Megayacht Composite Masts Get

Launched in July 2006, the Maltese Falcon superyacht, owned by wealthy former Hewlett-Packard principal Tom Perkins, captures a lot of “firsts.” It is one of the largest privately owned vessels in the world and arguably the most technologically advanced sailing yacht — at launch, the 87.5m/289-ft, three-masted steel-hulled craft was the world’s largest in terms of displacement, but since has been surpassed by the schooner Eos. It is the first large square-rigger to be equipped with freestanding masts — that is, masts that require no cable support — and also is the first with masts that are fully instrumented with embedded fiber-optic sensors, which monitor strains for optimal sailing.