baltic yachts wikipedia

Half a century at the cutting edge

Fifty years ago in Finland five young men shared a controversial idea and an ambitious plan. They quit their jobs at Nautor and set out to create a new style of offshore cruiser racer – lighter, stiffer and faster than almost anything else on the market.

‘We just got together one day and the idea came up,’ says Per-Göran “PG” Johansson, one of the five founding fathers of Baltic Yachts back then and still one of its directors today. ‘We were not alone thinking “light is better” but most boatyards and naval architects favoured heavier designs. Some of our competitors published studies for marketing purposes arguing that heavy was better. One of their claims was “heavy does not stop in waves due to the inertia of the mass”. Another was “the client gets more kilos for his money”. We remained convinced and carried on with our lightweight, hi-tech way.’

History soon proved Johansson and his colleagues to be absolutely correct and the company they founded became a world leader in the production of large, high-performance sailing yachts.

Before any of it could happen, first they had to clear a patch of pine forest at Bosund near Jakobstad and build a shed in which to do it.

Still in use as a joinery workshop, that first shed is finally about to be decommissioned along with the whole facility that grew up around it. This year, Baltic Yachts is moving all operations to Jakobstad where a new state-of-the-art building will more than double the size of its existing waterfront location.

There’s a world of difference between the series-produced Baltics of the 1970s and the full-custom superyachts that have become the yard’s primary focus alongside its ongoing small-series, semi-custom production.

However, from the first Baltic 46 Diva (now Queen Anne) all the way to its current projects via some of the most advanced sailing yachts in each of the last three decades, the core DNA is arguably unchanged.

‘Baltic Yachts is still very much true to its original values,’ Johansson says. ‘We started as a series production yard but with more flexibility built in than most competitors, using hi-tech methods to achieve better sailing performance and handling characteristics. With time we moved over more and more to full custom projects, which required changes in our approach.

‘The projects became more individual in concept, in styling and in materials and methods used.

In that process you lose some of the things that originally earned your company its reputation. However, even our cruising projects have been very hi-tech and in that sense they’ve followed our original philosophy, “lighter is faster and better”. Some of the high-performance projects challenged us to take technology much further, increasing our know-how and potential.’

Eagerness to embrace technology prompted the founding of Baltic Yachts in the first place. Johansson was project manager of the Swan 65 when he tried and failed to convince his managers that it could be built lighter, stiffer and better using sandwich construction with unidirectional fibres instead of a single laminate with woven rovings.

The five who left Nautor – boatbuilders Jan-Erik Nyfelt and Nils Luoma, purchasing manager Ingmar Sundelin, designer Tor Hinders and Johansson – became the nucleus of Baltic Yachts.

Baltic Yachts – major milestone boats 1974-2022

1974 Baltic 46 Ahead of its time: tank tests, sandwich construction, unidirectional fibres, balanced spade rudder, epoxy bonded teak deck…

1977 Baltic 39 Most popular model, 74 in six years. From 1980, one of the first yachts to have computer-generated VPP

1979 Baltic 51 Notable for interior design innovations. First double-berth cabin under an aft cockpit, slanted bulkheads for optimal use of space

1982 Baltic 80 Midnight Sun Baltic Yachts’ first maxi racer and one of the first maxis with full glassfibre composite construction.

1985 Baltic 43 Bully The first offshore sailing yacht in the world built entirely with epoxy resin

1996 Baltic 67 Aledoa The first cruising yacht built entirely in pre-preg carbon

1996 Baltic 87 Anny First Baltic with a lifting keel, complex hydraulics and push-button sail controls

1997 Baltic 70 Vittfarne First Baltic yacht to combine classic appearance with hitech construction and modern hydrodynamics

1997 Baltic 70 Loftfari The first yacht with a fully fitted interior built entirely in pre-preg carbon and Nomex honeycomb, all invisible under the teak veneer finish

Baltic 78 Super Baltic 5 Canting keel with its entire mechanism under the cabin sole; 3.5kts faster than the same yacht with a fixed keel

2002 Baltic 147 Visione The first superyacht capable of planing at 30 knots. Packed with unique innovations, ultra-light displacement (105T) and almost literally no expense spared

2003 Baltic 141 Canica A very complex build and fitout with hi-tech materials, construction techniques and systems. The first Baltic ‘super cruiser’

