nilaya baltic yachts

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Nilaya: We take a look around this stunning 154ft superyacht

• Sam Fortescue
• April 11, 2024

The original Nilaya was a groundbreaking cruiser-racer. Her 12m larger replacement incorporates enough innovation and weight-saving techniques to ensure she sets new super trends too. Sam Fortescue reports

When Nilaya ’s 46.82m hull emerged from the vast build sheds at Royal Huisman’s Vollenhove yard in 2023, she was slipped into the water with minimal fanfare and taken to Amsterdam to have her mast quietly stepped.

Eagle-eyed observers may have spotted her towering over the National Maritime Museum, where the owner held a private naming ceremony before sailing away. Now, six months after delivery, a wealth of fresh detail and new images has been released, painting the aluminium and carbon superyacht in a new light.

With interior and exterior design by Nauta and a hull from Reichel/Pugh, Nilaya was always going to be a fast, handsome yacht. In proportion to her Panamax sloop rig with its Rondal mast, the hull itself looks sleek and low to the water.

Her broad ‘flying’ stern displays the double-chined hull which, together with the low coachroof and flush decks, speaks of pace. But we now know this promise is delivered by a horde of smart, weight-saving innovations.

The experienced owner was clear from the off that he wanted a boat capable of serious racing. “He wanted comfort and safety to explore the world in an extremely lightweight yacht that could also assure victories in superyacht regattas,” says Mario Pedol of Nauta.

Photo: Nico Martinez/Studio Borlenghi

“The deck design plan meets the often-conflicting needs for a solid and safe yacht that is also efficient, modern and powerful. Nilaya ’s racy, low profile, straight bow, wide aft sections and twin carbon fibre rudders echo the look of her owner’s previous yacht while communicating even greater speed and performance.”

Ocean Race legend and long-term tactician and race captain on Nilaya , Bouwe Bekking, sheds some light on the design process (we spoke with him after he completed the first transatlantic aboard). “The previous Nilaya was built as a cruiser, but we started racing it more and more,” he explains.

“We turned it around for this boat – she should be perfect for racing, but then the cruising is fantastic as well. Very often cruising boats are a little restricted in the layout. The whole philosophy is a little different.”

Metallic appeal

A key part of the quest for performance was low displacement, and almost no stone was left unturned here. Intriguingly, the designers calculated that the difference between a carbon and an aluminium hull was just a few percentage points of the overall boat weight, so the owner eventually opted for the safety and impact resistance of metal.

“For the kind of size he wanted, you get into heavy displacement,” adds Bekking. “You can go with carbon, but how much lighter really is it? And one of the disadvantages is how noisy it is. Turn a winch and you hear it through the whole boat – it’s the same with sailing through waves.”

The cockpit becomes an oasis of relaxation when moored, or a comfortable place to watch the action when Nilaya is racing. Photo: Giuliano Sargentini

The aluminium structure of the hull was planned by engineers at Royal Huisman using a new tool that draws on computer modelling established by the European Space Agency. In essence, it makes detailed calculations about the size and positioning of the structural members of the boat – what used to be called scantling. In areas where greater forces will be at work, the frames are closer together and the hull panels thicker – elsewhere they are fewer and lighter.

Alustar aluminium is used throughout, and this offers an immediate 20% weight saving over other alloys. Elsewhere, carbon fibre reinforcing is bonded straight to the aluminium structure, and the whole 16m coachroof structure is also in carbon. This really is a composite yacht.

Time and time again, the owner was willing to invest in order to achieve weight savings – especially up in the rig where it has the greatest impact on the yacht’s stability. Royal Huisman sister company Rondal also did its bit by designing new curved spreaders which are shorter and more aerodynamic. And a taper to the masthead with a novel headboard hook for the mainsail saved 150kg up top.

“The mast was built at Rondal with important input from Doyle Sails, Scott Ferguson and Bouwe Bekking, amongst others,” explains owner’s rep Nigel Ingram, whose company MCM Newport managed the build.

“Having the rig and sail package design early allowed that information to be included in the weight study and ultimately the hull lines. Plus, of course, it gave us the benefit of the experience and expertise that these guys brought to the table. I believe the end result is the best big-boat rig that I have seen.”

Just a couple of steps down the companionway and you enter the raised saloon. Photo: Giuliano Sargentini

Other weight-saving tricks included speccing titanium deck gear instead of stainless steel – a costly but worthwhile exercise which also reduces maintenance time. Then there was a 1,200kg saving through using a new lock-based runner arrangement and a new-generation of hybrid (carbon/aluminium) captive winches which weigh less than half a typical all-metal unit.

Bekking’s feedback here was also central to developments. “I was active on the whole deck layout,” he says. “Very often, you’re getting under winched, but when you’re cruising, you want to go fast and sail optimally. The layout on Nilaya looks like a race boat on deck – it’s very comfortable.”

Below deck, the engineers managed to shave 2,000kg off the propulsion system, including using a smaller diesel engine that can get a hybrid boost from an electric motor. They also saved 600kg with a smart aircon setup that recovers waste heat.

Article continues below…

It all began to add up, and the yard estimates that it has managed to reduce the weight of Nilaya by some 11% compared to its previous advanced cruising yachts. After the build had begun, Huisman branded this new weight-saving approach as ‘Featherlight’ and it is now offering the benefits to other clients.

But to focus solely on this aspect of the boat is to miss much of its appeal. Yes, she should be able to hold her own on any superyacht regatta course, but she is no all-out racer. With ambitions to cruise remote corners of the globe for long periods of time, the owner was clear from the off that Nilaya had to be supremely comfortable to live on – after all, that was part of the purpose in moving up from his previous yacht, a highly successful Baltic 112 .

Supreme comfort

Guests have the run of three dedicated areas on deck. A section of the aft deck folds out hydraulically to reveal stairs down to the beach club, and there are sun loungers, a sofa and even a coffee table here. The helm and sail controls are all led clear of the cockpit, which becomes another oasis of relaxation when the boat is moored, or a comfortable vantage point for watching the action when she’s underway.

Up to 14 people can dine in comfort, while two sun loungers transform into chaise longues that can be adjusted to compensate for heeling angles up to 30° (you might want to hold on in the tack). The foredeck tender bay can also become a cosy forward cockpit with a table and fitted cushions.

For the first time, the new photography also brings the yacht’s interior to life. It’s just a couple of steps down from the cockpit into the raised saloon, which has fantastic views through its 360° glass windows. This social hub has dining and lounging as well as an office corner and a fold-away pantry arrangement which leaves no trace when it’s not required.

There are three flexible twin/double cabins down further companionways, two of them with Pullman berths. And the master cabin lies forward, filling the full beam with its own dressing area and bathroom.

“The cabin was a design challenge, as it lies beneath the tender bay and required careful study of volumes,” says Nauta’s Pedol. “The ceiling balances the tender bay’s central dip with two higher domes at the side passages giving an excellent sense of the impressive width of the cabin.”

It’s all wrapped up in a blend of traditional and modern styling chosen by May Vervoordt, a Belgian designer and member of the art aristocracy known for a taste in understated luxury. “Working with her and the owner, Nauta conceived a colour scheme that combines a modern look on the bulkheads with classic elegance,” says Pedol.

“The use of white lacquered panels with a groove detail makes the interiors fresh and bright. Mahogany used in furniture, flooring and ceiling frames gives classic warmth and a sense of breadth to the interior.”

Crew cabins and working areas have not been neglected and are well dimensioned. The design allows for a complement of eight permanent crew on board – enough to allow much-needed down time on long cruises without sacrificing service levels.

The working areas of the boat are positioned aft in a clear division from the guests. A dedicated companionway emerges aft between the two wheels, from where it is simple to reach guests in the cockpit or down on the beach club.

Light wind race practice for the seasoned Nilaya team on Palma Bay.

Throughout the boat, close attention was paid to reducing noise levels. “Noise and vibration on board was the only area where the owner chose to ‘spend’ additional weight in order to achieve maximum effect,” says Ingram. “Additionally, the yard researched many alternative insulation materials and techniques, so we were able to achieve the best results.”

Not that Nilaya will need it when she’s in her native sailing mode. With her Doyle sails hoisted and set, she’s capable of matching wind speeds up to her hull speed of 16 knots, making for rapid passage times. Bekking can attest to her performance after a pre-Christmas shake-down passage across the Atlantic to Antigua with the owner and a bunch of his friends.

Performance potential

“He wanted a fast crossing, pushing the boat as hard as we could – just a little flatter for mealtimes,” Bekking says. “Otherwise, we tried to sail the boat to the maximum. We had relatively light breezes, so it wasn’t difficult conditions as such. It took us 10 days sailing a long way away from the rhumbline course. We had 11-12 knots average boat speeds.

