Brodosplit floats out Flying Clipper at its yard in Croatia

Newbuild is a five-masted, square-rigged barque and will join Star Clippers later this year
Brodosplit floats out Flying Clipper at its yard in Croatia
Flying Clipper touches the water for the first time (Image: Brodosplit)

By Rebecca Gibson |


Brodosplit launched Star Clippers’ fourth tall ship, Flying Clipper, at its yard in Split, Croatia on 10 June 2017.

Several representatives attended the ceremony, including Ann Krafft – wife of Star Clippers’ owner Mikael Krafft – who broke a bottle of champagne over Flying Clipper’s bow and launched her into the sea.

Modelled on the largest square-rigger ever built (France II), the 162-metre-long Flying Clipper is a five-masted, square-rigged barque and will largely be powered by more than 6,350 square metres of sails. The ship is intended for sailing, but it also has two fully independent electric propulsion engines and a Safe Return to Port system to increase onboard safety. Pitch propellers, a bow thruster and two rudders will enable it to be manoeuvred easily.

The five-deck-high Flying Clipper will have 74 cabins for 150 crew members, as well as 150 luxury cabins for up to 300 passengers, including 34 suites with balconies and four owner’s staterooms. Each cabin will offersa TV, music and entertainment facilities and a telephone. The whole ship has wi-fi.

Other onboard highlights will include an area for massage and beauty treatments; a library; a function room; large salons, a piano bar; a glass Dive bar; a sports bar; an alfresco Tropical Bar, which offers evening entertainment; and three pools, including one that funnels sunlight through the ship’s atrium into the dining room. There will also be a watersports platform at the ship’s stern, which will be able to be lowered when she is at anchor to give guests direct access to the sea.

In addition, Flying Clipper will be equipped with eight rafts, four sports boats, two smaller boats and four lifeboats that will also be used as tender boats for transporting passengers to smaller ports or beaches.

When she launches in the second half of 2017, the 8,770gt Flying Clipper will replace her 227-passenger sister ship Royal Clipper as the largest vessel of her kind in the world. She will also join the 170-passenger Star Flyer and Star Clipper.

Flying Clipper will spend her first summer in the Mediterranean and relocate to the Caribbean for winter. She will also be able to sail in the Arctic and Antarctic.

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