Sailing on the Royal Clipper Ship

She’s tall and a real beauty. Meet the Royal Clipper!

Modeled after the greatest German clipper ship, the historic 1902 Preussen, the 439-foot, 227-passenger Royal Clipper is the largest true sailing ship in the world.

She flaunts 56,000 square feet of sails – 42 sails in all – and is under sail whenever possible (not engine power).

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When we received an invitation to cruise again with Star Clippers, which operates the Royal Clipper ship, we jumped at the chance.

Years ago, we sailed on the Royal Clipper through the Grenadine Islands in the Caribbean.

Rummaging through old pics, we found these Royal Clipper photos taken on our trusty film camera, before digital cameras became mainstream.

The Royal Clipper has two smaller and older sister ships, Star Clipper and Star Flyer.

For Mikael Krafft, the 70-something Swedish entrepreneur who owns Star Clippers, these ships are the product of a lifelong dream to recreate and build real clipper ships that sail the world. (The word “clipper” comes from the phrase “to go at a good clip”.)

Indeed, the Star Clipper and Star Flyer are the first clipper ships since 1911 to be certified as passenger sailing vessels by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping.

Krafft is set to launch his fourth clipper ship, the Flying Clipper, sometime soon.

Based on the France II, a French five-mast cargo windjammer built in 1911, it will be the largest sailing ship ever launched.

In the meantime, we look forward to our 2019 Caribbean cruise on the Star Flyer – and can’t wait to sail at a good clip again. So stay tuned, as we’ll be writing about this Star Clippers’ cruise. (Better still, why not subscribe to our blog – that way you can stay abreast of all our travel stories!)

Until then!

Royal Clipper ship facts

Tonnage: 5,000
Length: 439 feet
Beam: 54 feet
Draft: 18.5 feet
Masts: 5 masts
Sail area: 54,000 square feet
Number of sails: 42
Mast height: 177 feet
Crew: 106
Passenger capacity: 227

See the Star Clippers website for more information on the Royal Clipper.

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