Golden Horizon

The 2019-built Golden Horizon cruise ship (fka "Flying Clipper") was originally planned to be chartered to Star Clippers as the company's newest (fleet's 4th) sailing vessel. The megayacht (square-rigger / 5-Masted Schooner) is also the world's ever largest clipper (tall-sailing ship).

The vessel (IMO number 9793545) is currently Croatia-flagged (MMSI 238129940).

On June 5, 2020, the shipowner (DIV Group Ltd/Croatia) announced that the sailship will be chartered to Tradewind Voyages UK Ltd instead of Star Clippers Ltd. The boat charterer Tradewind Voyages manages the vessel and most onboard and ashore operations (hotel, wellness, shopping, entertainment, water sports, tours/shore excursions). For the ship's Deck-, Hotel- and Engine operations was contracted the DIV Group's subsidiary company BSM (Brodosplit Ship Management).

The vessel was renamed to "Golden Horizon", rebranded and scheduled to start cruises for Tradewind in May 2021. Tradewind Voyages plans to charter more newbuilt sailships and expand operations over the coming years. The company's CEO is Alan McGrory.

DIV Group Ltd is a 1990-founded Croatian industrial group, also Brodosplit Shipyard's owner. The corporation DIV Group operates in 30 countries, fully owns 55 subsidiary companies and specializes in shipbuilding, steel structure manufacturing, marine engine manufacturing, railway infrastructure, among others.

Flying Clipper was intended as Star Clippers' biggest ship, and also the company's first newbuild (since the 2000-built Royal Clipper). The shipbuilder is Brodosplit Shipyard (Split Croatia). The vessel was launched on June 10, 2017, and scheduled for delivery in 2017-Q4 but was rescheduled for 2018-Q1 and finally for 2019-H2.

The ship was designed by Zygmunt Choren (Polish naval architect) and modelled on France II - the 1912-built sailing vessel which was the world's biggest at its time. Previously, Star Clippers modelled Royal Clipper (capacity 227 passengers) on Preussen (German, steel-hulled 5-masted ship, 1902-built). Flying Clipper's rig is the same as that of the cargo ship France II, which sank in 1922.

The world's largest tall sailing ship Golden Horizon has max passenger capacity 330 (plus 140 crew-staff), GT-tonnage 8770 tons, and is powered by 68320 ft2 (6347 m2) of sails (42, all square-rigged). Alternative power is provided by new-design, fuel-efficient diesel engines.

If you're interested in maritime technologies and the vessel details, see the ship's Wiki section.

Decks and Cabins

Flying Clipper/Golden Horizon staterooms are 140, in 3 types (Suite, Balcony, Porthole) and 14 categories. All cabins on Deck 3 (Main Deck) have a step-out balcony. The four Owner Suites are all located forward on Deck 4 (Upper Deck/Pool Deck).

All cabins are outside, with smart HDTVs (satellite reception), en-suite bathrooms (WC-toilet, shower, washbasin), plenty of luggage storage space. Complimentary bottled water (replenished daily) and twice-daily housekeeping service are also provided. Balcony cabins have a shower over the bathtub. Suites are with separate shower-bathtub. Cabin decors reflect clipper ships' Golden Age - marked by polished wood furniture and prints on the walls of the world's most famous sail ships.

The boat has 4 decks, all of which have cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

The ship has one restaurant (main dining room) spanning 2 decks and with the open-seating arrangement, large windows, wood-panelling. The Restaurant's entrance is from the Lobby level of the 3-deck high Atrium. Meals include buffet-style breakfast and lunch. Dinner is waiter-served, with a choice of gourmet dishes and vegan-vegetarian options. BBQ parties are held in Horizon Bar (on sun deck) and also ashore. Tea, coffee and fresh fruits are complimentary and always available.

Ship's focal point is the alfresco Horizon Bar (fka Tropical Bar / Star Clippers' hallmark) hosting port talks, live musical entertainment, shows, exercise classes, outdoor dining (BBQ, light lunch food, afternoon snacks). Inside, there is an elegant Piano Bar for those who prefer casual buffet lunch, calm music and air-conditioning. The ship also offers a Dive Bar by the swimming pool on the aft deck.

The company provides complimentary 24-hour room service.

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

The sailing cruise ship Golden Horizon has two plunge pools. One of the swimming pools is glass-bottomed, funnelling sunlight through into the Atrium below. A third pool (scuba diving pool) is located aft (close to the stern), descending 18 ft (5,5 m) through 2 decks. This pool is glass-walled, allowing guests to watch the divers. Diving classes are offered onboard as the ship carries its own professionally-trained Dive Master.

The aft-located water sports platform (marina at the ship's stern) is lowered when Flying Clipper is at anchor. Complimentary water sport activities include snorkelling, dinghy sailing, waterskiing, sea kayaking. When the ship is at open sea, a signature onboard fun activity is the supervised mast-climbing. Passengers are also allowed to lounge in the 2 nets strung on either side of the bowsprit.

