A new Rainbow Warrior

So... I am not a big fan of Greenpeace. I mean, I agree with some of their policies, but not a lot of their others. More than that, I supported Sea Shepherds in terms of what they are actually doing - they took on something which is blatantly wrong (hunting and butchering a highly intelligent and endangered species), and were proactive about it.

All that said... the new Rainbow Warrior is actually a pretty cool ship


Custom build for Greenpeace, it is a mix of a sailboat and a ocean going cruiser.



As a sailboat(ish) it has a small keel under that hull...


Perhaps the oddest part are those A-frame masts. Basically, it allows them to be light, strong, and cut down on rigging.


Its 13,520-square-foot sails take it to speeds of 14 knots, or 16 miles an hour--pretty fast for a 190-foot yacht. Greenpeace estimates that the sails will power the ship around 90 percent of the time at sea.

It also has a lot in terms of efficiency (re-using waste heat, recycling water etc) which make a lot of sense when you are building a world cruiser.

Yes, it is a Greenpeace boat, but the reason I like it so much is because I am really taken with the design. I have always liked world-cruising tugs and heavily-built similar boats.. but I am a sailor at heart. This is a very interesting and innovative combination of the two, and while it isn't beautiful, it is exactly the kind of ship I would like to build to travel the world, and be a mobile home base for Norm Enterprises.


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