Paulo Mirpuri, 1966 to 2026: At the helm of Falcon
A memory of the man behind Hi Fly, the Mirpuri Foundation and the classic yacht Falcon, sailing in Saint Tropez with his old Cascais friend Patrick Monteiro de Barros.
I will never forget the day I photographed Paulo Mirpuri when he had the tiller of Falcon in his hand, in the Gulf of Saint Tropez. Patrick Monteiro de Barros was next to him. The light was that low October light you only get on this coast for a few weeks a year. And Paulo had that quiet, focused face I would come to know well. Reading the water. Listening to the boat.
That is the image that comes back to me now.
Paulo died on Saturday, 2 May 2026. He was 59. A long illness, very privately carried.
The obituaries this past week have been about the aviation career, and rightly so. He founded Air Luxor in 1988, at twenty two, while still studying medicine at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He cofounded NetJets Europe in 1996 in partnership with the American NetJets Inc., which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway acquired two years later. Paulo was NetJets Europe's first President.
In 2005 he founded Hi Fly, which he turned into the largest wet lease widebody operator in the world, flying Airbus A330s and A380s for over two hundred airlines and governments. He was a medical doctor. He was an Airbus qualified airline pilot. Through the Mirpuri Foundation he funded ocean racing, marine science, humanitarian flights, and the Sailing Academy in Cascais.
But there is another side from Paulo
He came back to Saint Tropez almost every autumn to sail Falcon, a 1930 Q Class designed by Frank Paine and built by George Lawley & Sons in South Boston. The Q Class is the small cousin of the J Class, same Universal Rule, narrower beam, long overhangs. Bruno Troublé, the creator of the Louis Vuitton Cup, told Patrick about her. She had been sailing the Mediterranean as Jour de Fête. Patrick and Paulo bought her together through Clube Naval de Cascais, refit her thoroughly, and gave her back her birth name. In their first season they won their class at the CIM Championship, ahead of 63 boats.
At Les Voiles de Saint Tropez 2023, the rail of Falcon held three Portuguese Olympic sailors. Álvaro Marinho was on board too, the four time Olympic 470 sailor and 2008 European Champion, who today coaches out of Cascais. Three Olympians on a 1930 Q Class. That is the level of seriousness Paulo and Patrick brought to this boat.
He was also a member of the Gstaad Yacht Club, an Alpine address for a man whose life was the sea. He gave a talk there once about his journey to the South Pole. Of course he did.
For the sailing world, his real legacy lives in Cascais. The Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team. The Ocean Race Europe trophy his crew brought home in 2021, racing for the planet. The Sailing Academy. The Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy that fills the bay every July. A whole generation of young Portuguese sailors with a real path to the ocean.
What I admired most in Paulo was something rare. Most people who build one thing. Paulo kept building. Air Luxor. NetJets Europe. Hi Fly. The Mirpuri Foundation. The Racing Team. The Sailing Academy. Falcon. Expeditions to the South Pole and to Cape Verde. Most people manage one of these in a lifetime. He carried them all at once. And he was generous with the lot, with his time, his network, his planes, his table.
To Patrick, to Paulo's family, and to the crews of Falcon and the Racing Team. Thank you for letting me into those moments.
Fair seas, Paulo.
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aulo Mirpuri (1966 to 2026) was a Portuguese aviation entrepreneur, medical doctor, Airbus qualified pilot, sailor and philanthropist. He founded Air Luxor (1988) and Hi Fly (2005), and chaired the Mirpuri Foundation.
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Falcon is a 1930 Q Class racing sloop, designed by Frank Paine and built by George Lawley & Sons in South Boston. The Q Class is the small cousin of the J Class under the same Universal Rule. After a major 2007 restoration by John Anderson, she sailed the Mediterranean as Jour de Fête. Paulo Mirpuri and Patrick Monteiro de Barros bought her jointly, refit her, and restored her original name. In their first season together she won her class at the CIM Championship.
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DescPatrick Monteiro de Barros (born 1945) is a Portuguese Olympic sailor (Star class, Seoul 1988), a leading figure at Clube Naval de Cascais, and a senior Portuguese businessman. He owns the Six Metre Seljm.ription text goes here
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Falcon's crew at Les Voiles de Saint Tropez 2023 included three Portuguese Olympic sailors: co owner Patrick Monteiro de Barros (Star, Seoul 1988), his old Olympic crewmate Henrique Anjos, and four time 470 Olympian and 2008 European Champion Álvaro Marinho, alongside Paulo and Luiza Mirpuri, Arlette Monteiro de Barros, and the rest of the Cascais crew. Boat captain Elise Garcin runs the boat year round.n
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The Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team is a professional sailing team founded by Paulo Mirpuri to carry the Foundation's marine conservation message. It won The Ocean Race Europe in 2021 under the slogan "Racing for the Planet," and competed in The Ocean Race 2022 to 2023.