“We had one little transition across a front where we sailed a bit upwind, but otherwise it was easy downwind. We sailed full main and a lot of Code 0 with a smaller staysail in between. When the breeze got wider it was the gennaker and the staysail.”

The passage gave the crew valuable information about the way the boat performs, including the crossovers between sails at different wind speeds and angles. It’ll all come in useful for Nilaya ’s next big test, racing at the St Barth Bucket Regatta, where she’ll be competing alongside another fresh launch, the 59m Frers-designed Maximus from fellow dutch yard Vitters.

Doyle’s structured luff sail design requires less forestay tension to maintain optimum foil shape. This in turn allowed Nilaya to use a slightly lighter rig

Nilaya will be taking on extra race crew to boost the full complement to 22, including the owner and a number of his long-term racing buddies. But otherwise, Bekking says there’s not much about the boat that needs tuning ahead of the start.

“We will reduce the amount of fuel and water on board. Then there’s two anchors, so we take one anchor and chain off. The interior of the boat remains because the permanent crew stays aboard, and part of the race crew as well. Maybe all the toys will come off. The rig is quite close to optimum already, but you can still do a couple of things. Just tweaks – if you make big changes you have to go through the yard for the insurance aspect.”

Bekking is typically understated about their prospects at the Bucket. “It will be an eye opener,” he says. “You never know the first time you go racing against the others. Also, because it’s a pursuit race and it’s still difficult to overtake. Nilaya ’s a big beast – hard to get the sails up. But we’ll have a couple of days beforehand in St Barth and the crew have been sailing a lot together.”

After that, Nilaya ’s future is less clear. Between the transatlantic and another long passage to Cuba and back, she’s already covered plenty of miles. She has no further racing scheduled for 2024, but the year will certainly involve bluewater and there’s the hint of warm Antipodean Pacific Ocean breezes to come.

Nilaya specifications

LOA: 47m 154ft LWL: 45m 147ft Beam: 10m 33ft Draught: 4.5-6.9m 15-23ft Propulsion: Scania D1 16090M (plus 140kW PM motor; 2x Volvo D4 175 gensets) Sail area upwind: 1,269m2 13,659ft2 Sail area downwind: 2,141m2 20,045ft2

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams. Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Please use a modern browser to view this website. Some elements might not work as expected when using Internet Explorer.

• Landing Page
• Luxury Yacht Vacation Types
• Corporate Yacht Charter
• Tailor Made Vacations
• Luxury Exploration Vacations
• View All 3704
• Motor Yachts
• Sailing Yachts
• Classic Yachts
• Catamaran Yachts
• Filter By Destination
• More Filters
• Latest Reviews
• Charter Special Offers
• Destination Guides
• Inspiration & Features
• Mediterranean Charter Yachts
• France Charter Yachts
• Italy Charter Yachts
• Croatia Charter Yachts
• Greece Charter Yachts
• Turkey Charter Yachts
• Bahamas Charter Yachts
• Caribbean Charter Yachts
• Australia Charter Yachts
• Thailand Charter Yachts
• Dubai Charter Yachts
• Destination News
• New To Fleet
• Charter Fleet Updates
• Special Offers
• Industry News
• Yacht Shows
• Corporate Charter
• Finding a Yacht Broker
• Charter Preferences
• Questions & Answers
• Add my yacht

NOT FOR CHARTER *

This Yacht is not for Charter*

SIMILAR YACHTS FOR CHARTER

View Similar Yachts

Or View All luxury yachts for charter

• Luxury Charter Yachts
• Sailing Yachts for Charter
• Amenities & Toys

NILAYA yacht NOT for charter*

46.8m  /  153'7 | royal huisman | 2023.

Owner & Guests

• Previous Yacht

Special Features:

• Built in 2023
• Lloyds Register ✠ 100A1, SSC, Yacht, Mono, G6 classification
• Interior design from Nauta Design
• Sleeps 10 overnight
• 7m/23' Xtenders RIB

The 46.8m/153'7" sail yacht 'Nilaya' was built by Royal Huisman in the Netherlands at their Vollenhove shipyard. Her interior is styled by Italian designer design house Nauta Design and she was delivered to her owner in April 2023. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of Nauta Design.

Guest Accommodation

Nilaya has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 10 guests in 5 suites. She is also capable of carrying up to 8 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience.

Range & Performance

Nilaya is built with a aluminium hull and carbon fibre superstructure, with teak decks. Powered by 1 x diesel Scania (DI 16) 188hp engines, she reaches a maximum speed of 18 knots. Her water tanks store around 4,000 Litres of fresh water. She was built to Lloyds Register ✠ 100A1, SSC, Yacht, Mono, G6 classification society rules.

*Charter Nilaya Sail Yacht

Sail yacht Nilaya is currently not believed to be available for private Charter. To view similar yachts for charter , or contact your Yacht Charter Broker for information about renting a luxury charter yacht.

Nilaya Yacht Owner, Captain or marketing company

'Yacht Charter Fleet' is a free information service, if your yacht is available for charter please contact us with details and photos and we will update our records.

Nilaya Photos

Nilaya Awards & Nominations

• Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2024 Outstanding Exterior Sailing Yachts Finalist
• Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2024 Best Interior Design: Sailing Yachts Finalist
• Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2024 Best Naval Architecture: Sailing Yachts Finalist
• Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2024 Eco Award Finalist
• Boat International Design & Innovation Awards 2024 Innovation of the Year Finalist
• The World Superyacht Awards 2024 Sailing Yacht 40M and above Nomination
• International Superyacht Society Awards 2024 Best Sail 40 M+ Finalist

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Specification

S/Y Nilaya

SIMILAR LUXURY YACHTS FOR CHARTER

Here are a selection of superyachts which are similar to Nilaya yacht which are believed to be available for charter. To view all similar luxury charter yachts click on the button below.

51m | Yıldızlar Yachting

from $134,000 p/week ♦︎

Ocean Pure 1

46m | Custom

from $84,000 p/week

The Maj Oceanic

47m | Custom

from $70,000 p/week

50m | Custom

from $94,500 p/week

49m | Custom

from $91,000 p/week ♦︎

46m | Radez

from $94,000 p/week ♦︎

Anima Maris

from $69,000 p/week ♦︎

Cakiryildiz

43m | East Yachting

from $44,000 p/week ♦︎

45m | Custom

from $80,500 p/week

48m | Tramontana

43m | Eastern Shipbuilding

from $68,000 p/week

44m | Custom

from $52,000 p/week ♦︎

As Featured In

The YachtCharterFleet Difference

YachtCharterFleet makes it easy to find the yacht charter vacation that is right for you. We combine thousands of yacht listings with local destination information, sample itineraries and experiences to deliver the world's most comprehensive yacht charter website.

San Francisco

• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Instagram
• Find us on LinkedIn
• Add My Yacht
• Affiliates & Partners

Popular Destinations & Events

• St Tropez Yacht Charter
• Monaco Yacht Charter
• St Barts Yacht Charter
• Greece Yacht Charter
• Mykonos Yacht Charter
• Caribbean Yacht Charter

Featured Charter Yachts

• Maltese Falcon Yacht Charter
• Wheels Yacht Charter
• Victorious Yacht Charter
• Andrea Yacht Charter
• Titania Yacht Charter
• Ahpo Yacht Charter

Receive our latest offers, trends and stories direct to your inbox.

Please enter a valid e-mail.

Thanks for subscribing.

Search for Yachts, Destinations, Events, News... everything related to Luxury Yachts for Charter.

Yachts in your shortlist

This is Why Nilaya is the Most Beautiful Sailing Superyacht of 2023

The outstanding performance of the 47m Nauta Design and Reichel/Pugh design, skillfully crafted by Royal Huisman , was evident during sea trials in May . Since then, the owner has taken possession of the yacht and begun relishing its remarkable combination of interior comfort and sailing prowess.

Nilaya embarked on a journey to Antigua in late November, completing a ten-day Atlantic crossing that perfectly met the owner’s expectations for speed, durability, reliability, and tranquility. The satisfaction of both the professional race team leader, Bouwe Bekking , and the full-time skipper, Romke Loopik, added to the overall contentment.

Distinguished by its sleek, contemporary lines and cleverly concealed deckhouse, Nilaya captivates the hearts of genuine yachting enthusiasts. Meticulously proportioned, with a modern plumb bow and a straight sheer gracefully tapering to a spacious, open transom, the yacht is instantly recognizable. Enhanced by an exquisite custom carbon sloop rig, Nilaya boasts a Panamax air draft, offering the potential to unfurl an extraordinary spread of sail. Effortlessly reaching speeds of 17 knots on a broad reach with just 18 knots of wind, she embodies a harmonious blend of style and performance.

