Maltese Falcon is a full-rigged ship using DynaRig technology, which was built by Perini Navi in Tuzla, Istanbul, and commissioned by her first owner, Tom Perkins.

[3] The bare hull was built and launched on speculation in 1989-1990 by Perini Navi at its newly acquired shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, but found no takers in the aftermath of the Gulf War.

In 2001 he hired Dutch yacht designers at Dykstra Naval Architects to investigate 19th-century clippers and propose a three-mast square rig for the project.

The "DynaRig" concept, a 1960s invention by German hydraulics engineer Wilhelm Prölss intended to operate cargo ships with a fuel-saving philosophy and as few crew as possible, met with Perkins' approval, and the project was signed into build in Tuzla.

In a radio interview for the BBC World Service's Global Business programme broadcast in December 2007, Perkins claimed that he personally wrote some of the yacht's unique control software.

[5] Damon Roberts of Insensys, Ltd. was responsible for designing and manufacturing the DynaRig of Maltese Falcon at the Perini Navi premises in Tuzla, Istanbul.

Exhaustive finite element analysis and carbon fiber testing were carried out to ensure that the complete assembly would sustain the loads under sail.