Star Clippers

Tall Ships for the Open Ocean

Star Clippers is a Swedish-founded cruise company operating three sailing ships: Star Clipper, Star Flyer, and Royal Clipper. The fleet was created by Swedish entrepreneur Mikael Krafft, whose original ambition was to build modern sailing vessels in the tradition of the great clipper ships of the 19th century – not as museum pieces, but as working sailing ships capable of carrying guests on scheduled voyages in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Far East.

The ships are tall. Royal Clipper is five-masted with 42 sails and 5,202 square metres of canvas, making her the largest fully-rigged sailing ship in active service. Star Clipper and Star Flyer carry four masts and 16 sails each. All three operate under genuine sail power whenever wind conditions allow, with the engines used for port entries and passages where the wind is insufficient.

The Fleet

Star Clipper and Star Flyer are sister ships, each carrying 170 guests across four masts. Their profile is that of a 19th-century clipper scaled for modern passenger use: teak decks, brass fittings, a bowsprit extending well forward of the hull, and rigging that guests are welcome to climb on safety lines. A net slung beneath the bowsprit is one of the most popular places on either ship, particularly when the bow lifts on an ocean swell.

Royal Clipper carries 227 guests and is a different proposition in scale: five masts, three pools (including one with a glass hull panel looking down into the ship’s piano bar below), a full spa, and a configuration that allows her to function as both a serious sailing ship and a vessel with the amenities of a small cruise ship. Her main dining saloon was inspired by the captain’s cabin of the original Preussen, the German five-masted barque she closely resembles.

On-Board Experience

The atmosphere on Star Clippers ships is casual and active. Guests are encouraged onto deck when the sails are handled – some join the crew at the lines, others simply watch from the rail as canvas is sheeted home. There are no formal evenings, no structured entertainment programmes, no enforced schedules. The ship moves, and guests move with it according to their own inclination.

Dining is at open seating across a single restaurant, with a buffet breakfast and informal lunch supplemented by a more formal three-course dinner. The bar is on deck, weather permitting; on Royal Clipper, the piano bar below the glass pool panel is a notable evening gathering point.

Destinations

Star Clipper and Star Flyer alternate between the Mediterranean in summer and the Caribbean in winter, covering Greek islands, the Adriatic, the Croatian coast, and the Windward and Leeward islands. Royal Clipper operates primarily the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, with occasional trans-ocean positioning voyages. Their shallow draft allows calls at small islands and anchorages where larger ships cannot follow.

Why We Recommend Star Clippers

The Star Clippers experience appeals to guests who find that the physical presence of a tall ship – its scale, its noise underway, the muscular fact of a 5,000-square-metre sail plan filling in a good breeze – is the holiday itself. This is active, informal, open-air sailing travel at 170 to 227 guests, without the programme management of a larger cruise ship and without the pretensions of the ultra-luxury fleet.