The Times
I’m gazing up at the three tallest masts I’ve ever seen, a mind-blowing 328ft each, from the top to the waterline. If that’s not impressive enough, there are 48,500 sq ft of sails attached to the masts – and they are solid, made from carbon fibre and fibreglass rather than sailcloth.
These are just some of the superlatives of the new Orient Express Corinthian, 721ft long and the largest sailing yacht in the world. On it, 110 lotus-eating guests will be attended by 170 crew.
Corinthian is the latest offering from the French-owned Accor Group, which acquired the Orient Express name in 202, formed a partnership with the luxury goods giant LVMH and embarked on a spending spree on opulent hotels in Rome and Venice and the La Dolce Vita Orient Express train. The yacht, inspired by the golden age of trains and grand ocean liners, is a logical progression.
Luxury hotels turned cruise companies
Rival high-end hotel brands such as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Aman are also entering the ultra-luxury cruise business – but Corinthian stands out, not only for its showy looks but for its efforts to improve sustainability: SolidSail technology means the yacht can be propelled by the wind for 80 per cent of its journey, and its engines (powered by liquefied natural gas) are « hydrogen ready » for when the next level of green fuel becomes available.
There’s little about Corinthian that says « cruise ship » – heaven forbid. « The first impression if people coming on the yacht is to forget they are on a boat and think they are in a hotel, » says Maxime d’Angeac, an architect and the artistic director of Orient Express. « We’ve used a lot of materials that we had to get certified for use on a ship: big pieces of marble and glass, a lot of varnished wood, carpets, sertain fabrics. »