Technology
Huge task elegant solution
There is something immensely satisfying in taking the massive loads of a superyacht furling system and by exquisite engineering reducing the task of controlling those loads down to the touch of a button or joystick
When you venture offshore in a high- performance superyacht with a Bermudian rig and a small crew, you are quite literally entrusting the safety of the vessel and the people on board to the reliability of the sail furling systems. If they were to jam, malfunction or break when you need to shorten sail urgently in a rising wind, the consequences could be severe. It’s a shrewd investment to fit the very best, strongest and most reliable hardware that’s available, which is why so many large ocean- going yachts are rigged with Reckmann furling gear. Baltic Yachts has forged an enviable reputation and is arguably the most innovative superyacht shipyard in recent years, with an amazing array of groundbreaking engineering solutions and game- changing technologies on every new custom build that leaves the yard. The most recent of these, familiar to regular Seahorse readers, are the 112ft (34m) cruise-r-racer Liara with her telescopic keel, advanced sail- trimming solutions, retractable propulsion and silent-running systems; and the mighty 142ft (43m) ocean cruiser Canova with her diesel- electric drivetrain, self-sustaining power generation capability under sail and the largest dynamic stability system (DSS) foil ever built.
66 SEAHORSE
The spectacular Pink Gin VI is even bigger at almost 177ft (53.9m) LOA and equally remarkable. Not only is she the largest carbon fibre sloop ever built, a host of other stand-out features won her the Superyacht Of The Year Award in 2018 against stiff competition such as the 60m (197ft) Perini Navi ketch Seven and the 58m (190ft) Royal Huisman sloop Ngoni. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Pink Gin VI is the engineering and construction of the hull itself. The entire shell including the deck moulding weighs 18 tons, which is a tiny fraction – little more than seven per cent – of her overall (light ship) displacement of 250 tons. The hull is a Corecell foam sandwich with an outer skin of E-glass and aramid fibres, and an inner skin laminated in Gurit Sprint prepreg and regular prepreg carbon. A layer of woven Kevlar in the forefoot of the hull laminate increases its impact resistance.
The hull was built in three parts, in a three-piece female mould with a waterline split. This gave the build team easier access, allowed greater accuracy and reduced the overall build time. By scanning the three parts and creating 3D images the team was able to ensure that the huge hull fitted together with tolerances of less than a millimetre.
Above: the 177ft carbon fibre sloop Pink Gin powers
upwind under full main and working jib. Like the two previous Pink Gins – and indeed most superyachts built by Baltic Yachts in recent years – the furling systems required to control her massive rig are supplied by Reckmann. Close-hauled in 25-35 knots true, she can still maintain a VMG of 13.5 knots at a true wind angle of 40°
To position the yacht’s centres of gravity and buoyancy as precisely as possible, the weight of each part of the hull had to be continuously monitored using eight sets of scales. Also, every component was checked for its own centre of gravity so that accurate weight distribution could be achieved.
The resulting hull is incredibly stiff – over its entire 53.9m length, it deflects through just 76mm when subjected to rig loads of 330 tons. This level of stiffness gives a significant boost to the yacht’s sailing performance and reduces the fluctuations in rig load under sail. The stiffness of Pink Gin’s hull is even more impressive when you consider that her stand-out feature – large, hydraulically opening ‘balconies’ set into her topsides that fold down to create platforms just above the waterline on either side – need to become parts of the hull’s load-bearing structure when they’re shut, with enormously strong locking pins and hinges. Similar balconies have been fitted to large motor yachts but it’s unique to have them on a sailing yacht, whose hull has to support immense rig loads. Another of Pink Gin’s remarkable features is the Force Feedback Steering System which, by using electric cylinders, eliminates the
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