It’s very rare to see quite such a large vessel, the world’s largest aluminium sailing yacht in this case, truly in its element: sailing full bore in an idyllic location. To us sailing fans, it’s the equivalent of a birdwatcher photographing an exceptional species of finch, kingfisher or indeed eagle. With regards to Sea Eagle II, however, these images really do make you re-evaluate your impressions of scale.
We’ve talked in detail about this superyacht before, when it was just a vision, a project in build. But these pictures, showing it in full flight, help bring a long list of impressive technical statistics to life. While there are many big yachts, there are very few sailing yachts as large as this – officially eight, but of those considered proper sail-powered rather than sail-assisted yachts, arguably only three. And certainly very few we’ve seen that can sail like this: seemingly with relative ease, control, power and grace.
The extensive photoshoot in French Polynesia shows really shifting under its own easily furled canvas. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Dykstra Naval Architects. Look at the spray flying off the towering stemhead – this is no sailing motoryacht. From
