''Black Pearl'' is a sailing

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

launched in 2016, which is in length. It has three

DynaRig The DynaRig is a conceptualization of a square-rigged form of rigging, designed in the 1960s by the German engineer Wilhelm Prölß. While having the appearance of the rigging of a 19th-century clipper ship, it was not actually implemented on a s ...

masts supporting a sail area of . The yacht was known during its build process originally as ''Oceanco Y712'' and thereafter as "Project Solar". The hull is

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, the superstructure

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

, and the masts

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

. The yacht is owned by the family of Russian billionaire Oleg Burlakov, who died on 21 June 2021. It is expected that ''Black Pearl'' can cross the Atlantic using only 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 A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. The yacht also features heat capture technologies and large scale storage batteries to capture energy generated but not immediately used.

Build history

Inspired by the , the intention behind the project was to push the boundaries of the

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 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. BlackPearl01a

By November 2011, Freivokh had extended the design from 96 m to and a scale model was produced. Dutch builders Oceanco were selected from the tendering process to construct the yacht at their

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

(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 Oceanco is a privately owned custom yacht builder, based in the Netherlands, that builds full displacement yachts in the range since 1987. It is owned by Mohammed Al Barwani, an Omani billionaire. History Oceanco came into existence in 1987, wh ...

, a shipyard in Alblasserdam, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and launched in September 2016. It was delivered in early 2018 to the customer, after it had undergone sea trials.

DynaRig System

The DynaRig owes its origin to Wilhelm Prölss' research in the 1960s. The DynaRig consists of freestanding rotating masts with rigid

yards The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

and acts as a

square rig Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...

. 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.

Summary

''Black Pearl'' is a sailing yacht with three high masts and is capable of in suitable weather conditions. It also has

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s that can propel it to . She is capable of accommodating up to 12 guests in one master suite, two VIP and two double guests cabins. As a private yacht, ''Black Pearl'' can accommodate 12 guests and has various features, including an on-deck

Jacuzzi Jacuzzi Brands LLC (; ), through its subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and distributor of branded baths, hot tubs, pools, saunas and, formerly, aircraft. Founded in 1915 by the Italian family of the same name, Jacuzzi is a federally regist ...

, convertible cinema, full beam beach club, and a tender garage. Total interior volume is 2,700

gross ton Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

s. She has also won the Sailing Superyacht of the Year Award in 2019. Specifications: *Length - 106.7 meters (350 feet) *Gross tonnage - 2700 t (measure of interior volume) *Guest capacity - 12 people (6 cabins) *Sail Area - 2,900 square metres *Max sail speed - 30 knots (56 km/h, 35 mph) Timeline: *Contract - 2010 *Purchased - 2012 *Launched - 2016 *Delivered -2018 *Registered to Cayman Islands

Fuelless transatlantic voyager capability

''Black Pearl'' is designed to generate electricity to power its on-board systems by using its propeller as a turbine as the yacht is propelled by the wind. Under

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, ''Black Pearl'' achieved 20 knots of speed on the water, and its developers expect that it will be able to transit the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

using no fuel.

Background

In the 21st century, the largest sailing yachts greatly increased in size. In the 1990s, even long was considered a large boat, said one yacht designer looking back. Yachts like ''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

'' and ''

Mirabella V ''M5'' is a sloop-rigged super yacht launched in 2003 as ''Mirabella V''. She is the largest single-masted yacht ever built. Ownership ''Mirabella V'' was built as part of a fleet of large sailing yachts used for luxury private charters by Jo ...

'' 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 Sailing Yacht ''A'' is a sailing yacht launched in 2015. The vessel is a sail-assisted motor yacht designed by Philippe Starck (exteriors and interiors) and built by Nobiskrug in Kiel, Germany for the Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko. ...

'', '' Aquijo'', and ''Black Pearl''. While these vessels are large for sailing yachts, 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.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline Individual sailing yachts 2016 ships