Whereas the Preußen had a sailing crew of around 45, the Royal Clipper deck crew is about 20.
The staysails on the Royal Clipper are raised with electric deck winches, which allow the passengers to line up on deck and help tail the sheets as the staysails are raised, allowing each participant to go home from the cruise saying that they helped raise the sails on the world’s largest square-rigger. The advent of hydraulics, electric motors, lightweight spars and stainless steel cable, however, make it possible to fully automate the handling of the square sails carried on the five masts. Cunningham’s Patent Self-Reefing Topsails. Variations on the concept date back at least to at least 1861, with H.D. The yards are trimmed with electric brace winches.įurling square sails is not a new idea. The square sails are furled inside the hollow aluminum yards with a hydraulic roller furling system.
ROYAL CLIPPER 2014 SERIES
The 26 square sails can all be set or furled from deck at the push of a series of buttons. The Royal Clipper sets 42 sails, set on yards and stays in what at first glance looks like a wholly traditional rig. The Royal Clipper is modeled after the famous Flying P Liner, the five-masted ship Preußen of 1902.Īccording to the Guinness World Records, the 439′ Royal Clipper is the largest square-rigged ship in service, with 5,202 square meters of sail area (or almost twice that of the Black Pearl.) Flexible solar panels are also incorporated into the sails to help meet the electrical needs of the vessel.Ĭompared to the Black Pearl, the five-masted fully-rigged sailing cruise ship Royal Clipper looks almost entirely traditional.
We recently posted about the high-tech three-masted square-rigger, Black Pearl, which features a next-generation Dynarig with automated sail trimming and furling. Click here for a photo tour of the Royal Clipperrecently featured in USA Today. Here is a look at a modern sailing ship, Star Clipper’s Royal Clipper, a high-tech square-rigger whose technology is not always obvious.
0 kommentar(er)
