Oceanco’s Black Pearl to Become the Largest Sailing Yacht In the World

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Oceanco’s Black Pearl to Become the Largest Sailing Yacht In the World

Feb 8, 2018

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The internationally acclaimed shipyard, Oceanco is about to break yet again another record, but this time for the largest sailing yacht in the world. Named Black Pearl and built under the codename Project Solar, this gigantic yacht has the potential to cross the Atlantic while only burning 20 liters of fuel due to its highly alternative power sources.

Ken Freivock was contracted by the owner in 2010 to working on the design and styling of this massive project. She was inspired by the 88-meter Maltese Falcon built by Perini Navi. After much thought, Freivock and his experienced team opted to extend the vessel to 100m. (later modified to 106m) in 2011 and the Dutch-based builder, Oceanco was finally selected by the owner to undertake the yacht’s construction in 2012. Nuvolari Lenard joined at a later time to give their expertise on parts of the superstructure, including the elliptical hull windows.

“The first time I saw Black Pearl was actually in a photo sent to me. And I couldn’t believe my eyes, I was very excited to see a photo of it finally because it had been such a secret project.” – Chris Gartner, Captain of the S/Y.”

“Actually Black Pearl was not an experiment, she is a real challenge in the yacht building industry. Because all that has been put on the drawing board had never been done before,” disclosed the CEO of Oceanco, Marcel Onkenhout. Many features of this vessel, otherwise impossible to achieve if it was a conventional sailing yacht, were actually implemented due to its massive size. Black Pearl comes to break the record of EOS by 13m.

The work of Dykstra Naval Architects allowed Black Pearl to have arguably the most advanced sail system ever, which allows her to cruise with the wind in any given direction.

As the development process of the yacht continued before the build started, the hull design kept evolving with active input from the owner following studies by Freivokh’s team on the bow swap that highlighted the need for its refinement. By the owner’s hand, these modifications gradually evolved into the overhang-to-reverse bow concept that the 106-meter Nautilus concept ultimately bore.

The layout and framework of Black Pearl’s interiors were originally designed by Freivock, however, it has been further refined by the owner who worked closely with designer Gerard Villatte.

“When we’re sailing, we have sufficient wind speed and we’re generating enough hull speed, we can then begin to maneuver the blades slightly to what we call regeneration mode. We can then use that energy and consume it within our electrical switchboard inside the vessel, explained Richard Tatlow, Black Pearl’s chief engineer.

However, Black Pearl also features another key element, solar panels that were built within the fabric of the sail allowing the yacht to produce energy whilst underway.

“With the right wind and the right sea, we could reach 30 knots. And with the regeneration and the [solar] sail, we’re predicting that we can do Transatlantic [crossings] with no fuel used,” clarified the owner’s representative for Black Pearl, Derek Munro. If indeed the yacht is able to perform all these features, then it will be a crucial development in the yachting industry.

The Black Pearl is set to be delivered soon and is already promised the title of the world’s largest sailing yacht. Her built has brought back a sense of innovation to the sailing yacht category, one that had not been as endorsed with advancements and projects in quite some time.