[MHml] DynaRig, Mast-Aft, Bi-Plane sailing rigs

[brian eiland]

Dave culp wrote: 
> These are beautiful photos of a grand and powerful yacht, but they do
> not speak to Rob's points, as near as I can ascertain. Was there
> something more you intended to say, which perhaps got cut off? Do you,
> for instance, have any photos of Mirabella--or another large
> sloop--sailing boat-for-boat against Falcon? Do we have any cost
> comparisons for their respective rigs? Drive data? Maintenance
> comparisons? Gorgeous photos of yachts we'll never afford make
> compelling eye candy, but do we have any real facts?
_____________________________________________
Brian replied:
...from a posting by Tom Perkins, the owner of Falcon:

Some Answers to Questions about the Maltese Falcon 

I have read with interest the opinions and questions posted about my Maltese
Falcon "Clipper Yacht" over recent weeks. I'll attempt to answer these as best
I can now that some time has elapsed.

We call her a clipper because she attempts to achieve the multiple advantages
of those fast square riggers from the past. If you look at photographs of the
last of the big sailing windjammers, you will see that the fore and aft sails
are really just vistigial---all the power is coming from the square sails
themselves. The Dijkstra design simply carries this trend to its logical end,
and eliminates all these redunant sails. The DynsRig concept leads to a yacht
with the ability to point so high, that jibs, etc. are just in the way.

The superstructure is just sufficiently high to permit a view ahead, over the
bow, from the wheel house. Any lower, and the view would be blocked by the
bow, and thus I believe, be unsafe.

The signal mast forward is required for the radars, which cannot be mounted on
the rotating masts. The height is required to raise the radar beam above the
superstructure sufficiently to protect crew from the radiation. Also, this
mast, in my opinion, fills in a space where one might otherwise expect to see
jibs, and so it is there partly for aesthetic reasons.

The sails are set automatically by a single person from a central console. Of
course, there is routine maintenance required by an agile crew of sailors
aloft, but rarely do they have to be in the rig during sailing. The upper
sails are set or furled as required to control heeling. In a twenty knot true
wind with everything set, and hard on the wind, the heeling angle is about 22
degrees. This isn't much for a small boat, but it feels too much for most
guests, so we furl the sails necessary to keep heeling to around 15 degrees,
and there is only a modest drop in speed.

To date the we have set and furled all the sails over one thousand times. We
have had only two or three problems requiring a man to go aloft to sort. We
have experienced no damage to sails or rig. This is a staggering number. With
all due respect to Mirabella V, I expect that during her entire lifetime,
which I trust will be very long, her sails will not be set this many times.
The DynaRig is very practical for a big boat, for the ease of use factor, if
for no other reason.

The Falcon may be a motor sailor, but not by my definition, since she sails
faster than she motors---if that doesn't qualify her as a sailboat, then what
does?

I have raced classics for much of my life. I believe the Falcon is a new
classic, and to my eye, she is very beaqutiful. Tom Perkins