This sail cruise ship also has a small SPA (Sauna Room, Snow Room, Jacuzzi, Treatment Room for Thai massages), Beauty Salon (facials, manicure/pedicure, hairstyling, blow-dries), Library, Function Room (meeting room for guest lectures and private events). Tradewind Voyages has no kids programming. Babysitting and childcare are also not available onboard. However, kid-friendly activities are occasionally organized on select itineraries during the summer holidays.

The company provides complimentary live entertainment - a resident pianist (at Piano Bar) and local performers (boarding the ship in call ports). Debeljak's Bar Lounge is the venue for after-dinner cocktails and premium brand gin and whisky offerings.

Passengers are encouraged by the crew to participate in the ship's navigation and even setting the sails. Other popular onboard activities include wine tastings, cooking demos, sundeck-hosted games. From the aft Marina are launched complimentary water sports. Also complimentary are the Fitness classes held on Sun Deck.

Tradewind Voyages 2021-2022 (inaugural cruise itinerary program)

For summer 2020, Star Clippers planned for Flying Clipper cruises in Europe (Mediterranean). Following a Transatlantic repositioning crossing, during winter 2020-2021, the sailship was planned to operate cruises in the Caribbean.

Golden Horizon ship's Inaugural Cruise in 2021 was initially scheduled for May 1st, but later rescheduled for July 1st (both leaving from Harwich). Tradewind Voyages' Northern Europe 2021 itinerary program includes ports and destinations in the UK, Iceland, Norway (Svalbard Islands, Norwegian Fjords), Baltic ports (also St Petersburg Russia).

The Baltic itineraries have durations 7-14-21-days and are all roundtrips from the UK. Select voyages are 10- and 11-days in length. The ex-UK program (May through September 2021) has a total of 9 itineraries, including 7 from Harwich (England) and 2 from Greenock-Glasgow (Scotland).

Other destinations to be served by Tradewind Voyages with SV Golden Horizon (SV=sailing vessel) include Asia, South Pacific, Australia-New Zealand, Arctic.

Next table shows Golden Horizon's schedule for 2021-2022, which was eventually canceled.

Bookings were opened in September 2020. However, in early-March 2021, Tradewind Voyages announced in a press release that the brand's inauguration (and Golden Horizon's Inaugural Cruise) is rescheduled for July 1st ("Eastern Coastal Contrasts" itinerary roundtrip from Harwich). The next itineraries were "Scotland East to West" (July 6, from Leith-Edinburgh), "West Coast Gems of Scotland" (Jul 15, from Greenock-Glasgow), "Maritime Cities of the Northwest" (July 21, from Greenock-Glasgow) and "Rounding the South West" (July 25, from Liverpool). Tradewind's cruise program from August 4 onwards remained unchanged.

The "Maritime Silk Route" itineraries were replaced by "All Inclusive Dubai" (Arabian Gulf) and "Indonesian Islands Collection" series (including "A passage to Singapore" /14-day repositioning cruise from Dubai to Singapore). All affected bookings received 100% cash refund or 110% refund in FCC (future cruise credit).

(deployment/itinerary changes) In August 2021, Tradewind Voyages announced Golden Horizon's Caribbean 2021-2022 winter season, replacing the previously planned Australian deployment. The changes were due to Australia's ongoing Coronavirus-related international travel uncertainties. The Australian season was replaced with homeporting in Bridgetown Barbados (November 11, 2021, through March 31, 2022) and visiting the islands St Barts, St Vincent, Mayreau/Grenadines, Grenada, Tobago, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts. The Caribbean season had to end with a 15-day Transatlantic repositioning crossing from Barbados to Lisbon. However, in October 2021 this program was also canceled. For more information see at the ship's Wiki page.

Tradewind Voyages 2022-2023 itineraries

Tradewind Voyages 2022-2023 itinerary program (announced in June 2021) was divided into 4 collections that included a total of 23 different itineraries. Prices per person (per itinerary group) started at:

• GBP 1100 ("Antipodean Summer - Crossing the Tasman Sea"), GBP 1800 ("South Pacific Collection - Pearls of French Polynesia", GBP 2100 ("West Coast Americas - Colours of the Mexican Coast") and GBP 3200 ("North Pacific - Contrasts of Japan".
• The program's signature destinations included Southeast Asia, Japan (May-June 2022), Alaska (and the Aleutian Islands), Arctic Russia, Canada USA, Central and South America (August-October 2022/El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile), Pacific Ocean Islands (Easter Island, Pitcairn Islands, French Polynesia, Tonga, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands), Australia New Zealand (2023).

Golden Horizon's Maiden Voyage was eventually rescheduled for May 1, 2022, leaving out of Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Spain). The inaugural season (in the Mediterranean) included a total of 23x itineraries visiting ports in the Western Med (Spain, France, Italy), Adriatic Sea (Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia) and the Eastern Med/Aegean Sea (Greece, Turkey). The Meditteranean 2021 program included homeporting in Palma (May), Civitavecchia-Rome Italy (May thru July), Split Croatia (July-August), and Piraeus-Athens Greece (August thru October). The season ends with a 14-night Transatlantic crossing (themed "Canaries to the Caribbean Voyage") followed by the Caribbean season (winter 2022-2023) with homeporting in Barbados (Bridgetown). 

