World Superyacht Awards 2018: The world’s largest carbon fibre sloop voted the Sailing Yacht of the Year

The Baltic 175 Pink Gin, the world’s largest carbon fibre sloop, has been voted the Sailing Yacht of the Year 2018. Pink Gin follows in the wake of multi-award winning Baltic Yachts Inukshuk, WinWin, Nikata and My Song. The awards were made at a gala event at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence last weekend and marked the fifth year in succession in which a Baltic Yachts-built vessel has won a WSA award.

The silver-hulled sloop has been voted the Sailing Yacht of the Year at the prestigious World Superyacht Awards 2018. She also won the Sailing Yachts 50m and Above category.

he 53.9m, 235-ton Pink Gin beat five of the world’s finest sailing yachts to take the overall award and in her class she was given the award ahead of the 58m Ngoni and the 58.6m Seven.

The Awards panel commented: “Pink Gin’s hull and rig are a triumph of structural engineering in that her fore and aft deflection is a mere 76mm, despite a 300-tonne rig loading.

“The two large hull openings – a guests’ boarding platform to port and a balcony in the master cabin forward – further add to the complexity of this engineering.”

Since Pink Gin’s launch in Jakobstad, Finland in June 2017, she has crossed the Atlantic twice, visited South America, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean and is now planning a passage through the Baltic.

 

The yacht’s owner, Professor Hans Georg Nader, a longstanding client of Baltic Yachts, said: “Pink Gin has already cruised more than 25,000 nautical miles in the 10 months since her launch reflecting the success of a highly complex design and build project – I really love this beautiful sailing yacht.”

The significant engineering challenges presented by Pink Gin’s hull openings were met by Baltic’s in-house experts, specialist structural engineers Gurit and the yacht’s naval architects judel/vrolijk & co. Baltic 175 Pink Gin’s highly individual interior, featuring unusual finishes and stunning works by Cuban artists, is by UK-based Design Unlimited who worked closely with the owner on this and previous yachts.

Baltic 175 Pink Gin is a prime example of what can be achieved by Baltic Yachts using advanced composites and highly-refined engineering solutions. This is the first carbon fibre sailing yacht of this size in the world to feature openings in her topsides, one forming a balcony in the owner’s suite, the other providing a waterline-level entrance to the yacht’s main lobby on the port side.