The "Royal Clipper" Sailboat, Once a Year in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Once a year, the ship “Royal Clipper” docks at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. It is a tourist ship shaped like a five-masted sailboat, whose construction is inspired by the historic German sailboat “Preussen” from the early 20th century. It arrived this morning and will set sail again tonight heading to Bridgetown, on the same route as a year ago.

Designed by naval architect Zygmunt Choren, the current ship is the result of an unfinished steel hull built at the Gdansk shipyard (Poland) and completed at the Merwede shipyard in July 2000. Owned by Star Clippers, it is registered in Malta - it was previously registered in Luxembourg - and is dedicated to very select tourism trips, with the added allure of being the largest sailboat in the world in its class.

It registers 5,000 gross tons and its main dimensions are 134.80 m in overall length, 16.50 m in beam, and 5.60 m in draft. It deploys 42 sails across five masts with a sail area of 5,202 square meters, whose raising and lowering is controlled by computer. It is a spectacle to see it with its rigging deployed, as is the case with all sailboats. It also has two Caterpillar engines and can accommodate 227 passengers and 117 crew members.

Photo: Jerónimo Rodríguez Rosales