2011 Baltic 197 Hetairos Largest carbon composite sailing yacht in the world at 221ft LOA. Classic look, superb finish. Hi-tech build and hydrodynamics

Baltic 175 Pink Gin The largest full carbon sloop in the world to date. Unique fold-down, through-hull platforms in the saloon and owner’s suite

2019 Baltic 142 Canova First DSS foil on an ocean cruising superyacht. First hybrid drive with full regeneration. Advanced composite engineering. A giant leap into the future

2022 Baltic 68 Pink Gin Verde First Baltic yacht built with 50% flax fibre. Advanced electric/hybrid propulsion, super efficient systems

‘They had a strong belief in themselves, courage to swim upstream and test new ideas,’ Baltic Yachts’ marketing manager Elisabet Holm explains. ‘They all had a passion for boats, a strong driving force to learn new things and research technology, and they were always ready to meet new challenges.’

The original Baltic 46 was far ahead of its time. At a time when nearly all new designs simply relied on the naval architect’s eye, experience and intuition, several different hull models were tank tested across a range of speeds, at various heel and leeway angles before the design of the 46 was finalised and only then was it built. It had a balanced spade rudder and solid rod rigging, which were then used only on hi-tech racing yachts and its teak deck was laid with epoxy resin. But the hull laminate itself was the key innovation.

‘In those days most yards building larger yachts used woven rovings with fibres bent, not straight, hence not structurally optimal and they also resulted in resin concentration,’ Johasson explains.

‘You could see the roving patterns on the surface, due to resin shrinking, so before applying the rovings they used several layers of chopped mat, which has very low structural value, especially on larger yachts, but added a lot of weight.

‘We used a very thin surface cloth and the rest of the laminate was unidirectional fibres, oriented in the direction of the stresses and perfectly straight, hence stronger and stiffer.

‘The fibres we used did not create resin concentration so there was less print-through on the hull surface. Unidirectional does not build up thickness like woven rovings so we used them with a core material in sandwich construction. This achieved much higher panel stiffness than a single laminate and gave us more flexibility for panel sizes.’

End grain balsa was the core for the 46 but Baltic soon switched to foam cores with a variety of densities and strengths. Carbon fibre was used from 1979, initially in rudder posts, beam tops and to reinforce high-stress areas of the hull where extra stiffness was needed. As stabilised foams for high-temperature cures and then Nomex for pre-preg carbon construction became available, Baltic pioneered the use of those materials.

Baltic Yachts’ early achievements belie the fact that it faced strong headwinds right from the start. 1973 was a bad year to launch a new brand of sailing yachts, with the global oil crisis looming.

The yachting industry as a whole was hit hard and by 1977 Baltic had to seek outside investment to stay in business. Ironically that same year saw their first major commercial success, selling 12 Baltic 39s at the Hamburg Boat Show, which was unheard of at the time.

Hollming, a Finnish shipbuilder, acquired Baltic. Two of the founders, Nils Luoma and Ingmar Sundelin, quit but the takeover turned out to be a positive move. Hollming provided stability and investment to help Baltic grow. A huge production hall was built, funds were provided for new model development and marketing.

An unusual aspect of Baltic Yachts that undoubtedly worked in its favour was the dual role of Johansson. It’s rare that the technical guru of a major boatbuilder is also its head of sales and marketing, yet he combined both jobs with great success for 40 years.

Even now, though officially retired, he still frequently offers a guiding hand in the development of new projects and the current EVP, Henry Hawkins, describes him as ‘an unbelievably useful sounding board and wise head’.

Baltic’s in-house designer Tor Hinders made his mark by changing the way boats are fitted out down below. His stand-out innovation, which was met with hostility when introduced in 1979 on the Baltic 51 but has since been copied by almost every sailing yacht builder in the world, was to put a double-berth cabin under an aft cockpit.

Another key factor in Baltic Yachts’ early success was its partnership with the Canadian naval architects C&C Design, whose chief engineer Rob Ball was among the first in the industry to start using computers. From 1980 he supplied VPP – polar curves and tables of numbers – for the Baltic 39, 51 and 37, with detailed instructions on how to use them. Despite being generated by 2D computing (as 3D models were not yet available), Johansson says those first VPP numbers were accurate and useful.

