Black Pearl’s First Call at the Passenger Port
21 August 2019
The Black Pearl Yacht called at the Passenger Port of Saint Petersburg yesterday, on August 21, 2019, and graced its water area despite the lack of famous black sails on its three decks. The Pearl’s sails are its unique feature not only in terms of their color and appearance but also in terms of technology. Due to solar panels integrated into the fabric, up to 50% of the yacht’s energy needs are satisfied using solar energy. The masts themselves are made of carbon, which increases the yacht’s dynamic properties and allows for its comfortable control. The ship was built at Oceanco, a Dutch shipyard, and launched in 2016.
The DynaRig sailing system that is used on the yacht exists only on two yachts worldwide: Black Pearl and Maltese Falcon. British designer Ken Freivokh developed both yachts’ designs. All five sails of each of the three masts are combined into one and act as a single aerodynamic system, due to which the yacht’s speed can reach record levels. According to Tom Perkins, the owner of Maltese Falcon, no sailors are needed to set sails on a yacht equipped with the DynaRig system, and even an amateur can master its control software. However, the same cannot be said about the incredibly sophisticated production of such masts: each of them consists of 120 layers of carbon fiber with an integrated fiber-optic bending control system, including 40 optical sensors. All 2,900 square meters of sails can be set in 7 minutes.
The Black Pearl’s has a length of 106.7 meters and width of 15 meters. The ship’s capacity is 12 passengers with six cabins, two spa pools, and a beach club. The Black Pearl has long been number one in the list of the largest sailing boats in the world. This temporary classification was destined to change, and now she is put in second place immediately after the sailing yacht with a short name: “А” (143-meter long), designed by world-famous French architect Philippe Starck.