“ Nilaya’s racy, low profile, straight bow and  wide aft sections echo the look of her owner’s previous yacht while communicating even greater speed and performance, ” says Mario Pedol, co-founder of Nauta Design. “ She will be the world’s lightest aluminium sailing superyacht by length, rewriting the story ofhigh-performance superyachts. ”

The genesis of this remarkable sailing vessel traces back to the owner’s previous 34m yacht, also named Nilaya – a term signifying ‘blissful home’ in Sanskrit. When the decision was made to upgrade to a larger yacht, the owner was resolute about preserving the deckhouse aesthetics and adventurous spirit. To achieve this vision, he enlisted the same key collaborators for the new project: Nauta Design for the overall concept, exterior, and interior design, Reichel-Pugh for naval architecture, and MCM’s Nigel Ingram as the owner’s representative. The owner challenged them with a demanding task: enhance on-board comfort for a better quality of life with reduced noise levels, all while maintaining speed.

Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design spearheaded a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study, collaborating with America’s Cup CFD specialists Caponnetto Hueber and Giorgio Provinciali for Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) performance analysis. This exhaustive hull design study aimed to improve sea-keeping and motion, both under power and sail, across various speeds, heel angles, and wave conditions, while also enhancing real and ORCsy rated performance. Twelve models were tested before settling on the final hull shape. VPP results indicated that, in 10 knots of breeze, Nilaya would achieve nearly 13 knots sailing upwind with mainsail and jib, and nearly 18 knots while reaching at a 90° wind angle in a 15-knot breeze.

Although lightweight carbon-fiber construction was initially considered, the design team ultimately favored aluminum due to its compelling advantages. The 47m size of the boat pushed the upper limits of practical molding for carbon-fiber, while aluminum offered unparalleled robustness and quietness—qualities highly valued for a bluewater voyager.

“ I started thinking that an aluminium hull weighs 60-70% more than a carbon boat, but the weight of the hull and deck is only about 15% of the total weight of a sailing yacht,”  says Mario Pedol.  “Our early intuition was that an aluminium construction sailing yacht could be much lighter than the existing aluminium fleet. Royal Huisman supported this vision with enthusiasm and accepted the challenging target of building a light displacement yacht.”

This insightful approach found a powerful ally in Royal Huisman, a global leader in the construction of lightweight aluminum sailing yachts. Leveraging their position, the Dutch shipyard applied the innovative Featherlight methodology, inspired by spacecraft technology. Collaborating with Nauta and Reichel-Pugh, they successfully implemented measures that led to significant weight reductions. Techniques such as adjusting the thickness of Alustar plates, optimizing frame spacing, incorporating lightweight foam-cored paneling, and employing advanced carbon fiber composites for the deckhouse and guest cockpit all contributed to lowering Nilaya’s overall displacement.

The Featherlight™ methodology employed by Royal Huisman utilized Finite Element Analysis (FEA), a design approach rooted in spacecraft technology. FEA modeling involves intricate mathematical geometric computations that predict how a component or an entire product will respond under stress, including various load forces.

“ The final outcome represents a new concept in aluminium construction,”  explains Pedol. “ Nilaya has a displacement  which is 15% more than an equivalent full-carbon boat. That’s a lot less than any other comparable aluminium yacht on the water. ”

Nauta has drawn on all its long experience to make Nilaya’s exterior profile as beautiful as it is pragmatic. The coachroof blends gracefully with the sheerline, while the wide stern flies above the water, showing off the hull’s double chines. Much thought went into optimising proportions to favour a coaming to protect the guest cockpit and a bulwark to protect the aft cockpit, manoeuvring area, and side passageways. “ A wooden plinth between sections in composite and the teak deck makes them visually lighter, and also conceals the string lights that illuminate the deck at night ,” says Massimo Gino , co founder of Nauta. “ Teak inserts on the bulwarks, coamings and coachroof further enrich the deck. ”

Abundant exterior social spaces grace this yacht, meticulously designed with an observant attention to detail. Consider the main guest cockpit nestled under the shelter of the carbon hardtop, where sun loungers aft seamlessly transform into adjustable chaise longues, perfectly aligning with the yacht’s heel. The space also boasts a generous full-sized dining table accommodating up to 14 guests, complemented by two additional low coffee tables, all thoughtfully shielded.

Shift your focus to the foredeck, where a recessed area accommodates the tender. When the tender is either launched or under tow, this space transforms into a cozy forward cockpit adorned with a table and fitted cushions. At the opposite end of the yacht, the expansive 10m-wide transom features a beach club equipped with sun loungers and sofas. A hydraulically operated hinged section of the aft deck unfolds to reveal a staircase leading down to the beach club. This section can be raised to access the crew tender housed in its aft garage.

Nauta’s vision reached into the aesthetics and functionality of the sailing hardware as well – nothing was ‘off the shelf’. “ Our customisation of deck hardware included the styling of the 21m Rondal boom, the through-deck fittings for jib sheets, the bollards and other elements ,” says  Gino. “ Removable gate-shaped grabrails were fitted on deck sections from the transom to the guest cockpit for the safety of crew and guests: when the gates are fitted, there are never more than two steps without a grabrail – a useful feature aboard a large yacht where walking distances, when heeled, are a consideration. ”

The interior stands as a source of immense pride, delivering the desired exceptional lifestyle for the owner and an optimally efficient service workflow for the crew. The owner’s decorator, May Vervoordt, curated the materials used in the interior styling.

The focal point of the interior is the splendid raised-deckhouse saloon, adorned with a contemporary mix of contrasting woods, light upholstery, and touches of muted blue and terracotta for sofas and cushions. The spacious dining area to port and comfortable lounging space to starboard offer guests panoramic 360-degree views, with a generous skylight connecting them to the wind and sails above. A designated work area in one corner, along with concealed amenities such as a wine cooler, coffee machine, fridge, and ice machine, provide functionality that seamlessly disappears when not in use, including a concealed pantry.

Descending forward and to starboard, the owner’s private domain unfolds. Beginning with a more secluded lounge or TV room, followed by a dressing room, and culminating in the owner’s cabin spanning the entire width of the boat forward. The expansive cabin accommodates a king-sized double bed, an L-shaped sofa, an office area, and a separate bathroom. Addressing the design challenge posed by the cabin’s location beneath the tender bay, Gino notes, “The ceiling balances the tender bay’s central dip with two higher domes at the side passages, giving an excellent sense of the impressive width of the cabin.”

Further forward is a VIP cabin accessible via stairs on the port side of the keel trunk. Two additional guest cabins, each with a Pullman berth, are accessed via an aft stairway and can be configured as twins or doubles through clever sliding joinery. The aft guest lobby incorporates vertical wine coolers and a guest day head.

Occupying the boat’s aft section, the crew area features a dedicated companionway to the aft deck. This space is dominated by a galley to starboard and a mess to port, both generously illuminated by large hull windows promoting natural light and crew well-being. The central corridor leading aft houses dedicated desks for the navigator and engineer, with four ensuite crew cabins, each furnished with bunks.

Nilaya is just starting out in her long career as bluewater cruiser, but it is already clear that she is an exceptional yacht. Her owner pushed for the highest quality throughout the build and he is there in every facet of her design, from that curved Rondal spreaders  to the detailing of the interior. Her world-girdling programme is still under wraps, but hopes are high for an appearance at the St Barths Bucket in March 2024.

Nilaya Specs 

Yacht name: Nilaya  Length overall: 47m / 154ft  Length waterline: 45m / 147ft  Beam: 10m / 33ft  Draft: 4.5 – 6.9m / 15 – 23ft  Accommodation: 8 – 10 owners / guests + 8 crew  General concept, ext. & interior design: Nauta Design   Naval architecture: Reichel / Pugh  Owners’ newbuild representative: Nigel Ingram, MCM Newport   Owners’ pro race team: Bouwe Bekking  Builder: Royal Huisman   Construction: Aluminum + carbon composite

Beneteau Introduces the New First 30… the Planing Cruiser

Grand soleil 52 performance: new life to the myth, the 7 most beautiful bays in the mediterranean sea, nautor swan merges with sanlorenzo group, live your passion, subscribe to our mailing list.

34 m Superyacht Nilaya launched by Baltic Yachts

• Inspiration

Related News

Popular news this week, popular news this month, latest news.

