''M5'' is a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

-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

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

s by Joseph Vittoria, former Chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

car rental company. She was named after Vittoria's previous yachts. ''Mirabella V'' now belongs to

Rodney Lewis Rodney Ray Lewis, known as Rod Lewis (born 1954), is founder, president, and chief executive officer of Lewis Energy, an oil and natural gas drilling company based in Texas, US. Biography Lewis was born and raised on a ranch in Laredo in Webb ...

and has been renamed ''M5''. It is no longer available for charters. M5 in Venice

Design

The owner specifications combined fast sailing with motoryacht amenities. The righting moment of sailing vessels makes them more seakindly than powerboats and ''M5'' has achieved speeds in excess of 19 knots in 8 1/2 ft seas. To achieve the amenity requirements, a single mast was preferred to other rig types in order to maximize interior volumes in keel-stepped sailing yachts; To achieve the performance requirements, the higher aspect ratio of the single mast sail plan was also preferred in order to provide a better speed potential. A final demand was that the yacht be able to use the harbour at

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

. This required the use of a lifting

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

to reduce

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. ''Mirabella V'' was designed by yacht designer

Ron Holland Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)Ron Holland:Desi ...

. Load and structural calculations of the hull and rig were carried out by

Hamble Hamble may refer to: * The River Hamble in Hampshire, England * Hamble aerodrome on the banks of the River Hamble. ** Hamble-Warsash Ferry, a ferry service on the River Hamble * Hamble-le-Rice, a village on the river Hamble, close to the city of Sou ...

-based firm High Modulus Europe Ltd, (now part of Gurit).

Technical challenges

While vessels of ''M5''s size are typically made from steel or aluminium, an aramid foam core/vinylester sandwich build was chosen to achieve a shorter delivery date, reduced maintenance (regular repainting to inhibit corrosion is not required) and better acoustic thermal insulation. Historically, large yachts were built with more than one mast in order to divide the sail area for easier handling. Today's technologies in spars, rigging, sailmaking, powered winches and electronics enable rigs with larger sail areas, higher aspect ratios, larger loads and simpler handling, allowing ''Mirabella V'' to be constructed with the tallest mast and largest jib of any sailing craft ever built at the time. One of the procurement challenges was finding sheets strong enough to trim the sails.

Construction

''Mirabella V'' was constructed at the former BVT Surface Fleet yard (formerly VT Shipbuilding formerly Vosper Thornycroft) at its Woolston Yard, Southampton, Hampshire. Luciana Vittoria specified to naval architect Ron Holland her wishes for interior decoration. After changing hands and being rechristened ''M5'', she was handed over for refit to the Pendennis Shipyard in March 2013. She was relaunched in September 2013 with an extended stern and reverse transom, a lighter ballast arrangement and carbon fibre standing rigging.

Particulars of ship

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: (2013) * LWL (full load): *

Beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

: *

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

(half load): *Ballast: (2013) * Draught (keel up) (2013) *Draught (keel down): (2013) *Air draught: (cannot pass under any bridge that she can navigate to) *Sail area (mainsail+working jib): *Sail area (mainsail+reacher): *her UPS

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

is the World's largest sail, excluding spinnakers.

Accommodation

The boat has a master suite on the main deck and six cabins for as many as 12 guests. The boat's

lazarette The lazarette (also spelled lazaret) of a boat is an area near or aft of the cockpit. The word is similar to and probably derived from lazaretto. A lazarette is usually a storage locker used for gear or equipment a sailor or boatswain would us ...

stores a tender,

Lasers A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

jet ski Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft (PWC) manufactured by Kawasaki, a Japanese company. The term is often used generically to refer to any type of personal watercraft used mainly for recreation, and it is also used as a verb to ...

ski boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

s and three remote-controlled models of ''Mirabella V''. The foredeck has two recesses that serve as swimming pools and as storage for two launches.

Launch

''Mirabella V'' was launched on 27 November 2003 and her mast was stepped at the Southampton Empress Dock on 30 December 2003. Her first sea trial took place off Portsmouth on 14 April 2004.

Charter

Under Vittoria's ownership, ''Mirabella V'' was chartered for up to $420,000 per week and about 12 weeks per year, with a balanced operating budget if chartered for 14 weeks per year.

Service

After dragging anchor and running aground in Beaulieu-sur-Mer on 16 September 2004, ''Mirabella V'' was towed into La Ciotat for a survey and subsequently returned to Vosper Thornycroft in Portsmouth for repairs.

References

Notes

Citations

{{reflist, 30em Individual sailing vessels Ships built in Southampton Ships built in Portsmouth 2003 ships 2000s sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Ron Holland Sailing yachts built in the United Kingdom