MARITIME TRAVELER
From Out of the Past Under Sail in the Caribbean
''H
ellobelow!"boomedthefirst mate into the ship's intercom: "All deckhands report to stations." With the lush green mountains of Dominica dead ahead, it was time to shorten sail. In a stiff breeze, the barkentine Star Flyer had been making a steady 9 knots for the last two hours under half sail, her bow lifting and falling rhythmically, each entrance piercing a running line of whitecaps. It was a magnificent sailing morning. Roused early from the dining room or their cabins by the straining motion of the ship, several fellow pas senge rs milled about the bridge , just aft of the teak foredeck. They were now eager to oblige the crew, pulling on the downhaul of one of her giant staysai ls or belaying a jib sheet under the watchful eye of a deckhand. This is what many of them had come for. The allure of an islandhopping 7-day cruise through the Leeward Isles is obvious. But here was a chance to do it under sail-36,000 square feet of it-aboard a ship with the look and feel of the famous sailing ships of the last century. Aboard for this cruise is Mikael Krafft, a Swedish businessman and maritime lawyer, and the energetic managing owner of the sister ships Star Flyer and Star Clipper. He nods agreeably at the action on deck, the easy contact between passengers , officers and crew. An avid sailor since his youth, passenger participation is very much a part of his philosophy and motivation: "When I am out at sea, I cannot accept being told 'You can come and see the bridge Friday 10:30,' like on a big ship. The charm is walking up there whenever you want, checking the course, pitching in on a sail , making friends with the officers and having them explain what is going on." Krafft is a true aficionado of the sailing ship legacy. As a boy growing up in Saltsjobaden, the hub of boating activities for nearby metropolitan Stockholm, his imagination was fired by stories of the great days of sail. His uncles and their forebears made a living from the sea, one of them as a captain of Brostrom Line 's 4-masted schooner Albatros. On occasion, he would pilot hi s 18-foot sloop across the Swedish Archipe lago
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to Mariehamn , on the isl and of Aland, and clamber aboard the museum ship Pommern . The 4masted bark was once owned by Ferdinand Laiesz's "Flying P Line" and later by Aland's own celebrated shipowner Gustaf Erikson. OfErikson, the "P" line, the famous Boston clipper designer Donald McKay , and the hi story of the "greyhounds of the sea" in general, Krafft quotes chapter and verse. He speaks Star Flyer, the tallest of the tall ships, glides over with equal reli sh of the chal- restless seas. lenge of building modern-day sail ing ships and carving out a niche for sq uaresai ls, with all 16 sails drawing, them in the competitive cruise market. she leapt to 19.4 knots. Not that speed Preparing for construction took three records are actively sought. Crew will full years of intense research . Time and reduce sail smartly when it blow s to again, Krafft 's design team returned to keep the comfort level high , and sail the hull concepts and rigging propor- handling is infinitely easier than it was tion s created by McKay a century and a on her predecessors. Roller furling sq uare half ago, although there were many fresh sail s and heavy winches are a concession considerations. It was fundamental that that make lighter and safer work of sail the new ships sail upright or almost so in hand ling for a deck crew of 10 to 12. On deck this morning, Star Flyer's normal conditions for the comfort of passengers, as even an 8° li st begins to diverse crew make quick work of it. The shift dinnerware in thedining room. Anti- first mate, a veteran of the Maine windrolling water tanks deep in the hull were jammer fleet, gives orders with di stinct the answer. Tapered steel masts, in con- downeast economy. Also stepping abou t trast to and much stronger than the heavy the foredeck, the ship's Russian boatsectional masts used by McKay, were swain, formerly of the Kru zenshtern , now feasible . Modern-day sails of dacron gestures an imatedly to a Lloyds inspecweigh a fraction of the heavy flax woven tor on his an nual visit. Minutes later, our canvas of yesteryear. Computer-aided German captain, Klaus Muller, who can design was essential. But still , " when it sometimes be found on the bridge of the came down to it," says Krafft, " the old Alexander von Humboldt, arrives to take texts, such as Midenhof's 1899 The Rig- our ship into port. Within the hour, we are docked and ging of Sailing Ships, produced by German Lloyds , proved authoritative." the gangway is down on the pier running Construction began in 1990 at the out from Cabritts National Park. PasLangebrugge Yard in Ghent, Belgium. sengers are assembling on the starboard Tn May 1991, the 360-ft Star Flyer side for excursions to the island's rainemerged, with a main mast soaring 226- forest-covered peaks and deep valleys, feet in the air. A year later her identical and on the port side for a dive excursion twin , Star Clipper, followed. Today they to a nearby wreck-another day in a offer cruising in yacht- like comfort for tropical paradise. But being here is only up to 170 passengers to destinations in part of the story. When cruising on Star the Mediterranean , Caribbean and along Flyer under cerulean skies and lofty the Coast of Thailand. white clouds of sail, it's a passage made Built to sai l, Star Flyer is no slouch. through both the present and the past. She recorded 14.8 knots westbound off K EVIN HA YOON the Azores in 1991. Her sister ship, Star Clipper, reportedl y showed her co lors For information onStarClippercruises, off the coast of Corsica in 1992. In a contact Star Clippers, Coral Gables, strong wind off the stern, ideal for Florida; 1-800-442-0553. SEA HISTORY 76, WINTER 1995-96