Delivered in 2017, the Baltic 175 Pink Gin IV is still the largest carbon composite sloop in the worldwith amast 16m taller than a J Class
‘Bill Dixon’s teamdid a fantastic job on the design and our carpenters performedmagic 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 prepreg 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
Pink Gin VI is impressively engineered and also a showcase of the shipyard’sworld class interior fit-out skills
2000, was amajor feat of engineering with a canting keel whose entire mechanismwas 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 themillennium
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 30kts ormore.’ 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 sixmonths 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 thoroughlymodern below the waterline with a unique lifting rudder as well as a lifting keel. Around this time, the people who
had staged the 1990management 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
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