The yard was quick to develop its own computing expertise. ‘As soon as programmable calculators and then the Epson HX-20 computer became available we saw their potential and started to use them,’ Johansson says. ‘There was no software so we did our own coding.’ By the early 1980s they were already using these tools for displacement, flotation and trim calculations, laminate design and rating optimisation.

A huge quantity of data has been compiled since then and the initially simple programs have evolved into a sophisticated suite of software that enables the technical team to make extremely detailed weight and load calculations for the hull and rig of any new design, study engine power, prop pitch and range for electric and conventional propulsion systems, and much more. The yard has never had any ambition to design its own yachts, but is quite often asked by clients to do preliminary studies before a naval architect is appointed.

The 1980s were the peak of series production but Baltic Yachts but they also began pushing the boundaries of performance with custom builds with more scope for creative technical development.

‘A series production model is always to some degree a compromise,’ Johansson says. ‘On custom projects you can take things much further. For very knowledgeable clients looking for performance we have taken things to the edge.’

The 80ft Midnight Sun was one of the first maxis with full composite construction, launched in 1982. ‘The forward part was a large, empty sail store and we used specially designed longitudinal bulkheads and framework in the upper corner between hull and deck to create the required stiffness,’ Johansson recalls.

The Baltic 43 Bully was the first offshore yacht built entirely in epoxy resin, in 1985. In technical terms this was a spin-off from an earlier R&D project, developing ultra-strong vacuum-infused sandwich laminates for a Soviet deep-sea submarine, which ruffled diplomatic feathers when the Americans found out about it. ‘The main unit was solid steel; we built a streamlined cover around the equipment,’ he says. ‘If you send a normal laminate down to 6,000m it will not be the same afterwards. We learned a few things from that project.’

In 1990, Baltic regained its independence. Finland’s industrial sector was in recession and Hollming needed to focus on its core business. ‘They asked us to arrange a management takeover,’ Johansson explains. ‘The yard was an important workplace for the local community and to shut it would have been very destructive. We were 32 employees who got together, took over and continued the business.’

Marketing manager Lisbeth Staffans stepped up to be managing director and led Baltic Yachts for two decades from a challenging start. ‘With a bad order book and uncertain future there were sleepless nights at the beginning of this new era,’ Johansson says. ‘Lisbeth was a very good person for that job. We couldn’t afford to make any mistakes and she made sure we didn’t. But this period is the one I’m most proud of. We did a good job, moved up in the size of our projects and stayed profitable.’

Innovation continued apace with production manager Christer Lill running a remarkably tight operation as the yachts ramped up rapidly in sophistication and size. In 1996 they launched 67ft Aledoa, the world’s first pre-preg carbon cruiser, and 87ft Anny – their first with a lifting keel, twin rudders and complex hydraulics. She had full push-button sail controls and a tender could be driven straight into the automatic opening-andlowering garage in her stern.

The following year, the Baltic 70 Vittfarne heralded a new style of yacht combining classic appearance and fine traditional craftsmanship with hitech construction, light displacement and modern hydrodynamics. ‘Bill Dixon’s team did a fantastic job on the design and our carpenters performed magic in building it,’ Johansson says.

Another Baltic 70, also launched in 1997, took carbon composite sandwich construction to a new level. The fully fitted interior of Loftfari was built almost entirely in pre-preg carbon/ Nomex honeycomb as well as her hull and deck, saving a large amount of additional weight.

It looked traditional, though, with thin veneers and fillets of teak covering all of the composite surfaces. Most Baltic yachts are now fitted out in a similar way.

The 78ft Super Baltic 5, delivered in 2000, was a major feat of engineering with a canting keel whose entire mechanism was installed in the shallow bilge beneath the saloon sole. She was calculated to be at least 3.5kts faster than an identical yacht with a fixed keel.

At the turn of the millennium Loftfari’s owner came back to Baltic with an impossible design brief, ‘or so it seemed at first,’ Johansson says. ‘To build a yacht in excess of 140ft capable of planing at 30 knots or more.’

The project was an immense challenge, not least because their largest build up to then was a 97- footer. Two years of development work followed before the owner gave the green light for the build to proceed. Remarkably the yacht was delivered six months ahead of schedule and exceeded all expectations.

Packed with unique innovations and with almost literally no expense spared, the Baltic 147 Visione was far ahead of her time and despite being 20 years old she is still quite capable of taking line honours in superyacht regattas today.

