It has been suggested that I write my next novel in my new study, and perhaps I will---the plot is about the struggles of the poor.

Best, Tom

Hot summers in Tuzla

Well its been a long hot week here in Tuzla, when I wrote earlier that the summer had violently burst onto the scene I think I may have been  a little subdued in my use of verbs because now we are really roasting, especially when the wind blows between the sheds, then it becomes like the Valley of the Dead.

So what have we all been up to……………………… 

Angelo Cacini has arrived back and more sail testing is under way with the mizzen testing being done in a couple of days, at the moment this consists of setting and furling each sail half a dozen times whilst the deck team hang up there, watching all the clews and tapes to make sure they are not catching or folding, the ultimate aim off course is to not have anyone up there at all when we start sailing the Falcon properly so it is test, test and test some more to make sure we are happy.

Now some off you might have asked yourselves how would you change the sail if it should get damaged, especially when they are wound onto a mandrel 56 meters above deck? Well it works like this; we have a spare mandrel that can be adjusted to the three different lengths between the yards, at the top of the mandrel there is a roller reefing bearing and at the bottom we have a reduction gearbox powered by a three phase motor. This mandrel is taken aloft using a halyard onto the bearing at the top of the mandrel and a tag line, it is then positioned on a couple of braces top and bottom between the two yards and opposite the sail to be changed. The next process is that the outhauls are taken out and wound onto the mandrel and the brake is released on the mast mandrel, power is engaged on the sail changing mandrel and it winds the sail off mast mandrel and onto the sail changing mandrel, then the whole lot is lowered back to the deck. Once on deck we take off the damaged sail and load on a new sail, then up again and back into position and this time we set up the inhauls on the mast mandrel and use the power of that to wind the sail back onto the mast mandrel from the sail changing mandrel.

Right, I know some off you have just read that last paragraph and thought that’s going to take an awfully long time and how would you do that at sea? The truth is that yes it does take a long time, the first time it took three hours, but as the crew learn the system and it evolves then this time will reduce, and at sea……who knows, in a squall no way, but a quiet day, done safely, then there is no reason it could not be done. The thing is that no one has ever built a DYNARIG, let alone sailed one, so this is very much an evolution, we are all learning and very lucky to have the chance to be pioneering in a new method off sailing.

Anyway below decks the engineering commissioning is moving on as we brought the air conditioning system online, now this might sound very nerdy but when the outside temperature is 38 degrees and you can bring the whole yachts interior down to 15/16 degrees with one compressor working at 50% you know you have a nice system and this system is nice, Heinen and Hopman have given us a great set up. 
The couple of problems we had during our last sea trial have been ironed out and we are now getting ready for the next sea trial, which will be this week sometime.

Yesterday we had a much needed day of and the crew did a trip up the Bosporus and into the Black Sea for lunch at a small town called Poyraz, it was a great trip especially as we did it in the comfort off our two tenders. If you haven’t heard about the tenders then I would strongly recommend a look at the Pascoe website (link is on the contacts page), they are fantastic boats and with their racing heritage the hulls make for a very pleasant ride over just about anything.

Well time to sign off I hope you all have a good week.

George Gill

Sea trial

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s the only word fitting enough to describe 19.5 kts with a crisp wake, a quarter wave starting six meters from the stern and a glorious day.

Finally the Maltese Falcon slipped her lines and gracefully made her way out of Tuzla harbour and into the Sea of Marmara to begin the first of many sea trials. At around eleven o’clock the pilot disembarked and the Falcon was now in the hands off her crew led by Captain Chris Gartner. As this was a motoring trial we gradually brought the engines up to temperature and started to do our trials which consisted of running the engines at various degrees of power and ensuring the relationship between the engines and propeller pitch unit was harmonious, whilst all the time recording data for future use.

We did have a couple of problems but they were dealt with quickly and competently, one was a dirty hydraulic line that lowered but did not stop, the pressure in the pitch control unit and the other was the set up of the shaft braking system. At the end of the day though that’s what doing sea trials is all about.

So at full noise we can make 19.5 kts which was a knot above the specification speed, this means that when there is no wind to sail well, we can still cover a lot of ground comfortably and at a cruising speed off around 16 knots which gives us good fuel economy.

Lots of smiles all round for the people onboard and a great first maiden trip for the Falcon, the feeling you get onboard her is one off a hull that just wants to go, everything she does appears effortless and it bodes well for our sailing trials which will be beginning shortly.

On a separate note, the crew and in particularly Timmy, Sam, Lahrim and Graham were involved in the rescue off a deckhand off a tanker. The unlucky guy got a line wrapped around his legs and was pulled through the aft Panama and into the water forty feet below, as luck would have it the boys were sea trialling the rescue boat that day and quickly moved into position to assist as the tug boat had too higher freeboard to pull the guy onboard, he was hauled into the rescue boat with some severe injuries and taken ashore by our crew, and as you would expect from a superyacht crew, all done calmly and professionally.

Hope everyone has a good week.

George Gill

Summer

Well it’s hot out here as Summer has suddenly and violently burst on to the scene, the effects are being felt especially if you stand to long next to the shoe rack!!
The work is going well, but with any build or refit coordination is the key, and patience is a must as all the various facets of the boat come together. The deck crew are helping the yard with the varnishing on the cap rail, luckily the only piece of varnish work, in between coats drying they have plenty still to do with the rigs. As the rigs are so different to anything else there is, they have to come up with possible solutions to problems that may come about in the future and how they will deal with them aloft, luckily for us they all have a wealth of experience working aloft on classic boats and nothing seems to be a problem.

The engineers are busy running around as usual helping the yard and the sub contractors with commissioning off equipment and making sure that people are getting what they need to complete there jobs. Luckily we did not lose any parts in the fire at the airport yesterday as we had some important plugs coming in for the gearboxes.

Sam our IT man is battling away most of the time in the office with the laborious job off data entry on the Techman system which is a pain for him but will help us run the boat super efficiently once we have it all going.

And, that all for now folks, have a great day.

George Gill

Royal sails

A relaxing weekend for the crew as we charge up the batteries ready for the final push, lots and lots to do but everyone is excited and although the hours are long no one minds, we just want to get the Maltese Falcon sailing and see what she can do. A few people away at the moment getting visa changes, a necessary trip for everyone who is not Turkish every threemonths, but we should be back up and running with a full crew by Wednesday.

As long as the two Royal sails arrive this week our main job for deck crew will be getting these on, one on the main mast, and one onto the fore mast. This will be the first test of the sail changing mandrel a device we have developed for precisely this job of hanking on and taking off sails. A lot of deck level testing needs to be done before we hoist the royals up to there position, just in case you don't know the sails from the bottom are called the course, lower topsail, upper topsail, gallant and royal. on each mast. The one sail that is different is the mizzen crossjack, which on the fore mast and main mast is called the course. So as you can see we are starting with our highest sail for our first use but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Last Saturday the guys got the last off the flag staffs in position there is one on each mast and they will be flying our house flags/burgees, they definitely stand out and our air draft on the main is now 62 meters!!!

That's all for now, enjoy the week. George Gill

Sail trimming and ammeters

The Cacini team, Angelo and Marco left yesterday, these are the guys who have designed and built the software and electrical side of the mast rotation and sail handling and it is awesome!!

Chris, Jed, Rob and I had the first of many lessons to come on the system, the presentation of the software and how it works is just fantastic, although it does seem strange to be trimming sails using ammeters. When people get a chance to see the bridge I am sure they will be blown away by the system it's just another incredible part of an incredible boat.

After a good curry night last night the crew are raring to go today, the deck crew will be carrying on with there sail testing, and the engineers will be down helping the various sub contractors that we have at the shipyard at the moment.

An interesting thought is that if you consider that the Maltese Falcon is being built in Asia then every continent in the world has had some representation either through supply, production, expertise or crew, truly a multi-national contingent!! I wish you all a good day.

George Gill 2nd Engineer

quick update

The deck crew are continuing to test sails in the upright position, yesterday they tested the threes lower sails and this morning has been the last two sails on the mizzen mast.

Things here are all going well as it seams the summer has finally arrived in Istanbul.

Sam Bell

3rd Engineer/ IT

First log post

Today is the first day of our crew diary we will do our best to update this as regularly as possible! The boat is doing great as always, the crew are back to work after a well deserved day off (the first in a couple of weeks) The deck boys are carrying on testing sails on the main mast most have been tested now with only a few changes since all the sails were tested on the ground. Engineers are working on the generators and doing general jobs around the boat making sure its all done. In all the boat is amazing and we cant wait to show her off to the world. Sam Bell 3rd Engineer/ IT