Photo Courtesy Perini Navi

The two largest private sailing yachts in the word, both powered by Doyle Sailmakers, sailed side by side outside of Monaco Harbor. Maltese Falcon is the world's largest clipper ship, and Mirabella V (M V) is the world's largest single masted yacht. Tom Perkins, owner of the Maltese Falcon, describes the sail, "It was an overcast day with the true wind was out of the N.E. at twenty knots with gusts to twenty five, and M V set her full main with a big jib and a staysail---she was really powered up, and designer Ron Holland was aboard to supervise the sail trim. We had (of course) everything set as well, and I need to note to our respective insurance carriers that we were NOT racing---we were just sailing together as fast as possible, purely to be sociable. On the wind, both yachts held each other, neither gaining or losing. Our GPS showed 14.5 knots, and it was the same for M V. The Falcon buried her rail a couple of times in the gusts, and finally we furled our mizzen royal to ease the helm, but we didn't slow at all. We sailed together for about twelve miles and then we bore off for a speed run. The Falcon cranked up to 17 knots and we pulled a little ahead. The photos show M V really screaming through the waves, looking very, very fast, and very, very beautiful."

James Scott-Anderson, a J-class tactician, was on board Mirabella V reporting for BYM News. James reported that "Once [the main] was up, the number two jib was unfurled and we had about 10 to 18 knots of breeze and were sailing upwind on a close reach with the wind at 75 degrees apparent. The Falcon was about quarter of a mile from of us. We were heeling 15 degrees which was very comfortable sailing, but the speed was surprising. We were doing 15 to 16 knots and this was just on GPS data. Once we settled in, we found that we were able to match the Falcon’s speed – a big surprise even though this point of sail is not the Falcon’s best. It was nonetheless a great thing, as her hull length and sail area is greater than Mirabella’s."

To read more of James' account of the sail, click here.

Photos

Maltese Falcon Website

Mirabella V Website

Labels: Maltese Falcon, Mirabella V