Maltese Falcon

TR2011 & Beyond

Transatlantic Race 2011 and Beyond!

The Maltese Falcon has had an extremely busy month! On July 13th, we completed
our latest ocean crossing with the 2011 Transatlantic Race
(www.transatlanticrace.org.)
Although the wind was very light for much of the trip, we also had
several great sailing days. In
fact, the Falcon broke her own 24-hour mileage record with a 405nm day; that
will be a tough one for us to beat again!

The crossing was made in complete luxury relative to most of
our competitors: we spent the trip living in a completely dry,
climate-controlled environment with TV, Internet access, and home-cooked fresh
meals every day. In comparison,
the other yacht crews were living in foul-weather gear while eating
freeze-dried meals!

Here are some statistics from the crossing:

Distance from start to finish line: 2,975 nm

Distance actually sailed: 3,428.5 nm

Total time to complete race: 13 days, 6 hours, 41 minutes,
and 52 seconds

Average distance sailed per day: 258 nm

Average speed: 10.8 kts

Average speed made good: 9.3 kts

Maximum speed logged: 20.6 kts at 1000 hrs, 7th
July

Minimum speed logged: 0.6 kts at 0200 hrs, 11th
July

Total coffees consumed: 950 (our best guesstimate)

After a brief 30-hour stop in Falmouth, UK we headed back
out to sea for a few more days to sail to Gibraltar. During the trip and while off the coast of Gibraltar, the
Maltese Falcon crossed a major milestone in her life: her log passed the
100,000nm mark. A log is, in
nautical terms, the equivalent of a car’s odometer. 100,000nm is a major accomplishment, and is equivalent to
sailing four times around the world!
We celebrated by snapping some photos of the entire crew attempting to
spell out 100,000 using an engineer in a fire suit as the “1” and five
liferings as the “0’s.)
Unfortunately the log’s digital display only allows for five digits, so
after 99,999nm it clicked back to 0.0 again. Shhh…don’t tell anybody, they’ll think she’s a new yacht!

After stopping in Gibraltar for about five hours, it was
back out to sea again to head to our Summer home of France and Italy. By the time the month of July ends, the
Maltese Falcon will have traveled some 5,000nm in less than 30 days.

The Falcon and her crew are gearing up for an action-packed
summer around the Mediterranean.
Check back soon for more updates!

Jeremy Smith

Deckhand

TR2011 & Beyond

Download TR Blog.zip

A Whale of a Tale

A Whale of a Tale I really have a pretty simple life out here in the Northern Atlantic. I swim, I eat, I sleep, and…yeah, that’s about it. Today, something very odd happened to me. As I was doing my morning errands, I looked up and saw something huge sitting on the surface. It was hardly moving so I thought it was probably one of my buddies just taking a nap. As I got closer, I realized it was much bigger than any of my friends. I assumed it couldn’t be a cargo ship – they come out here to travel from one point to another. They don’t just drift around with their engines off. I briefly surfaced to further investigate this thing and saw that it had 15 big white sails up, flapping around in the almost non-existent breeze. This confused me even further; why would these silly people try to sail without any wind? As I was listening to the daily news on 93.7 F-I-N tonight, I heard that there is a race from the US to England happening this week, and several of my friends have also seen other boats drifting around out here in the ocean. The part I don’t understand is, if this is actually a race, why don’t these people just use their engines? Wouldn’t they go faster that way? I’ll be keeping an eye on these crazy people for the next few days – I could always use a good laugh! Willy the Whale

Transatlantic Race 2011: Day 3

We have now entered our third day, and are still enjoying sunny skies and flat seas. The winds during the last 24 hours have been a bit lighter than we would like, but we still have enough to maintain a decent average speed of around 11 knots.

Last night around sunset we overtook S/Y Jazz. Although we haven't been out at sea very long yet, both crews enjoyed seeing some of the competition out here. This morning, Jazz was again off our bow as we had sailed different courses during the night.

Today several of us spent some time up the rigs to make some minor adjustments to the Dynarig system. We installed a full set of 15 brand-new sails in the weeks before the race, so we are still tweaking things a little bit to accommodate the new canvas. Climbing these rigs while at sea is always an experience - since they are freestanding and built of carbon fiber, they flex significantly as the yacht rolls around in the Atlantic swell. Hold-on and enjoy the view!

