Not so long ago the idea of employing composite rigging on an 81-metre world girdling schooner would have earned you a medical referral. Today it’s the obvious choice, even for Royal Huisman’s biggest sailing vessel
Solid carbon rigging for an 81-metre three-masted Panamax schooner? No problem at all. When Royal Huisman built the world’s largest aluminium-hulled sailing yacht – the Dykstra-designed Sea Eagle II, delivered in July – the standing rigging was custom made by Carbo-Link.
Sea Eagle II is one of the 10 largest sailing yachts in the world and the largest vessel Huisman has ever built. The 90-metre Athena is a bit longer if you count her bowsprit, but in terms of gross tonnage – which for superyachts is the measurement that really counts – the 1,150GT Sea Eagle II is in a different league. Before the build could start, Huisman first had to extend its biggest shed. Read on.
