Rear Admiral  Roberto Benavente  
President of A.I.C.H Chilean Section. 

The shipping company STAR CLIPPERS LTD. of Coral Gables, Florida, USA ordered the construction of a passenger ship similar to the PREUSSEN, the biggest sail vessel ever built.  It is called the "ROYAL CLIPPER", leisure sailing vessel which came into service by the year 2000, like its predecessors –  the small boats of four spars STAR CLIPPER and STAR FLYER – it will be loyal to the traditions of sailing navigation, offering the comfort and technology of our times.

This is the biggest modern sailing boat and the sixth among the five-masted sailboats built in the world.  Those who preceded it were: FRANCE I (1890-1901); MARIE RICKMERS (1891-1892); POTOSI (1895-1925); PREUSSEN (1902-1910); R.C. RICKMERS (1906-1917); FRANCE II (1911-1922) and KOBENHAVN (1921-1928/29).

To carry out this project, the owner of the fleet STAR CLIPPERS, Mr. Mikael Kraft chose the hull of a sailboat that was never finished.  It's about a hull built in Gdansk, Poland, from where it was hauled to the shipyards of Merwede, on the surroundings of Roterdam, to finish its construction in accordance with the naval architect Robert McFarlane, the same man who designed the small boats STAR CLIPPER and STAR FLYER.

The main characteristics of the ROYAL CLIPPER are:

A set of manual and mechanized windlass which permits the maneuvering of 26 square sails simultaneously.  These sails are activated by a hydraulic system that reels them inside the yards.

The ship is equipped with the most sophisticated and modern instruments and the necessary fire safety devices.

She has a 228 passenger capacity, and includes 16 suites super de lux, 2 cabins de lux, 90 outside cabins, and 6 inside cabins.

The ship cruise the Mediterranean from Cannes, and during the European winter she continues her voyages in the Caribbean Sea.

Valparaiso, July 2000