DynaRig

Maltese Falcon masts

The DynaRig is a conceptualization of a square rigged form of rigging, designed in the 1960s by the German engineer Wilhelm Prölls. While having the appearance of the rigging of a nineteenth century clipper ship, the DynaRig has important differences in terms of hardware and aerodynamics. It was not actually implemented on a sailing vessel until several decades after its design because of a lack of adequate construction materials. It is now used on a few sailing vessels, including the worlds largest sailing yacht the Maltese Falcon.^[1] When the original patent rights and residual technology were purchased from the German government by an American investor in 2001, it was renamed the Falcon rig.

The DynaRig, along with the DynaSchiff, is a trademarked name.^[2] The original concept by Prölls was for a combined rig and hull with extremely high efficiency of operation and the use of wind power to propel a large vessel across an open body of water. The modern controller for the entire ship's rig consists of a single panel operated by a single person.^[3] The masts are freestanding with the yards attached rigidly to the masts. To adjust the angle of the sails, the entire mast rotates in place. Also, when fully deployed the sails have no gaps at all between them, creating a single panel to capture the wind. It is estimated to have twice the efficiency of a traditional square rig.^[4]

References