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San Francisco Bay - It's been an eventful Bay Area visit for the yacht Maltese Falcon.  First sailing under the gate in glorious sunshine, then testing the mega-yacht's new submersible, and now, getting T-boned by what looks like a Perry-designed Nordic 40 named Stand By.  At the point of collision, it looks in the photos like the Maltese Falcon is on a

San Francisco Bay - With the Maltese Falcon anchored in the distance, its owner Tom Perkins was across the bay looking at an entirely different vessel:  his new private submarine, which was about to be tested.  At the Docks outside the Bay Area design facility of Hawkes Ocean Technologies (known for its Deep Flight performance submarines, including Deep Flight Challenger, built for adventurer Steve Fossett to dive the Mariana Trench), a strange underwater craft emerged from a basement lair, and YachtPals was there for exclusive coverage of the test

East Africa - Strange happenings in both Somalia and Kenya this past week, and while they don't all have something directly to do with yachts, they do affect all vessels near the horn of Africa.  The battle for safe transit of the Gulf of Aden and the Somali coast has gotten a lot hotter, and many speculate this will not end quickly or well.  However, with the recent arrest of a prominent African maritime official, there are fewer left to say anything at all.

We've seen some inventive ways for sailors to pop the question, but this one takes the cake. This photo of Mario Yovkov's boat Great Sensation sailing in the 1D35 class at the Rolex Big Boat Regatta was taken by YachtPals' own Peter Lyons.

Saint-Tropez, France - Widely known as one of the most aesthetically pleasing stretches of coast on the planet, Saint-Tropez has gotten that much more beautiful this week, as the fleet for Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez sailed in to port.  Hosting sailing beauties ranging from classics to the most modern of hi-tech yachts, this race series, in this venue, makes for an incredible collection of sailing spectacles, and today's start under blue skies and light air in this most famous playground on the French Riviera was no exception.

San Francisco, CA - Perhaps the most controversial yacht in the world sailed under the Golden Gate yesterday.  Tom Perkins' Maltese Falcon, the giant sailing yacht with what may be the most advanced sailing system ever created, has come to roost for a while in San Francisco Bay.  The debate over this boat is constant:  Whether it is a beauty or a monstrosity, whether it is an advancement in wind power or one man's ego-driven carbon footprint; whether it is the ultimate yacht, or the ultimate exercise in conspicuous consumption.  Good or evil, it's certainly a sight to behold.