The cruise ship Golden Horizon (fka Flying Clipper) is a close replica of "France II" - French sailing ship built in 1913 by Chantiers et Ateliers de la Gironde shipyard (Bordeaux). The sailing cargo ship was ordered in 1911 by the company Societe Anonyme des Navires Mixtes and served the shipping route connecting Rouen France with Australia, New Caledonia (Noumea, Grande Terre island) and the USA.

The ship ran aground in July 1922 (on Teremba Reef / Urai Bay, approx 110 km northwest of Noumea) while en-route to Europe and loaded with chrome ore. As the shipowner refused to pay for towage, the wreckage remained at Ouano Reef until 1944, when was destroyed by US aircraft bombing it for target practice.

The original France II ship had a total of 38 sails (including 20 square, 12 staysails, 4 fore, 2 spankers), total sail area 68350 ft2 (6350 m2), 4 lifeboats, cargo capacity 7420 tons, crew capacity 50, max speed 20 mph (32 kph).

Flying Clipper (Golden Horizon) is larger than France II, but its sails and rigging are exact copies. The cruise ship has a steel hull (with teak decking) and is ice-strengthened. This 5-masted square-rigger has 36 sails (total sail area 68320 ft2 / 6347 m2) and its largest mast has height 63 m (207 ft) and weight 24 tons. Hull's ice-class allows the vessel to navigate in all oceans, including Arctic and Antarctica. Its max speed is 23 mph (37 kph) under sails or 18 mph (30 kph) under diesel engine power (two engines, diesel-electric propulsion, fuel tanks capacity 800 tons, fuel consumption 2 tons MDO-diesel per hour), total energy consumption 4200 kWh. Under sail power (with both engines off), the ship can navigate for ~400 hours (16,5 days) or ~11100 km (6900 mi). The propulsion is based on 2x independent electric motors - larger (2500 kWh) and smaller (1700 kWh).

The ship's cargo capacity is 2000 tons. The powerplant-generated electricity allows ~400 hours of cruising without refueling. There are 6x lifeboats (doubling as tender boats for landings), 8x liferafts, 4x speed boats, 2x small boats.

In June 2015, KfW IPEX Bank GmbH (the largest subsidiary of KfW / German government-owned bank) provided a syndicated loan to finance the ship's construction. In June was also signed the corresponding agreement with the shipowner DIV Group Ltd (1990-founded). The bank provided a tranche (a portion of the money) covered by export credit guarantee from the Croatian export credit agency HBOR.

In late-January 2017, Mikael Krafft (Star Clippers' CEO) officially confirmed that due to delay in construction (caused by the shipyard's financial problems), the boat's initially planned inauguration (August 2017) was pushed back to 2018, and subsequently to 2019 and 2021 (May).

On June 10, 2017, was the vessel's launch at Brodosplit Shipyard (Split Croatia). It was registered / hull designation as "Brodosplit 483".

Flying Clipper/Golden Horizon is the world's first sail ship built to comply with IMO's SRtP (Safe Return to Port) requirement introduced by SOLAS in 2009. The SRtP was prompted by the ever-increasing size/capacity of passenger ships as the bigger the vessel is the longer evacuation lasts. The SRtP defines how long the ship should remain safe for evacuation or to be able to safely return to port without evacuating its passengers.

In early-December 2020, the shipowner (DIV Group Ltd) announced that its subsidiary BSM (Brodosplit Ship Management) will provide the vessel's Deck-, Engine- and Hotel management services. As of 2021, BSM also manages the DIV Group-owned cruise ships Klara (IMO 9781827, 2019-built), Katina (IMO 9712838, 2015-built) and Monet (IMO 7045803, 1970-built). DIV Group's President is Tomislav Debeljak.

When the ship was arrested in Dover UK (July 15, 2021/accident report) was announced that the vessel is registered to the offshore company XB Ahts Hero Shipping (Marshall Islands), with director Vedrana Debeljak (Tomislav Debeljak's sister).

Tradewind Voyages Caribbean 2021-2022 itineraries (canceled)

Next tables show the two itineraries planned (later canceled) for Golden Horizon's 2021-2022 Caribbean program. The season (Nov 11, 2021, thru April 7, 2022, based on homeporting in Bridgetown Barbados) was announced in August and canceled in October 2021.

(MAIDEN VOYAGE) 7-day "Undiscovered Caribbean" itinerary

7-day "Caribbean's Hidden Gems" itinerary

7-day "Icons of the Caribbean" itinerary

(eastbound Transatlantic crossing Caribbean-Europe) 15-day from Barbados to Lisbon (US$2000)

Prices started from USD 1800 (GBP 1300 / EUR 1550) per person with double occupancy.