The rumours are true! Star Clippers is building the world’s largest sailing ship. And she’s a whopper. Flying Clipper will be the biggest and the most ambitious of the Clipper fleet to date, carrying 300 guests, and powered by 35 sails on five masts. She’s a near-replica of the largest square-rig sailing ship ever, the France II, that was built in 1911 at La Gironde shipyard Bordeaux.

“My childhood dreams of building sailing vessels, accessible to everyone and with all the modern comfort and amenities of a private yacht finally came true,” said Swedish yachtsman and entrepreneur Mikael Krafft, CEO and president of Star Clippers.
The company that’s marking its silver anniversary in 2017 decided the best way to celebrate would be to give the fleet a brand new sailing ship, he added.
Construction of Flying Clipper at the Brodosplit shipyard in Split, Croatia is using techniques that died out a century ago, when steam ships ended the Age of Sails. Deck crew will hoist 68,000 square feet of sails using miles of ropes and hundreds of pulleys to get the ship under way. While the hull will be made of steel, the decks will be solid teak and the cabins will have a classic nautical look.