In build at the same time, the 141ft Canica challenged the yard in different ways. Performance was key but a lot of equipment and systems were also required to ensure a very high level of comfort on board. ‘That was the first yacht we built with a full floating interior,’ Baltic sales director Kenneth Nyfelt, son of founder Jan- Erik, explains.

‘We installed a highly complex Siemens PLC monitoring and control system, and it was the first project where we used noise and vibration consultants.’ With half the displacement of a typical 140ft cruising yacht, the performance targets were achieved and Canica can now be regarded as the first in a gradually evolving style of high-performance Baltic ‘super cruisers’ that continues to this day. A similar and parallel evolution of successful cruiser-racers began with Nilaya in 2010.

A stand-out project delivered in 2011, at 221ft LOA the Baltic 197 Hetairos is largest carbon composite sailing yacht in the world. A true wolf in sheep’s clothing with an incredible sail area : displacement ratio and a regular winner in superyacht regattas, the 60-metre ketch is classic on deck but thoroughly modern below the waterline with a unique lifting rudder as well as a lifting keel.

Around this time, the people who had staged the 1990 management takeover began to retire so new owners were needed. Two local investors bought shares in 2010; three years later an 80 per cent stake in Baltic Yachts was acquired by the German family-owned company Otto Bock – led by Professor Hans Georg Näder, a longstanding client of Baltic Yachts – and its future was secured. Henry Hawkins, a yacht captain with vast practical experience including many thousands of ocean miles as skipper of Näder’s yachts, joined Baltic, taking on a large part of Johansson’s role.

Näder’s own 175ft Pink Gin VI is one of the most notable recent builds and currently the world’s largest carbon composite sloop with a rig 16m taller than a J Class. Her key features include fold-down platforms in her topsides just above the waterline that are large enough to walk through, one amidships in the main saloon and one forward in the owner’s suite.

While relatively easy to build on a large motor yacht, putting large apertures in highly stressed parts of a sailing yacht hull without reducing its stiffness was a major engineering challenge, solved by mechanically locking the platforms firmly in place to become structural parts of the hull.

Another recent showcase of Baltic’s innovation is the 142ft Canova, which made headlines in 2019 as the world’s first superyacht with a DSS foil to reduce pitching and heeling, plus a host of other advanced features such as an immensely strong coachroof with a featherlight look and an electric drive system that provides enough regeneration capability under sail to cross the Atlantic without using any fossil fuel – with both sailing and hotel systems running.

After four years of cruising, a wide range of what used to be bleeding-edge technologies are now proven to work reliably.

To mark Baltic Yachts’ 50th anniversary, the first Baltic 46 Queen Anne returned to the yard last spring for a refit. Two of the men who built her – Johansson and Jan-Erik Nyfelt, whose grandchildren now work at Baltic – were delighted to find her in excellent condition, which a survey duly confirmed.

‘No structural works are needed, the hull appendages are sound, as is the mast,’ Hawkins says. ‘It’s also interesting that the original propulsion setup was still operational and in good order. The enjoyment at our end was the size of everything compared to today, from fibre technology to deck fittings. There are 18 winches on that boat; a modern 100-footer uses just seven or eight!’ She will be relaunched in June after a cosmetic refit, with a new engine.

What direction is Baltic Yachts likely to take in the future? The 68ft cruiser-racer Pink Gin Verde might hold a few clues with its 50 per cent flax fibre hull and micro-turbine hybrid propulsion system, but as Baltic’s CEO Anders Kurtén puts it, ‘That all depends on where our customers want to take us.’

‘We are fortunate and honoured to build some of the most exciting, groundbreaking custom sailing yachts in the world which means the next major milestone will forever be the next launch, summer 2023 being a perfect example,’ he says. ‘My best guess for the future is ever increasing sustainable practices and yachts with diminishing lifecycle emissions, as well as quantum leaps in terms of pure sailing performance.’

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Baltic Yachts has been commissioned to build an ultra lightweight, 111ft superyacht described as ‘one of the most extreme projects Baltic has undertaken’.

