The Le Ponant

1 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Cruise Ships, Superyachts, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  6 minutes

at São Nicolau, Kap Verde © Christof46/cc-by-sa-4.0

at São Nicolau, Kap Verde © Christof46/cc-by-sa-4.0

Le Ponant is a three-masted, commercially operated French luxury yacht operated by Compagnie du Ponant. The ship has capacity for up to 32 passengers in 16 cabins. It was built 1991 by the Societe Francaise de Construction Navales (SFCN) shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, France. In 2008, the ship was attacked by Somali pirates and was only released after a military intervention. In 2022, the yacht was refitted for increased environmental protection to a design by Jean-Philippe Nuel Studio.   read more…

The Sea Cloud Spirit

1 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Hamburg, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Sea Cloud Spirit in Hamburg © Jkg52-wiki/cc-by-sa-4.0

Sea Cloud Spirit in Hamburg © Jkg52-wiki/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Sea Cloud Spirit is a three-masted full-rigged ship built as a cruise ship by the Hamburg shipping company Sea Cloud Cruises. The ship was ordered on March 22, 2007 from the SpanishVigo. The ship’s keel was laid on July 18, 2008. In the summer of 2010, the shipyard went bankrupt. The further construction of the ship was then initially set.   read more…

The sail training ship Pelican of London

1 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  6 minutes

Figurehead © Bjorn som tegner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Figurehead © Bjorn som tegner/cc-by-sa-3.0

Pelican of London is a sail training ship based in the United Kingdom. Built in 1948 as Pelican she served as an Arctic trawler and then a coastal trading vessel named Kadett until 1995. In 2007 an extended conversion to a sail-training ship was completed.   read more…

The USS Niagara

1 July 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  9 minutes

USS Niagara in Quebec City, Canada © Cephas/cc-by-sa-4.0

USS Niagara in Quebec City, Canada © Cephas/cc-by-sa-4.0

USS Niagara, commonly called the US Brig Niagara or the Flagship Niagara, is a wooden-hulled snow-brig that served as the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. As the ship is certified for sail training by the United States Coast Guard, she is also designated SSV Niagara. Niagara is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania as an outdoor exhibit for the museum. She also often travels the Great Lakes during the summer, serving as an ambassador of Pennsylvania when not docked. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was designated the official state ship of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1988.   read more…

The Golden Hinde

1 May 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Museums, Exhibitions, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  12 minutes

© Jose L. Marin/cc-by-2.5

© Jose L. Marin/cc-by-2.5

Golden Hind was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as Pelican, but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden hind (a female red deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake’s world voyage. A full-sized, seaworthy reconstruction is in London, on the south bank of the Thames.   read more…

Alinghi

1 April 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Sport, Superyachts, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  9 minutes

Alinghi 5 in Valencia 2010 © flickr.com - Yasuhiro Chatani/cc-by-2.0

Alinghi 5 in Valencia 2010 © flickr.com – Yasuhiro Chatani/cc-by-2.0

Alinghi is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America’s Cup, as well as other competitions. Bertarelli had raced several smaller yachts named Alinghi previously, but 2003 was his first attempt at the America’s Cup. Alinghi challenged for and won the 2003 America’s Cup in Auckland New Zealand and successfully defended it at the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. Alinghi lost the America’s Cup to the Golden Gate Yacht Club and their team BMW Oracle Racing in a Deed of Gift match in Valencia, Spain in February 2010. For the 2003 event, Team New Zealand as the holder of the America’s Cup, in consultation with Prada, the Challenger of Record, removed the nationality rule that stipulated that all of the crew members must be nationals of the challenging syndicate.   read more…

The East Indiamen

1 August 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

Batavia replica © Ökologix

Batavia replica © Ökologix

East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vessels belonging to the Austrian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, or Swedish companies. Some of the East Indiamen chartered by the British East India Company were known as “tea clippers”.   read more…

The brig Roald Amundsen

1 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  9 minutes

at Kieler Woche 2007 © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

at Kieler Woche 2007 © VollwertBIT/cc-by-sa-2.5

Roald Amundsen (often abbreviated Roald; named in honor of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen), originally named Vilm, is a German steel-ship built on the Elbe River in 1952. Having worked in different areas, she was refitted in 1992 to 1993 as a brig (two-masted square-rigged sailing ship) and now serves as a sail training ship. During summer, she usually operates in the Baltic Sea, and usually embarks for journeys to farther destinations for winter, including several trans-Atlantic crossings.   read more…

The museum ship Seute Deern

1 November 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  10 minutes

© Garitzko

© Garitzko

The Seute Deern (Low German for Sweet Girl) – originally Elisabeth Bandi, later Bandi and Pieter Albrecht Koerts – is a wooden bark and restaurant ship in Bremerhaven. The ship was declared a cultural heritage in 2005 as part of the overall German Maritime Museum. On August 31, 2019 Seute Deern sank in the Old Port.   read more…

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