The super yachts just keep coming to Mallorca and this weekend, the Black Pearl whose late owner was Russian billionaire Oleg Bularkov who passed away in 2021 from Covid-19, was off Puerto Portals.
Her sails are solar panels, she can cross the Atlantic on 20 litres of fuel and is reputed to be greenest yacht in the world.
Launched in 2016, she is 106.7 metres (350.1 ft) in length. She has three DynaRig masts supporting a sail area of 2,900 square meters (31,215 sq ft). The yacht was known during its build process originally as Oceanco Y712 and thereafter as “Project Solar”. The hull is steel, the superstructure aluminum, and the masts carbon fibre. The yacht is now said to be owned by the family of Burlakov.
As of 2018 when designed, it was expected that Black Pearl could cross the Atlantic using only 20 litres (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal) of fuel, aided by regenerative technologies. One key technology to support this is to use the speed of the vessel through the water under sail to generate electricity with a variable pitch propeller. The yacht also features heat capture technologies and large scale storage batteries to capture energy generated but not immediately used.
In the 21st century, the largest sailing yachts greatly increased in size. In the 1990s, even 40 m (131 ft) long was considered a large boat. Yachts like Athena and Mirabella V were a big increase, and followed by Maltese Falcon. In the 2010s, a host of similar and larger yachts came to fruition, including Sailing Yacht A, Aquijo, and Black Pearl.
While these vessels are large for sailing yachts, this size is more common among motor yachts. There are quite a number of large sailing vessels for other purposes, especially those for passenger cruises.
Inspired by the 88 m (289 ft) Maltese Falcon, the intention behind the project was to push the boundaries of the DynaRig system and demonstrate the potential for larger DynaRig-equipped vessels.
The creation of the yacht, then known as “Project Solar”, began on 7 July 2010 when Ken Freivokh was contracted to handle styling and design on the project. Given their involvement with Maltese Falcon, Freivokh introduced Dykstra Naval Architects to the project, and the team were able to advance the DynaRig system and to improve performance through changes both to mast shape and installation. The 96 m (315 ft) preliminary concept that resulted was codenamed “Nautilus”.
Freivokh then commissioned Devonport Yachts (Pendennis Shipyards) to undertake technical studies to complete the tendering package. The tendering process began in June 2011 and included seven shipyards worldwide. By November 2011, Freivokh had extended the design from 96 m to 100 m (328 ft) and a scale model was produced. Dutch builders Oceanco were selected from the tendering process to construct the yacht at their Rotterdam shipyard.
The design and details of the yacht developed continuously during the build process, with the owner having a direct input on many aspects of the final design. The final design had the yacht at 106.8 m, and the yacht, built under the name Y712, was then named Black Pearl. The overall yacht design was done by Ken Freivokh, Gerard Villate, Nigel Gee, and Nuvolari Lenard, with others. The yacht was constructed at Oceanco in Alblasserdam, and launched in September 2016. It was delivered in early 2018 to the customer, after it had undergone sea trials.
Oleg Leonidovich Burlako was a Russian oligarch, engineer and billionaire. He was also the co-owner of Stroylesbank, the main shareholder of the Burneftegaz company (85%), the former owner and chairman of the board of Novoroscement, the owner of the Terpentin paint and varnish factory in Višegrad and the Impulse Investment and Construction Company. In 2021, Burlakov was ranked 177th in the Russian Forbes list with a fortune of nearly 3 billion pounds. In the same year, he died from COVID-19.