''Swan fan Makkum'' is a

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Old ...

, built in 1993 in the Gdansk shipyard,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. Named for Willem Sligting, Makkum, christened by Hinke de Vries, co-owner and wife, in a multilingual fashion: English, Polish and Frysian and after the ceremony launched in the river

Wisła Wisła (; german: Weichsel; cs, Visla) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in th ...

. She is the largest brigantine in the world, as well as the largest two masted sailing vessel, with an overall length of . She carries a maximum of of sail, and with an air draft of is one of the tallest of the

tall ship A tall ship is a large, traditionally- rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or fe ...

s. She currently operates as a charter vessel in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. She has crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

18 times and has passaged in 2007 over since she was built. She has made regular appearances at major sailing events around the world and competes in at least part of the

Tall Ships Race The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and c ...

series every year. The ship was during building full equipend with GMDSS radio equipment for sea-area A3 and 2 main gensets from 40 kW each and an auxiliary genset in the foxhole ''Swan fan Makkum'' was sold February 6, 2006 to Italy and renamed

Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. She will continue to appear as a competitor in the Tall Ships Race, her first appearance as Nave Italia was in the 2007 Mediterranean series. She is now jointly operated by the Italian Navy and the

Yacht Club Italiano The Yacht Club Italiano is a yacht club in Genoa, Italy. History It was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest sailing clubs in the Mediterranean. This club was bestowed Royal Patronage by HRH King Umberto I of Italy since its inception. This ...

. After the sale of ''Swan fan Makkum'', Willem Sligting and Hinke de Vries built a new tall ship: '' Wylde Swan''.

External links

* * {{commons category, IMO 8872825 Brigantines Tall ships of the Netherlands