| Perini Navi | 88M | "Maltese Falcon" | 2006/23 |

Well, here is one interior picture of MF's skylight up the main (center) mast on this page...

from www.latitude38.com

Hey yachtluver, fixed your link. It was loading up pics of a small sailboat, not the Maltese Falcon. Impressive pic though!

Thanks buddy and yes its a nice pic....very metalic foyer..gives a futuristic look...almost terminator 3 image..ahah

There is a very nice sailing shot on the home page of the Falcons' website...http://www.symaltesefalcon.com

and an update on the MF's Log in the crew's blog..

Pretty amazing mast bearings, innercircle is : 1,12 cm

Very nice...i'm looking at the teak work and the carbon fiber...

Yes this boat is more than awesome beautiful and with a
fantasic sailsystem that even worked very well for the Vikings 1000 years ago
and now with updated materials and systems the circel is closed.

The Maltese Falcon came to Monaco today. Simply stunning mast arrangement - a real jaw-dropper. I took a few photos here's one:

http://yachts.monacoeye.com/yachtsbysize/pages/maltesefalcon01.html

Congratulations to the design team - and the crew seemed to be having fun too

I'm still yet to understand how they get the sheets from the mast across that space and then to get it curve around the spars and stay...I'm a MF freak and i still cant get it figured out!

Sails are furled inside mast, takes 6 minusts to rig all 15 sails.

It seems very complicated...i will understand in time....They have updated the website, there are now alot of new pics of MF from as far back as some of the build photos to current sailing photos...very nice presentation on the site i think....

How it works

If you look at the photo above you can see a track along the bottom edge of the yard, there is also one along the top edge.
The sail is furled around a vertical mandrel inside the mast, one for each sail.
Each clew of the sail has an outhaul that comes out of the mast, along the feeder arm, around the roller and down the track to the end of each yard. At the end of the yard it goes around a roller and back through the yard to the captive winch located on the top of the truss.
To set the sail. The mandrel brake is released, the captive winches then pull on the four outhauls and the clews of the sail are pulled out of the mast, along the feeder arm, around the roller and to the end of the yard. The middle of the sail comes out from the mast and sets in the middle of the yard, creating a fully curved, aerodynamic sail than never really changes shape.
To furl the sail. The winch brakes are released and the mandrel then rotates, pulling on the inhauls which attach to the middle of the sail and pull it across the feeder arm into the mast, it then furls around the mandrel until the clews are fully ‘away’
Advantages. It takes us 75 seconds to set or furl each sail, each mast can set/furl one sail at a time, therefore we can set/furl three sails at a time and all 2400 sqm of sail in less than 7 minutes. To gybe we just rotate the masts as the yacht turns
Disadvantages. It is not quite so easy to tack but as we get used to operating the system we are learning fast and are getting better with each one.

Numbers so far! 19.6 kts under power, 18.6 kts sailing with only 5 sails up in 35 Kts wind, 3.5 kts in 3.2 kts wind ghosting along, 29 degrees max heel angle (capping rail under water)

Any question please ask away, I love talking about this amazing yacht

Jed: I am familiar with the infectious enthusiasm such a new and amazing yacht can generate in its owners and crew, so thanks for sharing it with us.

I saw the new picture on your website, and OMG ... 29 degrees heel !!! Makes for great sailing shots, but sailing prep down below must be a nightmare...your chief stew must really love that!

MV is limited to 20 degrees heel by UK MCA. Do you have any limit imposed on you? I am jealous of your gybing process. We basically don't gybe, except in an emergency. And I know how frustrating it can be to take a while to tack. MV has to lower the main below backstay, but you have a different set of issues.

I have a technology question for you, which you (and Carl) may prefer to answer via PM. Given your owners' background I figured you would have excellent internet access, can you let me know what service/product you use. We are re-evaluating ours.

See you in S of France. We are hoping to see you the weekend before Monaco Boat Show, maybe for a joint day sail?

Joe jr

Vsat

Joe jr
We are using VSAT with a TELENOR contract, not bad but due to the nature of a carbon rig and fairly bulky antenna mast we have quite large areas of blockage. we are presently thinking of where to move the VSAT dome to but not too many options.
Internet is good when in line though and using Skype saves a lot of money for phone calls.It sure is nice to get regular e-mails and to be able to get online especially to order spares etc.
Looking forward to meeting you at MYS

Cheers Jed

Thanks Jed for your explaination....i understand much more now....its still quite baffling in a way though....and i thought s/y Royal Clipper's sail system (43 sails)was complicated being she is twice the size (439') of your yacht.

Re: How it works

Jed, thanks for the great explanations! The more I read, the more I want to know and see. Speaking of seeing: I'd love to see pictures of the sails in action up close - as they are set or furled, to get a better understanding of the way that process happens. Also, I read somewhere a writer talking about the design of the sails not taking into account something to do with the wind (I can't remember if the word was "swirl"; in my mind it seemed to be something like turbulence), I think it was relating to the sails highest on the masts. I was wondering, if you can figure out from my attempted description what the writer was talking about, whether you have a response to that.

Welcome to The Yacht Forums 'Taste4SaltH20'..or Jerold Nice question to kick off your posting!

For Mr. Jed White.

I have a question for you: I noticed on your site..well the Falcons' site that they are one or two photos of her at night...It can be seen that she has her masts flooded with blue- purplish lights....Are those lights from the Falcon as in for decoration or was that from the dockside at a ceremony? BTW...if they are any more night pics of MF..if you could please post them here..(If possible) thanks for your response in advance!

Setting sail etc

Setting a sail on the test rig

As for the lights, we have LED uplights (photos to follow) but that was lit from the dock at the launch party