Royal Clipper

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Royal Clipper is a steel-hulled five-masted fully rigged tall ship used as a cruise ship. She was redesigned by Robert McFarlane of McFarlane ShipDesign, for Star Clippers Ltd. of Sweden, the same designer behind the cruise company's first two vessels Star Clipper and Star Flyer.

This third one was built using an existing steel hull designed by Zygmunt Choreń that was modified by the Gdańsk Shipyard, where Template:Convert was added to its length. Originally built by Polish communist authorities as "Gwarek" she was intended as a floating vacation home for minersTemplate:Citation needed . This hull was sold because of financial problemsTemplate:Citation needed. The Merwede shipyard completed the ship's interior in July 2000, whilst visiting the Pool of London, for its pre-launch to the travel industry. The renovations included frescography murals by Rainer Maria Latzke completing the ship's Mediterranean interior.<ref name=Stoodley1>Sheila Gibson Stoodley, "21 Ultimate Gifts: A Tall Order" Template:Webarchive, Robb Report, 1 December 2005</ref> Her design was based on Preussen, a famous German five-mast Flying P-Liner windjammer built in 1902.

Star Clippers claims that she is the largest "true sailing ship" built since Preussen. She is listed in Guinness World Records as the largest square-rigged ship in service, with Template:Convert of sail. Her sails can be handled with a crew as small as twenty using powered controls.<ref name=Immen1>Wallace Immen, "Cruising on the winds of change", The Globe and Mail, 23 June 2007</ref>

Royal Clipper cruises the Mediterranean during the summer. During the winter she offers Caribbean trips through the southern parts of the Lesser Antilles area. Because of her size, she can visit smaller ports that larger (motor) cruise ships can't reach. Transatlantic crossings are available between seasons.<ref name=Watson1>Julie Watson, "Smooth Sailing", Forbes, January 2005</ref>

Gallery

• Fünfmastvollschiff.JPG

  Royal Clipper silhouetted against the sunset

• Royal Clipper Lobby.jpg

  Lobby of Royal Clipper with murals from Rainer Maria Latzke

• RC Painting.jpg

  Royal Clipper (painting by Rainer Maria Latzke)

• Royal Clipper IV.jpg

  Royal Clipper

• Royal Clipper II.jpg

  Bow of Royal Clipper

• Royal Clipper III.jpg

  Bell of Royal Clipper

• Royal Clipper V.jpg

  Sails of Royal Clipper

• Royalclipper039.jpg

  Helm of Royal Clipper

• Royal Clipper anchored near Split, Croatia.JPG

  Royal Clipper anchored near the port of Split, Croatia, on 3 July 2011.

• Royal clipper2.jpg

  Royal Clipper anchored in Martinique (Caribbean Sea side) in March 2018.

See also

• Star Clipper
• Star Flyer
• Flying Clipper
• List of cruise ships
• List of large sailing vessels

External links

• Star Clippers website about Royal Clipper
• "Royal Clipper: melding the thrills of sailing with the comforts of cruising aboard Star Clippers' mega-yacht" by Charles Doherty, Cruise Travel (magazine/journal), September 2005, as found online at LookSmart Find Articles
• "Royal Clipper" – review by Douglas Ward in The Daily Telegraph, London
• "ROYAL CLIPPER To The Grenadines, Part One" Template:Webarchive, "Part Two" Template:Webarchive and "Part Three" Template:Webarchive – review by Peter Knego in Maritime Matters
• "Setting Sail" – review of Royal Clipper in Cruise Passenger.