2006: The Launch of a Yacht Named After a Legendary Statuette of a Bird

February 6, 2006

A luxury sailing yacht built by the Italian company Perini Navi in Turkey was launched. This yacht is known as the Maltese Falcon, the title of a classic 1930 detective novel written by Dashiell Hammett. The eponymous bird figuring prominently in that novel and four film adaptations of it (including a 1941 version starring Humphrey Bogart) was a highly sought-after statuette. The yacht known as the Maltese Falcon is 289 feet (88.1 meters) in length and has the distinction of being one of the world’s largest privately owned sailing yachts.

This vessel was built in accordance with German hydraulics engineer Wilhelm Prölss’s dynaship concept, which focuses on operating commercial freight sailing ships with the fewest crew members possible. The 15 square sails on board the Maltese Falcon, for example, can be unfurled in as little as five minutes with an electronic system — a task that would take approximately 80 deckhands on a more typical vessel about an hour to accomplish. The computer-operated features on board the Maltese Falcon are also able to automatically detect wind speed and display other key data out at sea. 

The Maltese Falcon was originally owned by American businessman Tom Perkins and purchased in 2009 by Greek-born hedge fund manager Elena Ambrosiadou.

Photo Credit: lj16 (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)

Additional information on the yacht known as the Maltese Falcon is available at https://yachtharbour.com/news/7-largest-yachts-built-by-perini-navi-3119