Designed for fast coastal and offshore sailing, Baltic 111 Custom will begin construction in April taking full advantage of Baltic Yachts’ ability to build an advanced composite structure to the most exacting standards, creating a modern, stylish living platform within a high-performance design envelope.   The new yacht, described as a ‘ground-breaking design with spectacular technical solutions’ is an extremely weight sensitive project, a key reason why Baltic Yachts was selected. The company’s proven track record and expertise in calculating weight, monitoring it during build and achieving design targets, were decisive in the choice of builder, as were Baltic Yachts’ problem-solving abilities through innovation and attention to detail. Baltic Yachts CEO Anders Kurtén, said:

“This stunning new yacht will break new ground in leading edge technology, a challenge I am confident the entire Baltic Family is ready to meet. Winning this contract reflects our almost 50-year pledge to build Light, Stiff and Fast. We can’t wait to get started!” Baltic Yachts will be working with a highly skilled team assembled by designer Jarkko Jämsén, and including in-demand Spanish race boat naval architects Botin Partners, and with structural engineering provided by PURE Design and Engineering. Project Manager Sam Evans and project Co-ordinator Mattias Svenlin will lead Baltic’s internal team, while externally A2B Marine Projects, will be responsible for project management.   Interior and exterior design are by award-winning Finnish designer, Jarkko Jämsén. With light weight and performance the over-arching features of the project, the new yacht’s interior will be minimalist and modern in style.   To save weight, the yacht’s structure will be used as part of the interior and materials like bamboo and rattan will feature in the finish. A luxury interior with a fully-fitted galley and air conditioning throughout will add to the challenge of hitting weight targets with precision.   The Baltic 111 Custom is scheduled to launch in May 2023.  

DESIGN Concept: Jarkko Jämsén Naval architect: Botin Partners Exterior and Interior design: Jarkko Jämsén Structural engineering: PURE Design and Engineering Owner’s representative: A2B Marine Projects

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Path: On board Baltic's award-winning 45m sailing yacht

Inspired by an experienced sailor, the World Superyacht Award-winning sloop Path is a real standout, as Sam Fortescue finds out in Palma...

It takes an effort to stand out from the crowd in Palma. There are so many metres of gleaming superyachtery lined up on the quays that everything starts to look the same. Not so the latest launch from Baltic Yachts . It has the advantage of a mast, which naturally helps in a world dominated by motor yachts. But it is really the sleek, quiet purpose of 44.6 metre Path that distinguishes her. That and the flame orange crew uniforms.

With a German designer, an obsessive Finnish builder and an engaged owner, nothing on this boat has been left to chance. I am immediately grateful for the owner’s foresight as I step aboard on an uncharacteristically grey morning. With the leaden threat of rain, we congregate under the truly vast hardtop he requested, which protects the dining and lounging areas of the cockpit. It is a continuation of the coachroof, which sweeps aft a further seven metres.

“The owner took all the experience he gained from sailing round the world and put it into the new boat,” explains Henry Hawkins, executive vice president of Baltic Yachts. “His previous boat was a Baltic 112 which we call Old Path . He’s a hugely passionate sailor and competes in a couple of sports boat classes. So he was adamant he wanted a cruising boat with performance.”

And what the hardtop lacks in pure elegance, it makes up for in sheer practicality. It is just one part of the owner’s philosophy of choosing reliability over elaborate technology or flashy styling, as designer Rolf Vrolijk notes. “This owner knows very well what he wants. There was no need to go to an external designer to make a statement.”

Ease of handling was the other key brief for the judel/vrolijk team. Path has twin rudders, for instance, and a hydraulic lifting keel. This reduces her draught to 3.4 metres – enough to get into many smaller ports and anchorages, including much of the Bahamas. She also features a roller boom system from Carbo Link to make light work of furling or reefing the 558-square-metre mainsail.

On the mechanical side, she is equipped with a saildrive pod system that can rotate through 340 degrees beneath the boat to give optimum thrust and torque at almost any angle. Coupled with the bow thruster, this flexible system simplifies close quarters manoeuvring. A four-blade variable-pitch propeller also adds to efficiency across long passages under power or when motor sailing.

“When manoeuvring under power, you can set it to a high engine speed to provide hydraulic power to the thruster via a PTO,” Hawkins says. Only one thruster is needed with the rotating saildrive, he explains. “We can then add a little pitch to the blades to move forward or backwards or even sideways as needed, as this leg rotates.”

Path rows somewhat against the current with its engine. The capable 550hp Scania unit is certainly up to the job, but the power system eschews hybrid or battery-assisted technology. It is an old-fashioned mix of iron, oil and diesel with enough grunt to pull the boat along and turn the winches, while a pair of 55kW Northern Lights generators pick up the hotel loads. Of course, that is exactly what the owner wanted.