• Yacht Charter & Superyacht News >

Written by Mike Smith

The 34 metre super sailing yacht Nilaya has been launched by Baltic Yachts in Finland. On the third of May Finnish yard Baltic Yachts launched the 34.14m sailing yacht Nilaya from their Jakobstad facility. The result of a collaboration between Baltic Yachts, Nauta Yacht Design and Reichel Pugh Yacht Design, the Baltic 112 sailing yacht Nilaya is a superyacht that can deliver high sailing performance for her size with all the pedigree of a stripped-out racer. According to Baltic: “When high performance is high on the priorities, carbon fibre pre-preg composite construction is the obvious way to go.”

On the partnership, Baltic’s Managing Director Kenneth Nyfelt and Nauta’s CEO issued the statement, ” It has been a real pleasure working together during the three year build period. Also influential in the build process was Nigel Ingram of Marine Construction Management who worked closely on the project management of Nilaya.”

 With a displacement of just 90T, Nilaya incorporates a lifting keel which is capable of reducing her maximum draft to 3.5metres from 5.5metres, allowing her to enjoy shallower moorings and cruising grounds.

In addition to this sailing yacht Nilaya offers internal space equal to that of yachts of a higher LOA; featuring a deck house with all-round view, a large owner’s cabin and four large guest cabins. Crew are housed within three cabins in addition to the Captain’s double cabin and she boasts a spacious galley. Much attention has been paid to detail, resulting in a simple, synthetic yet timeless style across all aspects of the yacht. Following her completion she will be exhibited at the 2010 Monaco Yacht Show in September.

The Baltic 112 Sailing yacht Nilaya Saloon Interior Design Rendering

There are a handful of Baltic sailing yachts currently available for charter .

The Baltic Yachts superyachts under construction at the Baltic Yachts yard currently include the 66.8m ketch Panamax due 2011, the 51m Baltic 170 sloop, due 2014, and another Baltic 112, due 2011. Here is a link to the  Baltic Yachts launched to date.

More information about the Baltic 112 and sailing yacht Nilaya

The Baltic 112 Custom designed by Reichel-Pugh is set to be one of the most high-performance sailing boats of its size. The owner of this ambitious boat has a strong background in racing, so it was inevitable that he would want a superyacht that could deliver high performance with all the pedigree of a stripped-out racer.

When high performance is high on the priorities, carbon-fibre composite construction is the obvious way to go. However, for all but the most uncompromising of race boats, some element of noise reduction is essential to help mask the worst of those unwanted noises, especially when the engine is running.

Baltic has faced this dilemma many times before in previous projects. Performance versus sound insulation is a common challenge in superyacht construction, but the noise reduction requirements on the Baltic 112 RPN project were particularly demanding. So Baltic Yachts called in some leading marine noise reduction experts from the Netherlands.

Project Manager Pekka Laurila says this project has involved finite element analysis to predict vibrations, and that they have drawn on the experience of the luxury motor yacht industry where engine noise creates all kinds of noise reduction challenges.

However, motor yachts tend to have more space available for installing noise insulation, points out Laurila. That’s a luxury that’s not available in this project. “Spare space is in very short supply on Baltic 112 RPN. The freeboard height is low, so there’s not much room below the floor boards, and not much height above the ceiling. In the aft areas of the hull it will be a challenge to put in much noise-reducing material, where the bilge is non-existent, and there is just 20mm gap between the floorboards and the hull.”

Whereas many motor yacht projects might specify 300mm of noise insulation thickness, that was never an option with the Baltic 112 RPN, where the isolation thickness has been specified at 30-40mm. After all, most of the time this boat will be under sail, not least because the owner is a passionate racing sailor who wants to enjoy the performance of his yacht as a sailing machine. Noise insulation comes at a cost, not just in terms of space but also in added weight, and this boat has been built with speed in mind. The Baltic 112 RPN will have a displacement of just 90 tons, a low figure considering that this boat also incorporates a lifting keel, capable of reducing the maximum draft of 5.50 metres to just 3.50 metres. As with many Baltic projects there are a number of high-profile, very experienced collaborators involved in the design and build of the 112.

Designers of many of the world’s best-known race boats, Reichel-Pugh, have drawn the sleek lines of the Baltic 112 RPN Custom, while Nauta Yachts in Milan has been responsible for much of the styling, the colours, the choice of woods, and the many other details that will contribute to a spectacular looking superyacht. Nigel Ingram of MCM Construction Management has been working closely with Laurila and the other partners in the project management of the 112 build, of which 95% of the structure is now complete.

Ingram is used to working on larger projects, but the challenge of composite construction and the attention to detail was what attracted him to the Baltic 112 RPN project. “The owner has been very well served by his choice of builder and designer. He has put together a good team, and a very workable budget, and I’m sure the boat will turn out very well. There are many challenges, mostly to do with weight. Keeping weight down and achieving the performance goals we’re aiming for with this boat has certainly kept us on our toes, but we’re confident all these goals will be reached.”

With the owner as racing and performance focused as he is, the team has put a lot of thought into getting the deck layout right for this boat, as Laurila explains. “We have put a lot of effort into making the deck simple but functional for racing. The deck gear is racing oriented, with many custom-made items from Harken. Some of the blocks they have made for this boat are beautiful. We went through three revisions of the deck layout to get things as close to perfection as we can.”

While the boat has been designed very much from a racing sailor’s point of view, it is also able to be handled by as few as two or three people. There is an underdeck Reckmann furler for genoa, with the sail hoisted on halyard lock, with tension applied to the jib luff through a Cunningham system. The mainsail will also be hoisted on to a halyard lock to remove some of the compression from the mast, allowing for a slightly lighter carbon-fibre section than would otherwise have been possible. A removable bowsprit can be put in place if gennakers are required for racing or fast long-distance passages at sea.

Laurila and his team have spent a lot of time and effort making the steering system as sensitive as possible. “We have a good in-house programme to predict rudder loads, and we spent a couple of intensive weeks trying to get the theoretical loads as light as possible, reviewing and improving the rudder geometry until we reached a figure that we felt was acceptable. We have got the maximum predicted loads down to 36kg on the wheel, which may sometimes occur when the boat is sailing at high speed. Keeping the loads at a low level means we don’t need a gear box, which is normally found in most steering systems of boats this size. We tried to build dinghy-like steering to make the helming of this boat as light, sensitive and enjoyable as possible. We look forward to seeing if we have succeeded in this, and all the other interesting aspects of this boat.”

Sailing yacht Nilaya Master Cabin

Main Characteristics of the Baltic 112 superyacht:

Naval Architect Reichel-Pugh General Engineering Nauta Yachts Interior and Deck Design Nauta Yachts LOA 34,135m LWL 30,758m Beam 7,520m Draft 5,50/3,50m Displacement 87000 kg Ballast 24000 kg IM 43,400m J 12,470m P 41,900m E 13,900m

Hull construction Hull is built in advanced composite construction using Carbon/Aramid. Sandwich material is Core-Cell. Deck construction Deck is built in advanced composite construction using prepreg Carbon. Sandwich to be Core-Cell foam. Keel Lifting keel

Interior Bulkheads and structural panels from Carbon/Epoxy/Core laminate. Visible surfaces covered with light wood. Mast and rigging Hall spars mast and boom. Standing Rigging PBO Main engine Cummins QSB59 -355 Hp at 2800 RPM

Propeller Brunton Varifold 4-blade Bow thruster Max Power R450 Tanks 6000 litres (fuel) 2800 litres (fresh water) Air Conditioning Condaria Tropical Batteries Starting batteries 24 V 200 Ah Service batteries 24 V1200 Ah Accommodation 14 persons, 7 cabins

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "34 m Superyacht Nilaya launched by Baltic Yachts".

• Charity & Fund Raising
• CharterWorld News
• Classic Yachts
• Coronavirus
• Cruise Ship
• Ecological Yachts
• Expedition Yachts
• Expert Broker Advice
• Feature Superyachts
• Interior Design
• Legal & VAT Yacht Issues
• Luxury Catamarans
• Luxury Gulet
• Luxury Phinisi
• Luxury Trimarans
• Luxury Yacht Design
• Luxury Yachts
• Marinas & Harbours
• Marine Ecology
• Marine Electronics
• Marine Equipment
• Mega Yachts
• Modern Yachts
• Motor Yachts
• New Launch Yachts
• New To Charter
• Open Style Sports Yachts
• Private Jets
• Sailing Yachts
• Social Media
• Sports Yachts
• Superyacht Crew
• Superyacht Photographers
• Superyacht Products & Supplies
• Superyacht Refits
• Superyacht Reviews
• Superyachts
• Uncategorized
• Yacht Builders
• Yacht Charter
• Yacht Charter Destinations
• Yacht Charter Picks
• Yacht Charter Specials
• Yacht Delivered to Owner
• Yacht Designers
• Yacht Events & Boat Shows
• Yacht Fashion
• Yacht Industry News
• Yacht Photos
• Yacht Racing
• Yacht Racing & Regattas
• Yacht Safety Equipment
• Yacht Support Vessels
• Yacht Tenders
• Yacht Videos
• Yachting Associations
• Yachting Awards
• Yachting Business
• Yachts For Charter
• Yachts For Sale

Quick Enquiry

Superyacht news:.

