Gottifredi Maffioli is glad to announce its partnership with The Pirates of the Caribbean team and The Black Pearl, official entry in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005/2006. The Italian rope manufacturer will supply all the running rigging of The Black Pearl, the boat inspired by the blockbuster Walt Disney Pictures’/Jerry Bruckheimer Film, “Pirates of The […]

Skipper Paul Cayard and his crew have adopted a Z ZEGNA total look on shore when dressing up for formal occasions. Their look will be both urban and sexy like the styling of this fashion brand, the latest collection by the famous Maison Ermenegildo Zegna. A personal friend of the family who has always greatly […]

Another long day and I am writing this at 0530 on the 5th. We are now about 80 miles north of Sanxenxo. We did a lot of sail testing and polar definition work today. This is tedious work, sailing for 10 minutes at a given angle and recording the performance of the boat with a […]

We are off again, heading down the English Channel at 20 knots. Seems like these boat like to go 20. They get there fairly effortlessly. Going 20 on a reach means getting soaked through do there we were, one hour out of town and getting the full firehose, getting us nice and damp for the […]

We are in Breskens, Holland home of Hall Spars Europe. Fast last 24 hours 450 miles. We learned a bunch more, got the boat here safely and will get our new mast in the boat tomorrow. Things are progressing well. The more we learn the more we realize we have a lot to more learn. […]

Today was not a record breaking day. We did only 200 miles in our first 24 hours. Winds generally under 10 knots and mostly right on the nose. Not optimal but pleasant sailing in the Bay of Biscay. Clear skies, high pressure, no rain, but a big swell so there is some serious breeze somewhere […]

Maja Elien, the wife of Freddy Loof, gave birth to a baby boy Monday night in Oslo. They have yet to name the third, and youngest, baby Pirate in the Black Pearl family. Freddy made the quick dash to the airport from Sanxenxo as soon as we docked. Good thing we were on a Volvo […]

Daily Report, Pirates Of The Caribbean, September 17, 2005 Today will be our last full day at sea. 2000 miles under the keel in a hurry. Chewed up at an alarming rate. This is not like any sailboat I have been on before. We had a huge day for sail developement today. We got ourselves […]

The weather routing we did yesterday worked out perfectly. It was like taking the chairlift up to the top of the hill for the big burn down. We rode some nice southwesterlies up to the north west side of Ireland yesterday and this morning. The wind slowly turned from south to west over 4 hours […]

The Black Pearl is off. Following a very busy day…loading provisions for 2000 miles, a press conference, and a christening, we are now out in the middle of the English Channel on the way to the northwest corner of France. The Christening went well with Lady Gabriela Winsor doing the honors and much to everyones […]

No wind this weekend so we kept working on the list. Plenty to do. These boats are complex and there are a lot of systems that need sorting out. Everyone has been pulling long hours trying to make up for our late start with the project. Monday we will have the christening of the Black […]

We had a huge day yesterday and a good one today. Yesterday, Monday September 5th, we executed the “roll over” test as required by the VOR 70 class rule. Each boat must demonstrate that it is capable of righting itself from a fully inverted positon. So we used a crane to roll the boat over […]

The pirate boat of the Volvo Ocean Race now has a skipper with a swashbuckling image to match. Paul Cayard, one of America’s most decorated sailors, has agreed to lead The Black Pearl, the Walt Disney Co.-backed syndicate, in the 32,700-mile race around the globe that will begin in November. The announcement is scheduled for […]