“We looked at electric propulsion, as with the majority of our boats,” Hawkins says. “But Path is set up as a world cruiser and the cornerstone had to be proven reliability.” Similarly, the Hundested main thruster pod is theoretically capable of retracting into the hull to reduce drag under sail. “The owner chose not to take the folding ability for the sake of simplicity,” he adds. “While the pod and propeller hydraulics can all be driven mechanically to return to port.”

Before anything else, though, this boat is a Baltic, and that means a fast hull with a meticulous layup in carbon fibre. By making ample use of Sprint and pre-preg materials from Gurit, Baltic has limited the displacement of this 44.6-metre yacht to 172 tonnes. Pre-preg means that precisely the right amount of epoxy resin is already right where it needs to be in the layup, eliminating the wastage of wet systems.

The lines by judel/vrolijk are as sleek as you would expect from a team that has done so much work with racing yachts. Despite her length, her beam tops out at 9.35 metres, giving Path naturally efficient proportions. The architecture is closely related to that of the Baltic 112 Canova . “These are families of hulls developed through feedback from the crew,” Vrolijk says.

A powerful masthead sloop rig gives the crew plenty of options, and again, the emphasis is on ease of handling.   “We didn’t want to go too big with a square-head main, because that creates too much complexity for a cruising guy,” Vrolijk says. No fewer than two fixed and two removable headstays permit a range of sails upwind, plus a three-metre bowsprit for setting the gennaker or dedicated reaching sail. Baltic describes the set-up as a homage to the Imoca 60, whose multi-headsail configuration make short-handed racing a reality.

Vrolijk says that the boat sails well with two headsails set – jib and staysail or storm jib and staysail, as conditions dictate. The main is reefed by putting turns on the boom, but in order not to overstrain the mandrel, the sail still has three reefing points on the luff and leech that take the strain. After sea trials in Palma, he described Path ’s handling in typically dry fashion. “It was, of course, quite nice,” he told me. “She has a balanced rudder feel, and the boat tracks very well.”

Path is designed to sail at between 11 and 16 knots in typical conditions, but she had already hit speeds approaching  20 knots on the passage down from Finland, according to Captain Daniele Cesaro. In Palma, the boat handled 35-knot gusts under full main and a staysail jib.

Sightlines from the two wheels are well thought out, with a clear view ahead down the windward side. Each helm station has its own little hardtop with a glass panel for gazing at the sail. It feels a little like the bridge of the USS Enterprise sitting here with six big Sailmon screens for boat data and six huge glass-bridge displays.

Step inside, though, and you instantly return to a past where wood, not carbon fibre, was king. With decidedly classic styling, the interior is all about panelled walls and solid furniture. Elegant cabinetry is well endowed with fiddles – this is an owner who understands the need to steady yourself as you cross the saloon on a 20-degree heel. From sofas to a robust wooden swivel chair at the navigation station, it seemingly adds weight, but says Hawkins, the furniture is foam core with a wood veneer, which allows keeping the weight under control.

Margo Vrolijk led the styling team, making it a full house for judel/vrolijk. She drew on a visit to the owner’s home and a good look at his previous Baltic. “The concept is inspired by how the family lives ashore and translating that into an easily controlled sailing yacht,” she says. “The timeless style of the interior has been achieved through symmetry in geometry and balancing the choice of neutral and natural colour palettes with classic, colourful patterns like stripes and paisley shapes.”

This approach has created a very liveable environment below, with deep, inviting sofas, plump mattresses and comfy chairs. Despite the suede and natural fabric finishes, the upholstery has been designed to be easily maintained when off the beaten track. Most surfaces are in warm teak, while the floors are in a dark stained oak that will conceal wear and tear. “You can spill anything on the fabrics and it will still remain the same colour,” says Margo Vrolijk.

More than the materials, though, it is the spaces created by the design team that intrigue. Beneath that huge main saloon lie the owner’s quarters, bang amidships. The cabin spans the full beam but is partially divided near the middle by a glass screen. Twin beds lie to starboard, with access to a large bathroom with both a shower and recessed full-length bathtub.