Email Your Yachting News to: news @ charterworld.com

Baltic Yachts

MIDNIGHT SUN OF LONDON

PERSEVERANCE I

Nauta and Reichel Pugh-designed Baltic 112′ Yacht NILAYA wins Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2013 in the SuperMaxi category

RORC Caribbean 600 Yacht Race kicks off

Nauta Design / Reichel Pugh yacht NILAYA Overall Winner of Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta 2014

Sailing Yacht JVNB 115′ Launched

Latest Amels superyacht AMELS 6006 completes her first sea trials

Motor yacht GALILEO in the Maldives until October 9th offering 10% off remaining weeks

2024 MONACO YACHT SHOW: Only two weeks to go before the superyachts dock at Port Hercule

Charter special offer on board 43m luxury yacht SUNRISE

Yacht Charter Etiquette: Essential advise for a seamless travel experience

Luxury motor yacht SIDURI III for charter in the Western Mediterranean

Superyacht Charters: A luxury alternative to celebrating Christmas and New Year at home

10 sensational superyachts with spectacular swimming pools

A luxury charter yacht is the perfect way to encounter New England’s fall foliage display

45m custom superyacht SAN will debut at the 2024 Monaco Yacht Show

31m luxury yacht CARPE DIEM available for charter in the Bahamas

Inaugural CROYA Charter Show announced for 4th to 6th October 2024 in Split, Croatia

Charter yachts offering citizen science opportunities around the world

55m superyacht YN20555 is launched by Heesen Yachts and named superyacht SERENA

Late summer special offer on board 72m superyacht ARBEMA in the Western Mediterranean

Find anything, super fast.

• Destinations
• Documentaries

We don't have any additional photos of this yacht. Do you?

Nilaya fully expresses the desire to combine beauty with technology and our willingness to listen and design according to input we receive on all levels of a commission.

Two different cockpits ensure privacy to guests and, in particular, allow crew to run and fine tune sail regulations from their dedicated aft control cockpit, in direct communication with the crew quarters, and featuring interesting solutions, such as the pivoting/telescopic hydraulic anchor arm, several manoeuvres fine adjustments as hydraulic jib cars and cunningham controls, recessed below deck and an easy mounting 2m long bowsprit for racing use.

On the other hand, the central cockpit is the social hub of outdoor life for guests, complete with a large relaxation and sunbed area, furnished with deck wine cellars and all the top items necessary for a full satisfying cruise.

The interior, done in mahogany veneer over a light core and cream-coloured ultraleather, has been designed on request to provide a classic yet timeless atmosphere.

The Owner opted for an “owner forward” layout, thus positioning the crew area, which had to be large and functional, aft. This layout is functional for a yacht often doing long passages with the crew only, and very well balanced in general as it keeps guest and crew areas, and the corresponding circulation passages, very well separated for the best privacy of all people on board.

The spacious owner’s cabin has an en-suite bathroom forward. Three other guest cabins are all en-suite and one, aft of the saloon, can also be used by the owner and his wife in a rough headsea.

At Nauta Yacht Design, our attention to the quality of life on board is equally concentrated on the operational aspects of the project. Time and thought invested in work areas and circulation pay back in terms of comfort for all.

A very spacious and functional Engine Room, comfortably accessible from the crew quarters, is hosted underneath the saloon. In the aft crew area we created an innovative open-plan, full-beam galley, mess and nav station with a dedicated companionway that leads to the sailing cockpit. An asymmetrical central counter allows the stewardess access to prep and clearing spaces, the sink and dishwasher without invading the chef’s workspace. In general the yacht can be “run” without disturbing the owner and his guests.

• Yacht Builder Baltic Yachts No profile available
• Naval Architect Reichel Pugh Yacht Design No profile available
• Exterior Designer Nauta Design View profile
• Interior Designer Nauta Design View profile

Yacht Specs

Other baltic yachts, related news.

The global authority in superyachting

• NEWSLETTERS
• Yachts Home
• The Superyacht Directory
• Yacht Reports
• Brokerage News
• The largest yachts in the world
• The Register
• Yacht Advice
• Yacht Design
• 12m to 24m yachts
• Monaco Yacht Show
• Builder Directory
• Designer Directory
• Interior Design Directory
• Naval Architect Directory
• Yachts for sale home
• Motor yachts
• Sailing yachts
• Explorer yachts
• Classic yachts
• Sale Broker Directory
• Charter Home
• Yachts for Charter
• Charter Destinations
• Charter Broker Directory
• Destinations Home
• Mediterranean
• South Pacific
• Rest of the World
• Boat Life Home
• Owners' Experiences
• Conservation and Philanthropy
• Interiors Suppliers
• Owners' Club
• Captains' Club
• BOAT Showcase
• Boat Presents
• Events Home
• World Superyacht Awards
• Superyacht Design Festival
• Design and Innovation Awards
• Young Designer of the Year Award
• Artistry and Craft Awards
• Explorer Yachts Summit
• Ocean Talks
• The Ocean Awards
• BOAT Connect
• Between the bays
• Golf Invitational
• BOATPro Home
• Superyacht Insight
• Global Order Book
• Premium Content
• Product Features
• Testimonials
• Pricing Plan
• Tenders & Equipment

34m Baltic sailing yacht Nilaya sold

The 34.14 metre Baltic sailing yacht Nilaya has been sold with Superyacht Partners representing the seller and Ocean Independence introducing the buyer.

Built in composite by Baltic and delivered in 2010 with a refit in 2017, she was penned by Nauta Design , who also designed the interior. Since she was delivered she has proven to be one of the most successful high-performance superyachts launched by Baltic Yachts to date, with numerous regatta wins to her name.

The accommodation comprises four spacious guest cabins including a large and luxurious owner’s suite, three crew cabins and a huge galley. She displaces just 89 tons and features a lifting keel that reduces her draft from 5.5 metres to just 3.5 metres. A key feature is a sleek, low-level deckhouse providing an immense amount of natural light below and a panoramic view from within.

When she was launched she heralded a new breed of genuine multi-role superyachts that combine racing performance with superb comfort and exceptional, high-speed cruising capability. 

Under power, a 418hp Cummins diesel engine allows a comfortable cruising speed of 12 knots.

Nilaya was asking €9,250,000 with VAT paid.

Sign up to BOAT Briefing email

Latest news, brokerage headlines and yacht exclusives, every weekday

By signing up for BOAT newsletters, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy .

More about this yacht

Similar yachts for sale, more stories, most popular, from our partners, sponsored listings.

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Newsletters
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Balance transfer cards
• Cash back cards
• Rewards cards
• Travel cards
• Online checking
• High-yield savings
• Money market
• Home equity loan
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Options pit
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

'Too dangerous to ignore' – Russia's malicious activity in the Baltics set to test NATO resolve

“Russian intelligence is everywhere. And its propaganda is everywhere, not only in Estonia but all over the world,” Estonian President Alar Karis told the Kyiv Independent during an interview on the sidelines of the 20th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) Conference in Kyiv.

Russia has been actively meddling in the domestic affairs of the Baltic states.

An Estonian professor was arrested by the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS or Kapo) in January 2024 on suspicion of being a Russian spy and later sentenced to six years in prison.

Meanwhile, Moscow has also been ratcheting up tensions in the Baltic Sea . GPS jamming, disappearing buoys and an aborted "ocean-grab" are just some of the recent events that are raising concerns about the Kremlin's intentions in the region.

"Things are coming to the surface again in a very dramatic way at the moment," Elisabeth Braw , a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, tells the Kyiv Independent.

Read also: Estonian President Karis: We have to cross all ‘red lines,’ then start forcing Russia out of Ukraine

Testing waters

A draft decree posted on the Kremlin's website on May 21 declared Russia would be unilaterally redrawing the maritime border with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, the draft decree vanished on May 22.

There has been no public explanation from the Kremlin as to why it was taken down, but Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis described it as "an obvious escalation against NATO and the EU."

A day after the draft decree disappeared, so did buoys on the Narva River which mark the separation of Russian and Estonian territory.

Both countries agreed on the buoys' location in 2022, but the Kremlin then backtracked and disputed the placement of more than half of the 250 markers, which Russian border guards unilaterally began removing on May 23 without providing an explanation.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas described it as a "border incident" and said it was being investigated.

