World's most famous yacht is for sale

by BW Media on 26 May 2009 One of the most amazing superyachts ever built is for sale.

Built by Perini Navi for American venture capitalist Tom Perkins in 2006, the clipper sailing luxury yacht Maltese Falcon has been listed for sale on 'JamesList', a global online luxury marketplace.

It is one of the largest privately-owned sailing yachts in the world at 88 m (290 ft), similar to Royal Huisman's Athena and Lürssen's Eos.

It boasts of a revolutionary sailing system, called the DynaRig, which includes 3 self-standing and rotating masts hosting 15 sails for a total sail area of nearly 2,400 square metres, allowing the yacht to cross the Atlantic in just 10 days.

With a permanent berth at the Grand Harbour Marina in Malta, it these days flies the Maltese flag, having changed its home port from George Town in the Cayman Islands to Valletta in Malta

The yacht has fifteen square sails (five per mast), stored inside the mast; they can fully unfurl into tracks along the yards in six minutes. The three carbon fibre masts, which are free-standing and able to rotate, were manufactured in Tuzla in Turkey.

The yacht is easily controlled and has been seen to sail off her anchor and away from berths within harbours. The yacht's sophisticated computer detects parameters such as wind speed automatically and displays key data. An operator must always activate the controls, yet it is possible for a single person to pilot the yacht. In a radio interview for the BBC World Service's Global Business programme broadcast in December 2007, Perkins revealed that he personally wrote some of the yacht's unique control software.

The yacht has a permanent crew of 18 to maintain the technical aspects, including the rig and to operate the onboard 'hotel', which can accommodate twelve guests plus four guest staff. The boat also includes an onboard gourmet chef and stewards and stewardesses.

Perkins has been renting out The Maltese Falcon for between €325,000 to €335,000 per week. He once suggested that the yacht cost him more than $150 million and less than $300 million, but refused to be more specific.

Whatever the case, he's prepared to take a loss on it to get rid of it, as it is now advertised for a mere €99 million, or around $140 million. Anyone interested can find all the details by going to www.jameslist.com