Featured Books
-
Recent Comments
- Nevieen Selim on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Maine group in running for decommissioned JFK : Old Salt Blog – a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea on Free Aircraft Carrier – ex USS John F Kennedy Available for Donation to Appropriate Group
- Mohamamd Rahim Rama khel advocate on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Maritime Monday 200 on The Necker Nymph – Sir Richard Branson’s New Underwater Plane
- Maritime Monday 200 on US Postal Service Honors Sailors with Stamps
- CAPT. D. Peter Boucher, MN (Ret.) on Bob Barker in a Collision with Whale Ship – Dangerous Games & Finger Pointing
- Mohamamd Rahim Rama khel advocate on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- The Good Ship A.J. Fuller : Old Salt Blog – a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea on Under Sail by Felix Riesenberg – A Review
- Nevieen Selim on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Nevieen Selim on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Nevieen Selim on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Book Review: Skipjack; The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen - Casco Bay Boaters Blog on Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen by Christopher White – A Review
- Rick on US Postal Service Honors Sailors with Stamps
- Miss O'Gyny on US Postal Service Honors Sailors with Stamps
- Mohamamd Rahim Rama khel advocate on The Sinking of the Danny F II
- The Sinking of the Danny F II
- Old Salt on Huffpo: Whale Wars - Eco-Terrorism as Reality TV
- The City of Adelaide - the Oldest & Just Barely Surviving Clipper Ship
- The Sinking of the Ady Gil - How it may haunt the Sea Shepherds
- Captain Phillips Attempts Escape but is Recaptured as Navy Stands By
- Of Tall Ships and Stupid Lawyers
- Arming Merchant Ship Crews - the "Obvious Answer" that may be Simply Wrong
- LEGO Ship Modeling? HMS Prince of Wales in LEGOs
- Sinking the USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg
- Defying Empire - Trading with the Enemy in Colonial New York, a Review
-
Links
Authors
History
- Age of Nelson
- American Merchant Marine at War
- American War of Independence at Sea
- Broadside – Home of Nelson’s Navy
- Henry Hudson 400
- HMS Resolute
- MaritimeHistory.info
- Navy Records Society
- The Gaspee Virtual Archives
- The Maritime History Virtual Archives
- The Nelson Society
- The Society for Nautical Research
- Titanic International Society
Lore of the Sea
- Allen C. Rawl, Master Builder, Ships of Wood
- Animated Knots by Grog
- Friends of the Falls of Clyde
- Furled Sails – Sailing Podcasts
- Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping
- Hakluyt Society
- HistoricNavalFiction.com
- Isle of Tortuga
- John’s Nautical & Boatbuilding Page
- Maritime Information Association
- Pirate’s Cove
- Pirates and Privateers
- Sailing-New-England.com
- Seaworthy Publications
- Shark Diver
- Ships and Yacht Information
- Songs of the Sea
- Stan Hugill
- The American Sail Training Association
- The Era of the Clipper Ships
- The Maritime Heritage Project
- William Falconer’s Dictionary of the Marine
Magazines
Maritime and Nautical Blogs
- 70.8percent
- Age of Sail blog
- Annapolis Royal Heritage
- Armchair Captain
- Bay of Fundy Blog
- BitterEnd
- Boating Bible Manual of Seamanship Blog
- Bowsprite: A New York Harbor Sketchbook
- Casco Bay Boaters Blog
- Chine bLog
- Coast Guard Compass
- Desert Sea – New Mexico Sailing
- DoryMan
- EagleSpeak
- frogma
- Fyddeye
- gCaptain
- HAWSEPIPER: THE LONGEST CLIMB
- Henry’s Obsession
- Indigenous Boats
- intheboatshed.net
- Jack Tar Magazine
- Kennebec Captain
- Man the Capstan
- Marine Café Blog
- MarineBuzz.com
- Maritime Compass
- Maritime Texas
- Messing About In Sailboats
- Nautical Log
- Notes from the Wooden and Iron World
- One More Good Adventure
- Scaryfangirl’s Hornblower site
- Sea Fever Blog
- Seafarerblog.com
- Ship of the Day
- Ship Talk
- Shipspotting.com
- Shirlaw News Group
- Tabor Boy Project
- Thad’s daily log
- The Good Old Boat Redwing
- The Keeper’s Blog
- The Maritime Blog
- The Merchant Marine Express
- The Tall Ships Blog
- The View From the Deck
- Timmynocky
- Tugster: a waterblog
- Uglyships.com
- Wake of the Windjammers
- Walks in the Marsh
- Yacht Pals
Maritime and Nautical Forums & Boards
Museums
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- Erie Maritime Museum
- Grays Harbor Historical Seaport
- Maine Maritime Museum
- Maritime Museum of San Diego
- Museum of Underwater Archaeology
- Mystic Seaport Museum
- National Maritime Museum, UK
- New Bedford Whaling Museum
- Palm Beach Maritime Museum
- Royal Naval Museum
- South Street Seaport Museum
- Texas Seaport Museum
- The Mariner’s Museum
Photography & Art
Professional Associations
Publishers & Booksellers
Scuba and Skin Diving
Tall & Historic Ships
- Californian
- Captain Dave’s Schooner Links
- Carlotta – 1899 Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter
- City of Adelaide
- Falls of Clyde
- Historic Vessels of New York Harbor
- HMS Bounty
- HMS ROSE
- HMS Surprise
- Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
- Lady Washington
- Lettie G. Howard
- Lighthouse Tender Lilac
- North Star of Herschel Island
- Nova Scotia Schooner Association
- Pride of Baltimore II
- Privateer Schooner Lynx
- S.S. Columbia
- Schooner A.J. Meerwald
- Schooner Amistad
- Schooner Pioneer
- Schooner Sultana
- Schooner Virginia
- Star of India
- Steam Tug MASTER
- Tall Ship Eagle
- Tall Ship ELISSA
- Tall Ship Soren Larsen
- The American Sail Training Association
- U.S. Brig NIAGARA
Tags
A.J. Meerwald Arctic Sea Australia Captain Richard Phillips City of Adelaide Falls of Clyde Gulf of Aden Haiti Halifax Hawaii Henry Hudson HMS Bounty HMS Victory hudson river Indian Ocean Maersk Alabama Maine Massachusetts mystic seaport Nelson Newport new york new york harbor Nova Scotia Oasis of the Seas Odyssey Marine Exploration Patrick O'Brian Pearl Harbor piracy pirate pirates Queensland ransom Rhode Island Richard Phillips Royal Navy schooner sinking somali somalia Somali pirates Tall & Historic Ships tall ship Titanic US Navy







George Washington's Secret Navy



by Linda Collison



Alaric Bond
Steady As She Goesby John Molloy




Star Clippers in Talks to Build the World’s Largest Sailing Ship
Updated Update: When asked about the proposed ship, the folks at Star Clipper responded – “Our new ship is not planned now until 2012.” We will keep our fingers crossed. Thanks to Alaric Bond for following up.
Update: Oops. As Dexter Donham diplomatically points out in the comment below, the article we posted is two years old. “My understanding is that these plans are on indefinite hold.” Our mistake. Nevertheless, the remaining three Star Clipper ships are beauties in their own right.
Royal Clipper, as seen across the bowsprit of the Star Clipper
Almost eighteen years ago, just before the birth of our older son, my wife and I took a cruise on the then brand new Star Flyer, a four masted barquentine, owned and operated by Star Clippers. She was 360 feet long and carried 36,000 square feet of sail – fore and aft rigged on the aft three masts, square rigged on the foremast. She had the amenities of a cruise ship and met all the latest safety standards but sailed like a mega-yacht. And she could sail. We were cruising in the Leewards and would sail at night so that we would arrive at a new island each day, which meant that I got very little sleep as I wandered the decks at night, marveling at the expanse of rigging and canvas being along driven by the Trades. It was absolutely glorious.
In 2000, Star Clippers added the Royal Clipper, a five masted ship rigged cruise ship with 56,000 square feet of sail modeled after the Preussen built in 1902, the only other five masted ship rigged windjammer ever built. The Royal Clipper is currently the largest square-rigged sailing vessel in the world. Recently it was announced that Star Clippers is in discussions with shipyards to build an even larger square-rigger, modeled on the France II, the largest merchant sailing ship ever built.
Star Clippers have been in discussions with shipyards to build a new five-mast vessel for the line for delivery in 2010. Expected to be the largest, most expensive sailing vessel ever constructed, the 7,400-gross-ton barque is modeled on France II, which at 5,000 gross tons was the world’s largest sailing ship when it was launched in 1912. The ship will be 518 feet long (157 meters) and 61 feet at the beam (18.5 meters) with a draft of 20 feet (6 meters). The vessel will carry 37 sails for a total of 68,350 square feet (6,350 square meters) of sail surface area. The rig will extend 217 feet (65 meters) above the waterline, and the open deck area will be an 8,200 square feet (2,500 square meters).
Although 48 percent larger than Star Clippers’ Royal Clipper — currently the largest full-rigged sailing ship in the world — the newbuild will carry only 30 percent more passengers, with a double-occupancy capacity of 296 and a crew of 140. The ship has been designed to make it capable of operating independently of any port infrastructure. With its Ice Class C hull, extra heavy anchor gear, davit dampening system and specially modified tenders, the ship will be able to sail virtually anywhere in the world.
The newbuild is being constructed to the highest environmental, safety, comfort and security specifications to qualify for Det Norske Veritas certification. The propulsion system is diesel-electric, employing two Caterpilar generators that burn clean low-sulphur marine gas, instead of heavy fuel oil, supplying two Siemens electric propulsion motors to drive the twin screws.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for pointing out the article.
Click below for a short video about Star Clippers.
Comments
5 Responses to “Star Clippers in Talks to Build the World’s Largest Sailing Ship”
Leave a Reply
Video of the Moment
HMS Surprise and Star of India
Also featuring the Californian
and the Lynx
Popular Posts
Copyright © 2009· Richard Spilman









Now THIS is something really worth while designing, building and operating. A real seagoing vessel to enjoy the ocean and not a floating ‘theme park’ – well done Star Clippers. We shall look forward to articles about her as she develops.
Good Watch.
I do hope that they build the new ship, but even if they do not, their remaining three ships are wonderful. I have never been on the Royal Clipper but the Star Flyer and Star Clipper are really nice ships to sail on. They are small enough to get into small uncrowded ports and are real beauties under sail.
The date on this Web article is 9/22/07. My understanding is that these plans are on indefinite hold. We would love to see it happen, and to hear any updates.
In 2005 I sailed across the Atlantic from Malaga (Spain) to St. Maarten (WI) on the Star Clipper’s relocation voyage. It was an unforgettable 23-day experience, not least for the fact that we were hit by the tail end of a hurricane as we neared the Caribbean.
The Star Flyer offers a relocation voyage from Asian waters to Europe twice a year which takes about 40 days. That is one cruise which is on my wish list.
Margaret Muir (Tasmania – in the path of the Roaring Forties)
That sounds like a great trip. I ran into some folks who took a scuba diving trip on the Star Flyer in Polynesia, which sounded fantastic as well. All I need is more time and more money. I know that I am not alone in that regard.