“You see quite a lot of change in the Baltics. We are trying to convince our people to spend more on defense, to build up factories, to cooperate more with Ukraine, and to learn everything that we can because we feel that if Ukraine is unable to stop the Russians, then the Russians will not stop, and then who knows what will happen next,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the Kyiv Independent in an exclusive interview.

"If Ukraine is unable to stop the Russians, then the Russians will not stop."

The Latvian defense minister shared a similar concern.

"We are in a hybrid conflict right now," Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 23.

"Unfortunately, this is the neighbor we are facing," he added.

Jamming signal

Russia has been suspected of intentionally jamming the GPS systems aboard commercial aircraft for more than a decade, but incidents over the Baltic Sea region have skyrocketed in recent months.

According to a report by The Sun in April based on data from the website GPSJAM.org , some 46,000 aircraft have reported problems over the Baltic Sea since the previous August, with most of them occurring in Eastern Europe near borders with Russia.

Some incidents have resulted in aircraft having to turn around mid-flight, and even a plane carrying the U.K. defense secretary has been targeted.

Describing the phenomenon earlier this year, Landsbergis said it was "getting too dangerous to ignore."

While it's almost impossible to definitively prove who is responsible for the GPS jamming, a jammer blocks a signal from the point where it is deployed up to a distance of 350 kilometers for some military-grade models.

This means in order to block GPS signals over the Baltic Sea, the jammer would have to be located in one of the countries surrounding it. Unless NATO countries are engaging in self-sabotage, this leaves one obvious candidate – Russia.

The Baltic states have also been actively countering a variety of other attacks, including cyber.

“We have been prepared for cyber-attacks for quite a long time because they started in 2007. We also start to convince also Western parties that this is a very important issue,” President Karis told the Kyiv Independent.

Read also: Lithuanian FM: West ‘chose to be caught off guard’ by Russia’s invasion

Military intentions

Back in May, an ominous warning was issued by NATO's newest member, Sweden .

Micael Byden, the supreme commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, said Putin may be seeking dominance over the Baltic Sea and has his eye on the Swedish island of Gotland.

Located around 330 kilometers (around 200 miles) north of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, Gotland is Sweden's largest island, and its central location means it is of vital strategic importance in the Baltic Sea.

"Who controls Gotland controls the Baltic Sea," said Byden.

NATO military exercises in the Black Sea in June were another reminder of how much things have changed in a short time. Twenty NATO member states, including the recently added Sweden and Finland, put forward 9,000 troops, 50 ships, and 45 aircraft to take part in the drills.

What does Russia have in the region?

As well as having direct access to the Baltic Sea through its most eastern arm in the Finnish Gulf, Russia also has the exclave of Kaliningrad, a small piece of land sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

Russia's Baltic Sea Fleet has its headquarters and main base in Kaliningrad, with another base in Baltiysk.

Western analysts have described the size and power of the Baltic Sea Fleet as " somewhat limited ," and when Russia conducted military exercises in the Baltic Sea in August 2023, around 30 warships and boats were set to take part, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

But that's not all Russia possesses in Kaliningrad.

"Kaliningrad is essentially a Russian weapons depot, and it has a lot of militarily operational equipment in use, not just in storage," Braw said.

According to a December 2023 article by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , Russia has amassed a "formidable" arsenal of weapons in the exclave in recent years that includes "cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and nuclear weapons."

So what's going on?

Without a direct line to the Kremlin, it's impossible to know for certain, and expert opinion varies from an escalating hybrid war to an outright intention to invade the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

The top officials from all three states are well aware of such a possibility.

“When we add up the number of troops, missiles, tanks, and money, Russia is nowhere near the power that it was during the Soviet Union when it could match NATO,” Landsbergis told the Kyiv Independent.

“In real military scenarios, it's incomparable. NATO could overwhelm Russia.”

“But the Russians are not counting on that. They are counting on – how they explain it to themselves –  democratic weakness, inability to make decisions, differences in opinions,” he added.

"NATO could overwhelm Russia."

Throughout 2024, Western and NATO officials have been sounding the alarm on Russia's expansionist ambitions beyond Ukraine.

Denmark's Defence Minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said on Feb. 9 Russia could attack a NATO country "within a three–to five-year period."

A top German general a day later said Germany should be prepared for a war with Russia within the next five years . And a senior Estonian official told the Financial Times (FT) in the same month that Russia’s "intent and capability” to attack a NATO country before the end of the decade was "pretty much consensus" within the military alliance.

If accurate, a simple matter of geography puts the Baltic states in the crosshairs of these future scenarios.

While on paper, NATO is far more powerful than Russia , Dr. Jan Kallberg, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, Washington D.C., and a fellow at the Army Cyber Institute at West Point, said the Kremlin could be relying on an inefficient and incoherent response from the military bloc to offset this.

"They maybe think the Western leadership isn't tough enough to stand up when things really hit the fan," he tells the Kyiv Independent, adding: "They might think that they can act quickly and the West won't have the time to do force generation in the area and they can, with little means, just capture the Baltics and the West faces a fait accompli.”

"Their bet is that the Western leadership would cave in," Kallberg said.

Two days after Kallberg spoke to the Kyiv Independent, a Russian think tank with a large influence on Kremlin policy said Moscow should consider a " demonstrative " nuclear explosion to dissuade the West from allowing its weapons to be used to strike inside Russia.

Such a nuclear scenario is, according to some Western officials, already enough to worry the U.S. to the point where Washington has taken preemptive steps to prevent it.

“Russia knows very well that it's not the only nuclear power in Europe and in the world. I don't think we are going to test a nuclear attack on any country,” President Karis said, however.

Latvian Foreign Minister Spruds is also measured in his assessment, saying that for Latvia and the other Baltic states, it's "nothing new for us."

"For us, there is no need to panic because we've been used to hybrid activities already for years," he said, adding: "It's cyber attacks, it's weaponization of illegal migration, it's disinformation campaigns, it's some incidents against critical infrastructure.

"So we've seen it, and we are experiencing it permanently."

Read also: ‘The goal should be strategic defeat of Russia’ – Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds

Does Russia want war in the Baltic Sea region?

As alarming as the prospect of further Russian invasions, naval assaults, and "demonstrative" nuclear explosions are, Braw cautions against getting too wrapped up in looking for outright signs of military aggression.

"Frankly, I don't think taking over the Baltic states is Russia's first objective," she said.

"If you invade a country, if you break it, you own it – and occupying and administering occupied territory is extremely cumbersome, as Russia is seeing in Ukraine. I think weakening them, destabilizing them, and making them in many ways failed states is more what Russia wants,” Braw added.

Braw points to things like GPS jamming forcing and the mysterious disappearing decrees on maritime borders as actions designed to waste the time and resources of the Baltic governments and "making them uncertain about what's next."

"And this is intended to create a sense of paranoia and inferiority where you eventually say, 'we just have to live with a great deal of Russian influence in the region,’" she added.

Braw also points out that there is little NATO can do about such things as it's only set up to respond to overt military aggression.

"The Russians have been imaginative before, this is what they're good at," she said.

"They think of different ways of harming other countries, achieving their goals, and they do it underneath the threshold of Article 5, which means the affected countries struggle to respond.”

Kallberg agrees that if the situation in the Baltic Sea escalates further, whatever comes next won't be an outright declaration of war but something designed to test NATO's response.

“For us, it's very important to keep this transatlantic bond. As far as defense (goes), the U.S. should be number one (leading) in this case,” President Karis said.

Read also: ‘It’s personal’ — Why Germany still refuses to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine

We’ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent .

Recommended Stories

New yahoo news/yougov poll: 8% of americans say taylor swift’s endorsement makes them more likely to vote for kamala harris.

Swift is unlikely to transform Trump voters into Harris voters, or vice versa. But she could convince some non-voters to turn out for Harris.

What a bigger-than-expected Fed rate cut would mean for the stock market

Recent market history shows the Federal Reserve typically only starts interest cuts with 50 basis point reductions when the economy is significantly weakening.

Who is Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in another apparent Trump assassination attempt?

The 58-year-old made his first court appearance Monday morning and was charged with federal gun crimes.

Fed rate cut decision risks investor 'angst' — here's what strategists are saying

At the Future Proof festival in California, top investment advisers debated the size of a looming Fed rate cut and how investors should position their portfolios for lower rates.

US employment falls by 818,000 in latest government revision

Wednesday's release shows the US labor market added fewer jobs than initially reported in the 12-month period ending in March 2024 but economists are wary about reading too much into the release.

Taylor Swift becomes most decorated VMAs solo artist, Francine makes landfall in La., Polaris Dawn crew conducts 1st civilian spacewalk

Get caught up on this morning’s news: The biggest MTV VMA moments, growing Calif. wildfires and more in today’s edition of The Yodel newsletter

Trump jumps into cryptocurrency, appears to know nothing about it

Donald Trump, who previously called Bitcoin a scam, has launched a new cryptocurrency venture called World Liberty Financial.

