The three masted Black Pearl is one of Oceanco’s most exceptional achievements. At 106.7 metres or 350 feet long, Black Pearl is the world’s longest sailing yacht. Philippe Starck’s Sailing Yacht ‘A’ is significantly longer than the Black Pearl, however ‘A’ is defined as a “sail assisted motor yacht” according to many expert sources.
It is impressive, yet unsurprising that Black Pearl has won top honors at the 2019 Boat International Design & Innovation Awards. This year the event occurred on the 27th of January in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Black Pearl has been widely identified as a complex standout yacht partially due to her significant and diverse development team. Oceanco has shared that Black Pearl’s owner, who is an engineer, facilitated a successful collaboration of designers, builders, engineers, naval architects, and project managers to deliver perfection in the completed vessel. Not even the most insignificant detail escaped the attention of the yacht’s owner.
“The owner drove us to new heights“, says Marcel Onkenhout, CEO of Oceanco. “It was an absolute pleasure to work with an owner who was so passionate and dedicated even to the smallest details of the build.”
Just one of the Black Pearl’s incredible forward thinking technical innovations is the ability for her rig to be fitted with solar sails when they become available in the future. Solar sails have not yet been fully developed, however, when fitted to the Black Pearl they will be able to not only serve as a driving force, but also harness solar radiation and power a considerable amount of on-board electrical systems.
“Being an engineer, I have a natural inclination and curiosity about new systems and innovative technology. Eco consciousness is vital for the future of our planet. I wholeheartedly support research that will drive us to more sustainability and I have ensured that green technology was very much a part of the creation of Black Pearl,” said the owner.
Ken Freivokh of Ken Freivokh Design was responsible for the Black Pearl’s breathtaking design. Freivokh is celebrated for his design of another massive and modern sailing yacht, the Maltese Falcon. From the early stages of design, Freivokh worked to create a yacht with simply controllable sails as the foremost method of propulsion. The vessel’s Dynarig is distinct and serves as the ‘raison d’etre’ of the realization of Black Pearl’s layout. Integrating the rig’s structure called for freestanding masts, which became an essential part of the design.
“The challenge was to achieve volume and handsome headroom whilst still retaining a sleek and well-proportioned yacht. To this effect, we developed a high ‘waistline’, effectively bringing the apparent hull up to the upper deck for a significant part of the yacht’s length. The result is continuity of line and long sightlines.” said designer Ken Freivokh.
Nuvolari Lenard joined the design team to refine the layout and make minor changes to the final exterior design. “We wanted to ensure that this very large vessel maintained her appearance as a graceful sailing yacht rather than looking like a ship, which can often happen on vessels that are so large.” said Carlo Nuvolari of Nuvolari Lenard.
French architect and designer Gerard Villate and Valentina Zannier of Nuvolari Lenard worked closely with the owner of Black Pearl to craft a classical interior with modern elements. Elegant materials including crystal, Elm burr, mahogany, marble, onyx, gilded bronze, silk, and ebony inlays were incorporated throughout the yacht’s interior design scheme.
The centerpiece of Black Pearl’s interior is a central atrium spanning multiple decks, which features a spiral staircase alongside Black Pearl’s central mast. The central atrium allows for perfect harmony throughout all of the yacht’s many decks. The Black Pearl features a central elegant salon with high ceilings on the main deck, with a casual salon/media room on the upper deck. The interior includes a full-beam dinning room with panoramic balconies on both sides of the room. A sumptuous beach club also features dual balconies to enjoy the ocean.
In contrast to the Dynarig’s size, the behemoth can be operated by just one crew member. Unique to Black Pearl’s sail area are the collection of smaller, lesser loaded sails, which can automatically be deployed within six minutes at the touch of a button. This feature is thoroughly impressive for a yacht with 2,900 square metres of sail area.
“The biggest challenges were to achieve a proper sailing balance and to figure out a system to increase the tacking performance”, says Thys Nikkels, Managing Director of Dykstra Naval Architects, the firm who handled the Black Pearl’s naval architecture, DynaRig optimization, and sail plan. “We achieved this by a faster rig rotation and by designing a very responsive rudder.”
One of the most significant demands made by Black Pearl’s owner was to limit the vessel’s environmental foot print. While Black Pearl was undergoing sea trials, her speed from sail power reached 14 knots, which allowed the vessel to regenerate enough energy to make the generators unnecessary while ‘under sail’.
“We didn’t want to see equipment on the foremast”, said the owner’s representative team. “Many hours were therefore spent researching with all the equipment suppliers to achieve optimal performance of equipment being installed up the rotating and flexing masts. This includes additional Gyro’s installed in the masts and specialist cables to cope with the bending of the cables due to the cable management system at the base of the mast. The yacht sails better than predicted. She tacks very well with little reduction in speed and overall performs superbly under sail.”
Photographer Credit: Francisco Martinez, Courtesy of: Oceanco
Video courtesy of: Oceanco
