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!
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