To starboard is a wonderful kind of parlour or snug sitting room, with two Poltrona Frau recliners and a host of convenient features within reach. Touch a button and the glass panel turns opaque, becoming a screen for projecting charts and nav information. Pull open a low cabinet and there’s a custom-built recess for a decanter of whisky and weighted crystal tumblers. The glasses are inlaid with a magnet on the base to keep them from sliding off when set down. Pilot guides and reference books line the walls – a library for settling down with a drink to figure out where to head next.

Upstairs you reach the office, on a kind of half level.  A huge array of electronics is concealed behind the panelling here, while twin VSAT domes can keep the owner as connected on board as he would be if he were sitting in the office. “The system is Starlink ready,” Hawkins says. “Then there’ll be no need for those big domes – the eggs in the rigging will disappear.”

As this space lacks a hull window, the owner requested an LED wall, the first I have seen aboard a yacht. Running the length of the hull in the office, it normally displays an aquarium scene, but can naturally be programmed to show anything. Vrolijk mocked up a full-size office and owner’s cabin to check every detail.

Although naturally on a smaller scale to the owner’s cabin, three en suite guest cabins offer heaps of space. A VIP cabin in the bow converts between double and twin and includes its own sofa area for privacy. The double just aft has an even larger snug seating area opposite. And a final guest double is in the aft accommodation. Though this puts it next to the crew area, it has its own private companionway to the saloon.

There are lots of little features which are a pleasure to discover. I liked the way that a navigation display folds up out of a burnished chart desk in the main saloon, for instance. Another display in the crew mess slides down out of an overhead cabinet to create a barrier between the navigator and the mess. It’s a smart idea that creates two distinct spaces when necessary. I also like how the doorknobs are leather bound.

With her huge aft deck and a big bathing platform for catching the sun, plus a tender well on the foredeck that serves as a pool when the Ribeye YT600 has been craned out, Path can hold her own in Mallorca and the world’s other yachting hotspots. But she won’t be here for long. Though she’s registered in Malta, this boat has no home port – no marina berth with her name on it. Her calling is as an ocean wanderer. She is going to find her own path around the world.

First published in the June 2022 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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Boat of the Week: Meet ‘Perseverance,’ One of the Most Sustainable Sailing Superyachts on the Water

The new 117-footer from baltic yachts ticks all the boxes for classic good looks, too., julia zaltzman, julia zaltzman's most recent stories.

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Standing out from the crowd with a metallic-bronze hull, the neo-classic fast cruising cutter was commissioned by an experienced owner who returned to Dykstra Naval Architects following the success of his previous yacht, a Dykstra 60. This time, he wanted to undertake longer passages in comfort but without compromising on speed.

The owner chartered a collection of sailing yachts to iron out his wish list, including a larger yacht with excellent sailing characteristics, ease of maintenance and power-saving systems. With 65 feet of extra length, Perseverance delivers. Plus it has a luxurious interior by deVosdeVries Design and a double cockpit deck layout. The yacht is also equipped with a high-aspect rudder and lifting keel to enhance sailing capabilities. “The goal for the owner was to have a classic sloop with clean deck equipment to make it easy to handle when sailing,” Tommy Johansson, project manager at Baltic Yachts , told Robb Report during a tour of the boat. “So, the yacht can set and furl its sails via push buttons for easy short-handed cruising.”

Perseverance bears many of the traditional hallmarks for which Dykstra is known, including a straight stem, distinctive deep bulwarks and truncated counter. Its deck house, skinned in teak, has individual rectangular windows that provide classic appeal. Like the timber caprail, the wood is treated with oil rather than varnish to reduce maintenance and steer away from a high-gloss finish. The center cockpit—one of the owner’s favorite places on board—is shaded by a mini hardtop that can be lowered to protect the seating and dining area against salt spray when not in use. Inside, light-gray oak, maple and leather-stitched details create a gentleman’s club-meets-industrial-chic ambience. Subtle LED lighting gives a modern touch. The main salon is light and airy, with high ceilings that provide decent headroom and knurled hardware in a dark-matte vintage patina.

Perseverance sleeps eight guests in four cabins, comprising a master suite, one VIP cabin and two twins. They are all fitted with sensors that monitor the interior temperature based on guest occupancy. When not in use, the temperature automatically adjusts to save on energy.

