Black Pearl is a sailing yachtlaunched in 2016, which is 106.7 meters (350.1 ft) in length. It has three DynaRigmasts supporting a sail area of 2,900 square meters (31,215 sq ft). The yacht was known during its build process originally as Oceanco Y712 and thereafter as “Project Solar”. The hull is steel, the superstructure aluminum, and the masts carbon fiber.
It is expected that Black Pearl can cross the Atlantic using only 20 litres (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal) of fuel, aided by regenerative technologies. One key technology to support this, is to use the speed of the vessel through the water under sail to generate electricity with a variable pitch propeller. The yacht also features heat capture technologies and large scale storage batteries to capture energy generated but not immediately used.
In the 21st century the largest sailing yachts greatly increased in size. In the 1990s even 40 m (131 ft) long was considered a large boat, said one yacht designer looking back. Yachts like Athena and Mirabella V were a big increase, and followed by Maltese Falcon. In the 2010s a host of similar and larger yachts came to fruition including Sailing Yacht A, Aquijo, and Black Pearl. While these vessels are large for a sailing yacht, this size is more common among motor yachts. There are quite a number of large sailing vessels for other purposes, especially those for passenger cruises.
Inspired by the 88 m (289 ft) Maltese Falcon, the intention behind the project was to push the boundaries of the DynaRig system and demonstrate the potential for larger DynaRig-equipped vessels. The creation of the yacht, then known as “Project Solar”, began on 7 July 2010 when Ken Freivokh was contracted to handle styling and design on the project. Given their involvement with Maltese Falcon, Freivokh introduced Dykstra Naval Architects to the project and the team were able to advance the DynaRig system and to improve performance through changes both to mast shape and installation. The 96 m (315 ft) preliminary concept that resulted was codenamed “Nautilus”. Freivokh then commissioned Devonport Yachts (Pendennis Shipyards) to undertake technical studies to complete the tendering package. The tendering process began in June 2011 and included seven shipyards worldwide. By November 2011 Freivokh had extended the design from 96 m to 100 m (328 ft) and a scale model was produced. Dutch builders Oceanco were selected from the tendering process to construct the yacht at their Rotterdam (The Netherlands) shipyard. The design and details of the yacht developed continuously during the build process, with the owner having a direct input on many aspects of the final design. The final design had the yacht at 106.8 m, and the yacht, built under the name Y712, was then named Black Pearl. The overall yacht design was done by Ken Freivokh, Gerard Villate, Nigel Gee, and Nuvolari Lenard, with others. The yacht was constructed at Oceanco, a shipyard in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands and launched in September 2016. It was delivered in early 2018 to the customer, after it had undergone sea trials.
The DynaRig owes its origin to Wilhelm Prölss’ research in the 1960s. The DynaRig consists of freestanding rotating masts with rigid yards and acts as a square rig. Each of Black Pearl‘s masts supports six yards, which, unlike a conventional square rigger, have built-in camber of 12%. The fifteen square sails are set between the yards in such a way that when deployed there are no gaps in the sail plan of each mast, enabling them to act as a single airfoil. The furling sails are stored in the mast and can be deployed along tracks on the yards in six minutes. The sails are trimmed by rotating the masts. As there is no rigging, the masts and yards can be rotated without restriction for all points of sail, making Black Pearl a capable upwind clipper.
[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Café Europe, Café d'Europe or also Café Europa was a cultural initiative of the Institute of the Regions of Europe (IRE) during the Austrian presidency of the European Union, held on Europe Day (9 May 2006) in 27 cafés of the capitals of the then 25 EU member states and the two countries which would join the Union in 2007. Vienna, the capital of Austria, is well known for its long and vibrant café culture, dating back from the first introduction of coffee to Europe as a result of the wars with the Ottoman E...
