Recently, I had a chance to travel to Portland with one of my kids on a school field trip. They were invited to visit the Greenpeace sailing vessel Rainbow Warrior III, and to get some education on environmental protection/awareness, along with learning some interesting tactics for what they call "direct action".
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| One of two launchable watercraft on the Rainbow Warrior III |
She has a hull speed of about 15 knots, which is pretty fast for a sea going vessel.
Being one of the few sailing vessels with a helicopter pad and the ability to launch two smaller watercraft under heavy seas, she is an impressive vessel to say the least. You can read more about her here.
While talking with the captain of the ship, I learned they can sail in about sixty knots of wind before they have to strike all the sails. Above sixty knots of wind, they can continue to sail using just the rigging for wind resistance.
The Rainbow Warrior III, is built with unique double A-frame masts. It's these masts that allowed the Rainbow Warrior III to be designed with a helicopter landing pad.
The beams of the mast that connect to the deck are huge, as you can tell by the picture above. They no doubt help contribute to the ships massive weight along with allowing more sail area than a ship of the same size, designed with a traditional mast system can support.
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| The ships bridge. |
Below is a video that does a great job of showing off the ship and some of the areas below deck that we didn't get access to.
Would have been nice to set sail on her, but I guess that will have to wait until next time.
~J~