Jeremy Smith
Deckhand SOME OF THE PHOTOS THAT WERE TAKEN WERE BY A UFO FLYING BY AND THEY SPOTTED THE PHAEDO PIRATES AS WELL.

29 of June, 2011, Start of the Trans Atlantic race

Transatlantic Race 2011 Start!June 30, 2011 Yesterday afternoon, the Maltese Falcon departed from Newport, RI, USA and began the magnificent Transatlantic Race 2011 under partly cloudy skies and perfect 20-25 knot winds. The race, held only once every five years, is one of the world’s premiere sailing events and we are thrilled to be a part of it. You can track our progress during the race on the race’s website, www.transatlanticrace.org. Hundreds of yachts and spectators on shore turned out to watch the start. The race participants are starting during three different days: June 26th, June 29th, and July 3rd. The slower yachts begin first and the faster yachts begin last, so theoretically everyone should cross the finish line in England around the same time. The Falcon started as part of the second group, as she is faster than the smaller yachts but certainly can’t keep up with the thoroughbred racers such as Rambler 100 and ICAP Leopard. We are in the “Open” class against the bright-orange Phaedo, a 66’ Gunboat catamaran. Although we have a much longer waterline than Phaedo, she is a fantastic speed machine and the two boats seem pretty evenly matched thus far. At 289’, the Falcon is much more than double the length of the next largest yacht in the fleet. While most of the yacht crews will be eating freeze-dried food and donning foul weather gear to protect themselves from the elements, the Falcon’s crew is living in luxury in a completely dry, climate-controlled environment with all the comforts of home. Wish us luck as we begin our 3,000nm journey! Jeremy SmithDeckhand

Transatlantic Race 2011

The Transatlantic Race website

Transatlantic Race 2011 - The Stage is Set; Entry List Finalized

Download TRANSAT_PR4_FINAL

2011 St Barths Bucket - Days 2 and 3

2011 St Barths Bucket – Days 2 and 3

The Maltese Falcon has now completed the St Barths Bucket
Regatta after successfully sailing in the remaining two races without incident.
This year’s Bucket was treated to fantastic conditions with a nice
breeze, lots of sunshine, and not a drop of rain.

To minimize extra weight, we left our tenders and wave
runners behind while we raced each day. We would like to give a special thanks to
the owner and crew of the S/Y Mariella and M/Y Helios for babysitting them.

On the evening of Day 2, we hosted a large cocktail and
dinner party for approximately 70 people. The guests included the owners
of other yachts, rally organizers, and Perini Navi representatives. All
had a great time!

After the completion of the last race on Day 3, an award
ceremony was held for all the owners and crews to enjoy. The Maltese
Falcon is proud to have been awarded the ‘Vitter’s Shipyard
Seamanship Trophy.’ This trophy is given to the yacht that
demonstrates the best seamanship and sportsmanship in the interest of promoting
safety on the race course. As the Falcon was the largest vessel in the
regatta, we felt it was important to keep a safe distance from other vessels to
eliminate any chance of a collision or other incident.

The event was a great experience for everyone involved, and
we hope to participate again in the future!

Jeremy Smith
Deckhand

Day 1 St Barts Bucket

2011 St Barths Bucket – Day 1

Today, the Maltese Falcon participated in the first race of the
2011 St Barths Bucket Regatta (www.bucketregattas.com.) Every year, many
of the finest sailing yachts in the world converge upon St Barths’ main
port of Gustavia for this unique race. This year is particularly special,
as it marks the 25th anniversary of the regatta.

This year, almost 40 vessels are in attendance ranging in
size from 23 meters up to the Falcon’s 88 meters. The yachts are
also very variable in style and design with everything from classic schooners
to ultra-modern race boats taking part. To make the things fair, a
handicap system is in place which directs the yachts to start the race at
different times, with the slowest yachts starting first.

The weather cooperated very well for today’s race,
providing clear skies and wind speeds in the 15-20 kts range from the
East. Starting at 11am, the race course took the yachts counter-clockwise
around the entire island of St Barths, providing beautiful scenery for the
entire day. As much of the race was upwind, the Falcon was heeling far
enough to flood the side decks several times. For today’s race, she
finished in sixth place out of the 13 yachts in her class.

Jeremy Smith
Deckhand