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“A” BECOMES THE WORLD’S LARGEST PRIVATE SAILING YACHT

The floating giant left its dock last week for its first sea trials

It was anything but an ordinary spectacle when three mast mega yacht “A” was tugged into the Bay of Kiel in Northern Germany for its first sea trials last week. However, the sails of Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko’s new toy were not yet set. The exterior of the 143-meter colossus is as extraordinary as the layout of his motoryacht, also called “A”. Both vessels were designed by Philippe Starck.

The swimming giant has been built under the working title “White Pearl” at German Naval Yards in Kiel. By now many details of the international, rather secret project have become public: Dykstra Naval Architects (NL) designed the rig and keel, and the sails will come from Doyle Sails (USA). The three free standing almost-100-meter high carbon masts are made by Magma Structures in the UK, and Spanish rig specialist Future Fibres constructed the booms. “A” is supposed to reach a cruising speed of 16 knots, even 21 at high speed.

Construction cost is estimated at several hundred million Euro, including an on-board cinema, helipad and room for over 50 crew members. The delivery is scheduled for 2016. However, sailing the yacht – that dwarfs even passenger ferries – out of the Baltic Sea remains a challenge: none of the bridges are high enough to let her pass with standing rig. A small slot off Copenhagen seems to be the only way out.

Image © Olaf Eggert/TheYachtPhoto.com

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  • Germany
  • Philippe Starck

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