Photos: Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent Trump assassination attempt, faces 2 federal weapons charges

Routh, who appeared in court on Monday following his arrest in Martin County, Fla., may face additional charges.

Trump's answer to pretty much any question is either more oil drilling or tariffs. Few think it will work.

A series of appearances in recent weeks have solidified a truism about former President Donald Trump: Nearly every economic challenge, from deficits to the social safety net, can seemingly be solved with more oil drilling or new tariffs.

Who is Laura Loomer? Fringe far-right activist's access to Trump draws outrage from Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene

Far-right fringe activist Laura Loomer has appeared in former President Donald Trump's orbit this week. Who she is and why some of his GOP allies are outraged.

Sen. JD Vance addresses Trump's stance on a federal abortion ban: 'I've learned my lesson on speaking for the president'

Vance is hitting the brakes on playing Trump's spokesperson when it comes to abortion.

Pagers explode simultaneously in hundreds of Hezbollah members’ pockets

An attack in Lebanon on Tuesday reportedly killed eight people and injured over 2,700 — with hundreds of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members detonating simultaneously.

US charges five Russian military hackers with targeting Ukraine's government with destructive malware

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice accused five members of Russia’s military intelligence agency of hacking several Ukrainian government agencies, an unnamed U.S. government agency in Maryland and computers belonging to 26 NATO countries, among other victims. The DOJ announced the indictment of the five members of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, also known as GRU, and in particular its hacking Unit 29155. The indictment names Russian GRU colonel and commanding officer of cyber operations, Yuriy Denisov; lieutenants Vladislav Borovkov, Denis Denisenko, Dmitriy Goloshubov and Nikolay Korchagin; and a civilian co-conspirator, Amin Stigal, who was previously indicted for some of the same crimes.

'He did not fire or get off any shots': Suspect charged, appears in court as officials offer more details on Trump assassination attempt

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, made his first appearance in federal court Monday morning.

A key inflation metric is back to trending below the Fed’s 2% target: Chart of the Week

No big surprises came with Friday's PCE inflation reading, but the Fed got the affirmation it has long sought — on one timeframe, anyway.

Americans think they'll be out of work and are looking for jobs at highest rate in 10 years: NY Fed survey

More Americans are looking for jobs as unemployment concerns rise to their highest level in a decade.

Fact-checking the Harris-Trump debate, Hurricane Francine to make landfall in La., what to expect at the MTV VMAs

Get caught up on this morning’s news: Fact checks from the Harris-Trump debate, Hurricane Francine’s path and more in today’s edition of The Yodel newsletter

Trump Media stock jumps after Trump says he's 'not selling' shares

Near the end of a press conference near Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, former President Donald Trump said he's "not selling" shares of his social media company.

The NYC police commissioner just resigned amid a federal probe. Here's a look at the 4 investigations embroiling City Hall right now.

Edward Caban’s resignation comes just days after having his phone seized by federal agents as part of one of four ongoing criminal investigations into New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration.

Taylor Swift's Kamala Harris endorsement shows how she's honed her political voice — and influence

For years, Swift stayed silent about politics. Today, she'll "Speak Now," thank you very much.

Hot on the trail of 56 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs and subject to seizure

• Published: Mar. 06, 2022, 2:04 p.m.

French authorities have seized the yacht Amore Vero linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, as part of EU sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The boat arrived in La Ciotat on Jan. 3 for repairs and was slated to stay until April 1 and was seized to prevent an attempted departure. (AP Photo/Bishr Eltoni) AP

• The Associated Press

The massive superyacht Dilbar stretches one-and-a-half football fields in length, about as long as a World War I dreadnought. It boasts two helipads, berths for more than 130 people and a 25-meter swimming pool long enough to accommodate another whole superyacht.

Dilbar was launched in 2016 at a reported cost of more than $648 million. Five years on, its purported owner, the Kremlin-aligned Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, was already dissatisfied and sent the vessel to a German shipyard last fall for a retrofit reportedly costing another couple hundred million dollars.

That’s where she lay in drydock on Thursday when the United States and European Union announced economic sanctions against Usmanov — a metals magnate and early investor in Facebook — over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.

“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” President Joe Biden said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, addressing the oligarchs. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

But actually seizing the behemoth boats could prove challenging. Russian billionaires have had decades to shield their money and assets in the West from governments that might try to tax or seize them.

Several media outlets reported Wednesday that German authorities had impounded Dilbar. But a spokeswoman for Hamburg state’s economy ministry told The Associated Press no such action had yet been taken because it had been unable to establish ownership of the yacht, which is named for Usmanov’s mother.

Dilbar is flagged in the Cayman Islands and registered to a holding company in Malta, two secretive banking havens where the global ultra-rich often park their wealth.

Still, in the industry that caters to the exclusive club of billionaires and centimillionaires that can afford to buy, crew and maintain superyachts, it is often an open secret who owns what.

Working with the U.K.-based yacht valuation firm VesselsValue, the AP compiled a list of 56 superyachts — generally defined as luxury vessels exceeding 79 feet in length — believed to be owned by a few dozen Kremlin-aligned oligarchs, seaborne assets with a combined market value estimated at more than $5.4 billion.

The AP then used two online services — VesselFinder and MarineTraffic — to plot the last known locations of the yachts as relayed by their onboard tracking beacons.

While many are still anchored at or near sun-splashed playgrounds in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, more than a dozen were underway to or had already arrived in remote ports in small nations such as the Maldives and Montenegro, potentially beyond the reach of Western sanctions. Three are moored in Dubai, where many wealthy Russians have vacation homes.

Another three had gone dark, their transponders last pinging just outside the Bosporus in Turkey — gateway to the Black Sea and the southern Russian ports of Sochi and Novorossiysk.

Graceful, a German-built Russian-flagged superyacht believed to belong to Putin, left a repair yard in Hamburg on Feb. 7, two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. It is now moored in the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad, beyond the reach of Western sanctions imposed against him this past week.

Some Russian oligarchs appear to have not gotten the memo to move their superyachts, despite weeks of public warnings of Putin’s planned invasion.

French authorities seized the superyacht Amore Vero on Thursday in the Mediterranean resort town of La Ciotat. The boat is believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The French Finance Ministry said in a statement that customs authorities boarded the 289-foot Amore Vero and discovered its crew was preparing for an urgent departure, even though planned repair work wasn’t finished. The $120 million boat is registered to a company that lists Sechin as its primary shareholder.

On Saturday, Italian financial police in the port of San Remo seized the 132-foot superyacht Lena, which is flagged in the British Virgin Islands. Authorities said the boat belongs to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin and among those sanctioned by the European Union. With an estimated net worth of $16.2 billion, Timchenko is the founder of the Volga Group, which specializes in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets.

The 213-foot Lady M was also seized by the Italians while moored in the Riviera port town of Imperia. In a tweet announcing the seizure on Friday, a spokesman for Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said the comparatively modest $27 million vessel was the property of sanctioned steel baron Alexei Mordashov, listed as Russia’s wealthiest man with a fortune of about $30 billion.

But Mordashov’s upsized yacht, the 464-foot Nord, was safely at anchor on Friday in the Seychelles, a tropical island chain in the Indian Ocean not under the jurisdiction of U.S. or EU sanctions. Among the world’s biggest superyachts, Nord has a market value of $500 million.

Since Friday, Italy has seized $156 million in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.

Most of the Russians on the annual Forbes list of billionaires have not yet been sanctioned by the United States and its allies, and their superyachts are still cruising the world’s oceans.

The evolution of oligarch yachts goes back to the tumultuous decade after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, as state oil and metals industries were sold off at rock-bottom prices, often to politically connected Russian businessmen and bankers who had provided loans to the new Russian state in exchange for the shares.

Russia’s nouveau riche began buying luxury yachts similar in size and expense to those owned by Silicon Valley billionaires, heads of state and royalty. It’s a key marker of status in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and size matters.

“No self-respecting Russian oligarch would be without a superyacht,” said William Browder, a U.S.-born and now London-based financier who worked in Moscow for years before becoming one of the Putin regime’s most vocal foreign critics. “It’s part of the rite of passage to being an oligarch. It’s just a prerequisite.”

As their fortunes ballooned, there was something of an arms race among the oligarchs, with the richest among them accumulating personal fleets of ever more lavish boats.

For example, Russian metals and petroleum magnate Roman Abramovich is believed to have bought or built at least seven of the world’s largest yachts, some of which he has since sold off to other oligarchs.

