7 minute read
One of a kind
ON THE HORIZON
The Golden Horizon is the ultimate ship for yachties looking for a cruising experience. Jeannine Williamson takes a deep dive with the five-masted vessel.
A bird’s eye view of the Golden Horizon, the world’s largest square-rigged sailing vessel. Left: the Golden Horizon with the wind in her sails.
As I start to slowly submerge beneath the water, I try to remember my diving instructor’s instructions, most notably that I should imagine I am a baby orangutan kissing its mother. With my best primatestyle pursed lips locked around the mouthpiece, I sink down alongside Craig, the diving instructor, and slowly start to feel relaxed enough to look around.
Although I am kitted out in full diving gear, I can only make out a few murky shapes in the background, as opposed to a shoal of brightly coloured fish. In fact, in something of a marine role reversal, I am probably the one who is being observed through the glass walls of the cylindrical human aquarium that drops down through two decks of the Golden Horizon and is visible in the lecture room and shop.
However, any lack of underwater sea life and the fact I am probably entertaining other passengers with my rather wobbly descent is of little consequence as I break the surface once again and my orangutan pout turns into a wide grin. “You have dived and survived,” declares Craig, who is full of fun one-liners that put rookie divers like me at ease. As well as the trial diving sessions, passengers can go on to complete a PADI course in the pool and sea.
The 4.35-metre dive pool on Golden Horizon is one of the innovative features on a ship that’s already a one-of-a-kind vessel in its own right. The world’s largest tall ship is based on the France II, a five-masted vessel built in 1913 to both transport cargo and carry passengers in style.
Golden Horizon doesn’t carry cargo, and the 21st-century recreation also eschews the usual conventions of a cruise ship.
It’s the antithesis of vessels constructed to carry thousands of guests. Indeed, many of my fellow passengers are keen yachtsmen or romantics who say they would not go on a
conventional cruise. Going back to the start of our journey this summer, which was Golden Horizon’s inaugural sailing, it was a thrilling moment when the 35 milky sails started to unfurl against the backdrop of stirring music specially commissioned by Tradewind Voyages, the UK-based cruise line operating the ship.
I noticed some rather seasoned-looking sea dogs wipe away ‘sea spray’ from their eyes and knew I wasn’t the only one to feel a goosebumps moment as the rigging creaked, the warm breeze filled the sails and we slipped out of harbour for the first time.
Carrying fewer than 300 passengers, Golden Horizon was built at Croatia’s Brodosplit shipyard in a feat of 21st-century engineering that marries the golden age of sailing with the demands of contemporary seafarers.
Golden Horizon’s masts measure up to 63 metres in length, and the sails have a total surface area of just under 6,400 square metres. That’s roughly the size of a football pitch. Where possible, the ship sails under wind power, with a goal of 70 per cent of the time over a sailing season. And itineraries have been curated to follow the sun and make the optimum use of prevailing winds and ocean currents.
At the helm of this magnificent vessel is Polish-born master Mariusz Szalek, who caught the nautical bug when he first sailed a dinghy with a three-metre sail. “This has been my dream since I was a boy,” he says as I talk to him in the wheelhouse. Unlike most cruise
Left: A Deluxe Balcony Cabin hints at the long-lost days of clippership voyages. Below: The dramatic dining room. Bottom: The main pool on deck. Right, from top: The meticulously maintained main deck; taking the plunge in the 4.35-metre dive pool; unfurling the sails.
FACT FILE
CRUISE LINE: Tradewind Voyages VESSEL: Golden Horizon LAUNCHED: 2021 LENGTH: 162 m PASSENGER DECKS: 4 PASSENGER CAPACITY: 272 CREW: 159 FACILITIES: 40 cabins and suites with ensuite facilities; restaurant; bars; library; spa; sun deck; and three pools, including a dive pool. BOOKINGS: Golden Horizon sails the Caribbean for the northern hemisphere winter 2021/22 and the Mediterranean for the northern hemisphere summer 2022. Cruise-only Caribbean fares start from AUD$3,335 per person.
THE VERDICT
HIGHS: A unique vessel that fires the imagination with a thrilling seafaring experience from bygone days combined with facilities to suit the modern-day traveller. LOWS: The lack of lifts means the ship is not suitable for passengers with mobility issues. BEST FOR: Well-travelled types who aren’t looking for a mainstream cruise experience and want to sail on a vessel that is equally the centrepiece of the holiday as the destinations.
tradewindvoyages.com
ships, where officers and guests barely mix outside of the occasional cocktail soiree, Golden Horizon has an open bridge policy. Guests are welcome to drop by and chat, unless the ship is sailing in or out of port or crew members are engaged in navigational manoeuvres.
“Golden Horizon can reach a speed of 17 knots under sail and around 14 knots through engine power,” he tells me. “The definition of a sailing ship is one that can do more under sail than engines.”
Although the crew members do all the hard work, which includes swabbing the expansive wooden deck, you cannot help but feel involved as the sailors busy themselves around the neatly coiled ropes and winches that are intermixed with sun-loungers and swimming pools.
In fact, the whole Golden Horizon experience revolves around the ship itself, so don’t expect the type of glitzy entertainment you get on bigger cruise vessels, as here it’s all pretty low-key. There is a pianist who plays a white grand piano in the main lounge bar, a pop-music duo, quizzes and gentle pursuits including deck quoits and knot tying classes.
Inside the lecture room, there are films and talks on the destinations being visited and all manner of things to do with the sea and sailing.
By the end of my week I got to know the distinctions between a jib and a square sail, and how nautical speed was originally measured from a piece of rope with knots tied along its length at equal distances (hence the term knots). I also picked up some essential maritime knowledge, such as when the sun is over the yardarm to traditionally mark the time to have the first drink of the day – happily much earlier than I had originally thought! Other facilities include a gym and a spa, with heat rooms and a fun snow grotto to cool off afterwards. There’s also a marina platform, which is extended from the back of the ship when conditions allow, with all manner of toys including snorkels, paddleboards, kayaks and, for an extra buzz, sea scooters that pull you through the water. Back on the ship, the interior decor consists of swathes of gleaming wood, shiny brass and swashbuckling paintings. The centrepiece is a grand two-storey dining room reached by sweeping spiral staircases. The transparent overhead swimming pool is cleverly used to bathe the area in natural light, although you might want to think twice about taking a dip or sitting in the pool when there are diners below. The retro feel is continued in the cabins, where many of them have atmospheric portholes. Before leaving I chat once more to Captain Szalek and ask him if he has fulfilled all his ambitions, now that he’s at the helm of the Golden Horizon.
“It is my dream to sail her around Cape Horn,” he confides.
If that comes to be, I’m sure there will be many passengers who will want to join him on a ship that is so much more than a means of transport between destinations.