The yacht has cruised extensively since her delivery last year, already clocking 10,000 nautical miles at an average speed of 20 knots. Building a yacht with sustainable credentials was a key prerequisite for the owner. Perseverance ’s diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system can regenerate 20 to 25 kilowatts while under way at 12 to 14 knots, recharging the batteries in 4.5 hours, which then provide up to nine hours of silent running at anchor.

“It means the yacht can head out for a day’s sailing and return to the marina without using its engines,” says Johansson. “In fact, the owner has done that already, enjoying nine hours of silent cruising with only the batteries powering the hotel load.”

Perseverance is now in the Caribbean, with the owner making the most of his easy sailer by spending as much time at the wheel as possible.

Check out more photos of Perseverance here .

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PERSEVERANCE

In 2021, Baltic Yachts unveiled this modern classic vessel, earning the prestigious title of Boat International's Sailing Yacht of the Year in 2022! Crafted by the renowned Dykstra Naval Architects, PERSEVERANCE seamlessly blends exceptional sailing prowess with a strong commitment to eco-conscious technology. This includes intelligent cabin systems, an eco-friendly electric propulsion system, and the remarkable capability to generate electricity while on the move.

The interior of PERSEVERANCE, meticulously designed by deVosdeVries, exudes an inviting and contemporary atmosphere. It showcases opulent stained oak, elegant dark maple flooring, and striking 'industrial chic hardware' for a distinctive touch. Accommodating up to 8 guests in supreme comfort, the yacht features 4 lavish ensuite cabins. The expansive master stateroom spans the full beam forward, offering a grand entrance foyer, a king-sized bed, a spacious bathroom with a lavish shower, and an abundance of natural illumination. Midship, you'll discover a luxurious VIP double cabin with a queen-sized bed, a twin cabin, and a cozy bunk bed cabin.

WHAT OUR GUESTS SAY:

Our time on Perseverance was amazing. The yacht sailed smoothly and we loved the eco-friendly touches like the electric system. Inside, it felt cozy with nice wood details. We explored beautiful spots, snorkeled, and enjoyed the many water activities available. The crew was great and made us feel right at home. Captain Pedro was exceptional and so was the rest of the crew actually. The food was delicious and very healthy. It was a fantastic experience and we can't wait to do it again.

Eco Friendly

Great Comfort

Great Design

Great Yacht

TOYS & TENDERS

1x TIWAL 3 SMALL SAILBOAT

1x 2-person Kayak

2x Jobe Yarra 10.6 Inflatable Paddle Board

1x JOBE Vanity Wakeboard 141

1x Jobe Mode Combo waterski 170cm

2x Sublue underwater scooters

2x Mares Dive Gear

1x Dive compressor

2x Tern D16 Eclipse  Bicycle (folding)

1 x Williams  505 Jet Tender

DESTINATION

Summer :

 Italian Riviera

Winter :

 Caribbean

  From 95,000 EUR/Week

SIMILAR CHARTERS

$ 126,000

55.00 M

18 GUEST

€ 44,500

26.00 M

8 GUEST

$ 140,000

40.20 M

10 GUEST

€ 95,000

39.60 M

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YACHT STORY is written in May 2021 in Antwerp, Belgium, encouraged by the need in the Benelux for a professional Partner for yacht charter services. The increasing demand of travelling and private escapes on a yacht organized from a to z by one contact person was an important stimulation to create this boutique charter company with a personal approach.

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BE 0767.826.165

© Copyright 2021 Yacht Story

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• Service & Refit
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The target for our Baltic 37 design was to produce a high performance, comfortable, easily handled yacht capable of offshore racing as well as offshore cruising at a size which could be best described as a “small one-tonner”.

Characteristics were very much in line with the successful Baltic 39, while embodying changes aimed towards improved upwind and downwind performance especially in medium to light wind conditions.

The deck design offered a handsome low profile and companionway entrance with easy access from the cockpit. The interior layout was quite unique for a boat of this size with an aft cabin as well as a full stand-up head. The production of the Baltic 37 spanned the years 1978 to 1983.

DELIVERY YEAR

MAIN SPECIFICATIONS

• L.O.A. 11.30 m
• D.W.L. 8.33 m
• BEAM 3.66 m
• DRAFT 2.06 m
• DISPLACEMENT 6,155 kg
• BALLAST 2,775 kg
• UNITS BUILT 51
• NAVAL ARCHITECT C & C Design

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