Thursday, August 16, 2007

4279.aspx

Maltese Falcon

The 289-foot Maltese Falcon is the biggest, riskiest, most technologically advanced sailing machine in the world:



The technology is just amazing:



The heart of the boat's technology is a novel rigging system called the DynaRig, designed by Dutch naval architect Gerald Dijkstra and based on a half-century-old German concept. The genius — and risk — of the DynaRig is its use of freestanding masts that rotate to adjust sail trim and tack the boat. There are practically no external ropes or wires, no traditional rigging of any sort to brace the spars or control the nearly 26,000 square feet of sail. The 15 sails deploy at the push of a button, rolling out from inside each hollow mast along recessed tracks on stationary horizontal yardarms.


Via Wired

1 comment: