After a week aboard Star Clippers’ Royal Clipper in the Adriatic, it’s clear the brand’s sailing ethos remains intact. The 2000-built ship is largely unchanged from the last time I sailed her, in 2015, right down to the patterns on the carpeting and the too-shallow lip on the floor of the showers in stateroom bathrooms.
This consistency is both a positive and a negative. To be sure, fans of Star Clippers will love Royal Clipper, as they always have. The product is solid, the ship a well-oiled machine.
But with the appointment of Leo Chang as Star Clippers’ new CEO this month, there is also the exciting possibility of change. Change not just for its own sake, but in a way that respects the history of the brand, while at the same time moving Star Clippers into its next chapter.
Founded in 1989 by Mikael Krafft, Star Clippers has grown to encompass a three-ship fleet of small sailing vessels: the nearly identical Star Flyer and Star Clipper, and the larger Royal Clipper.
A fourth vessel, to have been named Flying Clipper, was lost during an acrimonious dispute with Croatian shipyard Brodosplit. That vessel, completed and sold to another buyer, sailed for a brief period as Golden Horizon before being laid up due to the collapse of its parent company.
Eric Krafft, son of Mikael, helmed the company until recently. The appointment of Chang as CEO comes at an auspicious time for Star Clippers. Chang, formerly chief business development officer at Lindblad Expeditions, is being welcomed as someone who can drive growth at the niche sailing line, while still respecting the heritage that the Krafft family has built into Star Clippers, in some cases with their own hands.
From my week on board Royal Clipper, it is clear that the line’s passengers love the way things are. But a large proportion – easily over half – are new to the line. And those guests will want staterooms with more than two European power outlets in them; internet that isn’t based on the increasingly dated “per gigabyte” data packages that require you to log in and out constantly; and other niceties that, in the past, just weren’t required of a cruise.
Though Royal Clipper is in great condition overall, there is always room for improvement with a 26-year-old vessel. Where Royal Clipper excels – and where we hope Chang won’t tinker with success – is in the line’s celebrations.
Sails are unfurled at every departure, wind or no wind, to the tune of Vangelis’s score to the film 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Evening parties take place after dinner, on deck, at the Tropical Bar. And the atmosphere on board, even with international guests (we had 19 nationalities on this voyage), remains convivial and joyful.
Could there be refurbishment programmes in store for Star Clippers’ fleet? Almost certainly. Could the line order a newbuild down the road, or even try to reclaim the lost Flying Clipper after all these years? That ship continues to languish, laid up in Split, Croatia, not far from where she was built at Brodosplit.
Eric Krafft has confidence in Chang’s ability to move Star Clippers into the future, and will remain a part of the company as owner and executive chairman. For anyone who loves this brand, that development alone is a positive step forward.
