i'dratherbesailing
Posts
The Black Pearl & Real Life Pirates

The Black Pearl & Real Life Pirates

No Mast, No Motor, No Problem

Ahoy! Welcome to I’dRatherBeSailing, the newsletter with all The Good, The Bad, and The Luffing from around the sailing world every week.

In today’s roundup:

The Black Pearl: Bickering Billionaires.
Project Pirates: No mast, no motor, no problem.
Race Updates: OGR Rescue, Indigenous trophies, Monaco Classic Week.
Sailing Snippets: Tall Ship Expedition, Upwind Physics, Explosive Anchorage, Dream Yacht Steal.

The Black Pearl

Bickering Billionaires Black Boats

The Black Pearl. The world’s second largest sailing yacht, named after Jack Sparrow’s boat, and commissioned by a Russian billionaire so secretive that no one knew he owned it until he was (supposedly) murdered. Well, it was the second biggest, until Jeff Bezos got jealous and built an even bigger copycat boat with the same black hull and white masts. This is the story of the real Black Pearl.

As far as plots go, this one seems straight out of a Bond novel. The owner of Black Pear was Russian Oligarch Oleg Bourlakov, aka The Cement King. (A great hero or villain name, to be sure). The Cement King was one of the richest and most secretive Oligarchs, so much so that he wasn’t confirmed as the owner of Black Pearl until after his death when court documents leaked. Officially, he died of Covid. Unofficially, no one believes that, since his demise was suspicious, and Oligarchs have a nasty propensity for mysterious ends.

Bourlakov wanted Black Pearl built to be revolutionary in both design and sustainability, and Oceanco was one of the singular builders capable of creating a yacht with these specs at this scale. Her three masts have a sail area of 2,900 square meters (31,215 sq ft), the hull is a 350’ steel and aluminum superstructure, with a cruising speed of 12 knots, and a max speed of 30 knots. She is the first privately owned vessel of her size to use a DynaRig sail system, and is powered by hybrid diesel-electric engines, with hydro generation while under sail, capable of crossing the Atlantic without a drop of fuel. The interior has never been shown to the public.

Sadly, Black Pearl hasn’t sailed in years, currently sitting in Montenegro, mired in court fights over The Cement King’s estate. His brother-in-law and sister are on one side, with his estranged wife and his daughter on the other. The wife team has a hand written will that they claim supersedes a later, formal will. In the end, the fate of a secretive $200 Million sailboat all comes down to a piece of paper. The final resolution is yet to shake out.

So our story has a who-was-it, a who-dun-it, and a who-gets-it.

And if you find yourself cruising in Montenegro and pass by Black Pearl, you can tell your crew “hey that’s the murdered Cement King’s secret interior eco-friendly sailboat his family is fighting over.”

For those curious to learn more about Black Pearl, check out the Oceanco official builders page here.

Editor’s Note: I would like to announce that I am the unconfirmed owner of a small $10 Million Sailboat. If anyone sees it, please let me know. Thanks.

Race Updates

Ocean Globe Race: Stéphane Raguenes was successfully air lifted approximately 225 miles off the coast of Madeira, after slipping on the deck and suffering a major laceration to his leg. He was crewing on Triana, which is currently first place in the Adventure Class, and seventh place over all.

Of Interest: The trophies for the Melges 24 North Americans 2023 race were created by local Indigenous artist Corinne Hunt from her collection Namwayut - We Are One. The collection features a variety of art pieces, including bowls and other decorative items, designed by Corrine Hunt, showcasing her distinctive style that combines traditional Indigenous art forms with contemporary aesthetics. You can check out the official race and trophy photos here.

Monaco Classic Week: 1912 sailing yacht The Lady Anne captures overall win. She has had couple notable refits, including in WWII, where she served as vital ammunition transport. More is here.

Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of something

Lazy Pirates

No mast, no motor, no problem. Dean and Marisa Bales awoke this week to find that their project boat had miraculously left its mooring, traveled 5 miles through waterways, under a bridge, and out to the open ocean, ending the journey stranded on its side on Vilano Beach. This all happened without the use of a working motor or mast.

Investigators and the Bales think it was the handy work of some local pirates. The key piece of evidence being a backpack and an empty liquor bottle that were left behind in the boat. (Pirates are notorious for leaving empty liquor bottles in boats).

Police noted that it is not uncommon for thieves to steal apparently derelict boats, and tow them off. Luckily, the Bales were able to retrieve their boat without any further damage. “We definitely think that someone pirated our project sailboat” Said Marisa. “Piracy is real. Piracy is very real.”

Sailing Snippets

Roaring Forties: For anyone that’s ever wanted to cross an ocean on a tall ship, check out this sailing expedition called Bark Europa. They have a spots left on their trip from Cape Town to Montevideo, if you can spare a quick 45 days off leaving in a couple days. Check out the barkeuropa site for some quality daydreaming. For those that can’t take the time off to earn a quick Swallow and explore life below the 40’s, you can watch videos of the journey here.

Upwind Physics: A physics professor proved that it is possible to ‘sail’ a windmill operated sailboat directly into a headwinds. Are there potential marine cargo applications in the future, for upwind trade routes? Read the article from Maritime Executive here.

Explosive Anchorage: A Dutch couple cruising in Pula, Croatia had to hire a diver to find out what their anchor had gotten stuck on. Turns out, it was an unexploded Allied ordinance from WWII. Whoever said shoulder season wasn’t an exciting time to cruise?

Dream Yacht Steal: Speaking of shoulder season, Dream Yacht Charter announced on Wednesday that they are offering flat rate packages on all boats for the Med late summer season. The rates are surprisingly good, check them out here. Not a sponsored post, we just always have our eyes out for the best sailing deals.

That’s it for today, we’ll Ketch you next week! Stay safe out there you salty dogs.