An elegant 5-masted clipper docked at Motril port on the 30th with 186 passengers on board.

The Royal Clipper, which is a steel-hulled five-masted fully rigged tall ship, has a a spread of 42 sails giving a total of 5,202 square metres of sail. Her original design was based on Preussen, a famous, German, 5-mast Flying P-Liner windjammer built in 1902

The ship was originally designed as a sailing, holiday cruiser for Polish coal miners but was later sold because of financial problems. She was then refurbished in July 2000 to operate as a luxury cruise ship.

The Royal Clipper is listed in the Guinness World Records as the largest square-rigged ship in service yet her sails can be handled with a crew of just twenty, using powered controls.

Of the 186 well-heeled passengers on board, 115 went on excursions to La Alhambra, La Alpujarra and the city of Granada, whilst the 70 remaining ones visited Motril, courtesy of a shuttle bus provided by Motrilport Granada.

Motril has seen other clippers belonging to the Star Clipper line, namely the Star Flyer and Star Clipper.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)