The maltese falcon project

Perini Navi, the luxury sailing yacht builder and innovator, together with an outstanding cast of collaborators, built the largest modern clipper and probably the most technically advanced sail boat ever. The 88 metre, 1240 tonnes Maltese Falcon, is one of the most ambitious privately funded projects of any kind ever and it will revolutionise the way mega-yachts are built and conceived.

The revolution is in both senses of the word. As conventional yachts get longer their masts get higher and this is beginning to limit places they can go and bridges they can go under. The Perini Navi team has resolved this problem with a sail plan that endows the Maltese Falcon with greater agility, safety and performance yet with comparatively modest height (max 58 metres) for such a large hull. Secondly, her free standing masts rotate.

To see the story of the Maltese Falcon as another large boat pushing the tape measure, albeit one with a radical sail plan, is to disguise the real story of a remarkable collaboration between a team of dreamer-inventors and designers. As the owner said to Fabio Perini as they discussed how to develop the 88 metre Perini hull, which underpins the story, “I need a project, not another yacht.”

Together they have assembled a world class team. The owner is hands on – Mr. Tom Perkins is a man who has invented world changing technologies and created world class companies. Likewise Fabio Perini with his background and global leadership in the paper machine business and then the re-instigator of the modern large yacht market – a classic Italian inventor–business man. Add to this the teams at Gerard Dijkstra naval architect, Insensys (rig-engineering and build management) and interior and exterior styling by Ken Freivokh.

The three masts, which rotate under power of hydraulic motors, are at the heart of the revolutionary Maltese Falcon – and central to its greatest design challenge. Fabio Perini and the owner had the 88metre Perini hull as their inspiration but wanted to do something different with the sail plan. Following discussion of several options with naval architect Gerry Dijkstra the owner chose the clipper rig concept called the ‘Dynamic’. By making this decision, he would, in principle, be getting a relatively compact system but one that gave outstanding performance for an ocean going vessel.

Analysis showed she would have the best lift drag coefficients and therefore speed. Furthermore, while the owner wanted the kind of outright speed and enhanced windward performance which could make Maltese Falcon a record breaker, he also wanted a yacht that could be sailed by a crew of 1.

The maltese falcon project