In 2010, Abramovich launched the Bermuda-flagged Eclipse, which at 533 feet was at the time the world’s longest superyacht. Features include a wood-burning firepit and swimming pool that transforms into a dance floor. Eclipse also boasts its own helicopter hangar and an undersea bay that reportedly holds a mini-sub.

Dennis Cauiser, a superyacht analyst with VesselsFinder, said oligarch boats often include secret security measures worthy of a Bond villain, including underwater escape hatches, bulletproof windows and armored panic rooms.

“Eclipse is equipped with all sorts of special features, including missile launchers and self-defense systems on board,” Cauiser said. “It has a secret submarine evacuation area and things like that.”

Eclipse was soon eclipsed by Azzam, purportedly owned by the emir of Abu Dhabi, which claimed the title of longest yacht when it was launched in 2013. Three years after that, Usmanov launched Dilbar, which replaced another slightly smaller yacht by the same name. The new Dilbar is the world’s largest yacht by volume.

Abramovich, whose fortune is estimated at $12.4 billion, fired back last year by launching Solaris. While not as long as Eclipse or as big as Dilbar, the $600 million Bermuda-flagged boat is possibly even more luxurious. Eight stories tall, Solaris features a sleek palisade of broad teak-covered decks suitable for hosting a horde of well-heeled partygoers.

But no boat is top dog for long. At least 20 superyachts are reported to be under construction in various Northern European shipyards, including a $500 million superyacht being built for the American billionaire Jeff Bezos.

“It’s about ego,” Cauiser said. “They all want to have the best, the longest, the most valuable, the newest, the most luxurious.”

But, he added, the escalating U.S. and EU sanctions on Putin-aligned oligarchs and Russian banks have sent a chill through the industry, with boatbuilders and staff worried they won’t be paid. It can cost upwards of $50 million a year to crew, fuel and maintain a superyacht.

The crash of the ruble and the tanking of Moscow stock market have depleted the fortunes of Russia’s elite, with several people dropping off the list of Forbes billionaires last week. Cauiser said he expects some oligarch superyachts will soon quietly be listed by brokers at fire-sale prices.

The 237-foot Stella Maris, which was seen by an AP journalist docked this past week in Nice, France, was believed to be owned by Rashid Sardarov, a Russian billionaire oil and gas magnate. After publication of an earlier version of this story, AP was contacted Sunday by yacht broker Joan Plana Palao, who said his company represents a U.S. citizen from California who purchased the Stella Maris last month. He declined to disclose the name of the buyer or the person from whom the boat had been purchased.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a new round of sanctions that included a press release touting Usmanov’s close ties to Putin and photos of Dilbar and the oligarch’s private jet, a custom-built 209-foot Airbus A340-300 passenger liner. Treasury said Usmanov’s aircraft is believed to have cost up to $500 million and is named Bourkhan, after his father.

Usmanov, whose fortune has recently shrunk to about $17 billion, criticized the sanctions.

RECOMMENDED • oregonlive .com

Laura Streib: Portland City Council District 2 Sep. 13, 2024, 3:58 p.m.

Kezia Wanner: Portland City Council District 3 Sep. 11, 2024, 2:54 p.m.

“I believe that such a decision is unfair and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity and business reputation,” he said in a statement issued through the website of the International Fencing Federation, of which he has served as president since 2008.

Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned. Members of the British Parliament have criticized Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not going after Abramovich’s U.K.-based assets, which include the professional soccer club Chelsea. Under mounting pressure, the oligarch announced this past week he would sell the $2.5 billion team and give the net proceeds “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, location transponders showed Solaris moored in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday. Eclipse set sail from St. Maarten late Thursday and is underway in the Caribbean Sea, destination undisclosed.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

• Service & Refit
• Baltic Yachts Rendezvous

HALF A CENTURY OF WORLD CLASS YACHT BUILDING

28 june 2023.

In just five decades Baltic Yachts has evolved from respected series production boat builder to the world’s best composite custom yacht manufacturer, the go-to yard for innovation, performance and a hand-crafted finish second to none.

Baltic Yachts has become firmly established as one of the best superyacht builders in the world, renowned for its comprehensive knowledge of advanced composite building materials and its skilled workers’ ability to innovate with the latest materials and technology.

The company has achieved this in just 50 years and celebrations are now underway to mark its foundation and recognise its success through the 566 boats it has built.

In the modern era, names like Visione, Nilaya, Hetairos, Pink Gin, Nikata, WinWin, Perseverance and Canova dominate the world’s regatta podiums and awards ceremonies and with the company’s latest launches, including the Baltic 110 Zemi and the ground-breaking, Baltic 111 Custom, it maintains its dominance at the leading edge of superyacht sailing technology.

The significance of Queen Anne

As Baltic Yachts prepares to celebrate its foundation in Bosund in 1973, with a party for 500 including our workers, local partners and international guests at its Jakobstad headquarters, it’s appropriate that the very first yacht it built, the C&C-designed Baltic 46 Diva, now Queen Anne, will also be in attendance along with her owner and the owners and friends of the recently launched Baltic 110 Zemi. Queen Anne underwent a refit in Bosund, the place of her birth, and with a new engine, freshly painted topsides, new hatches, a refurbished teak deck and updated instrumentation, is almost as good as new.

Baltic 46 Queen Anne (originally named Diva) – the first ever Baltic yacht

Her presence is doubly significant because she not only demonstrates the sustainability of yachts Baltic built 50 years ago, using what was then the latest boat building technology like balsa sandwich construction, unidirectional glass fibre and tank tested design, but she also illustrates the story of Baltic’s foundation.

In the beginning…

In 1973, superyachting, the genre with which we are familiar today, was non-existent, but series production boat building was really getting into its stride. One of its leading proponents, Nautor Swan, based in Jakobstad, was successfully building yachts for a growing global market and had established an enviable reputation.

Despite this, a small group of the company’s young boat builders had devised ways of building boats lighter and stiffer to improve performance. They tried to convince their managers at Nautor it was the way ahead, but their ideas fell on deaf ears.

Convinced their theories would work, five young men, Per-Göran ‘PG’ Johansson, Tor Hinders, Nils Luoma, Ingmar Sundelin and Jan-Erik Nyfelt struck out on their own, setting up Baltic Yachts in the small village of Bosund just north of Jakobstad.

The first shed in the pine forest outside the village of Bosund

Generations of skilled workers

Why Bosund? It is no coincidence that modern yacht building of the highest standard continues to thrive in the area of Finland known as Ostrobothnia. Generations of skilled wood-workers built warships and trading vessels as long ago as the 16 th Century, supporting Finland and Sweden’s vast fleets of ships which travelled the world. Seafaring was part of the local population’s DNA and plentiful local timber made the area a natural choice for ship building.

In many ways those traditions are still very much in evidence and in 1973 the most important resource for the fledgling Baltic Yachts was a skilled local workforce. The Baltic Yachts Family came into being and now aged 50 is very much alive and well!

It was a tough winter start, snow falling relentlessly as the new company built its first boatshed. But their first model, the ambitious 46-footer Diva already described, reflected everything Baltic’s founders stood for – she was comparatively light, stiff and fast and was selected for the Canadian Admiral’s Cup team in 1975.

Boom time at the Hamburg Boat Show

The Hamburg Boat Show was a key outlet for Baltic in the early days with 15 sales in 1975 followed by 26 the following year. Although series production was the business model which underpinned Baltic’s early success, there were already signs of customisation and in Thomas Friese’s C&C-designed Baltic 42 Tina I-Punkt it was all-embracing. She was an out and out racing yacht designed to the IOR (International Offshore Rule) to fit the so-called Two Ton rating band (I.O.R. Rating under 32ft) which was particularly popular and successful at the time in the USA and in Europe. This heavily customised yacht was a sign of things to come.

But even PG and his team couldn’t have foreseen the phenomenal success of the Baltic 39 which sold out at its premiere in Hamburg in 1977 and went on to become the company’s most successful design in terms of numbers, with 74 sold. Her designers, Cuthbertson and Cassian (C&C) and their chief naval architect, the late Rob Ball, had impressed PG Johansson because of their use of VPP (velocity prediction program) computer calculations and other advanced design techniques which mirrored PG’s own belief in improving yachts with modern methods.

Baltic 39 – our first major commercial success

The International Offshore Rule resulted in yachts which, like the Baltic 39, were particularly fast upwind, but like many racing yachts of this era, were fully fitted out and made excellent family cruising yachts too. Combined with the quality of build these were very effective selling points.

The Hollming era

In the late 1970s the new company was dealt a body blow by the global oil crisis and sought a new owner. The giant ship builder Hollming Oy believed in Baltic’s approach and provided the resources to support its rapid growth, fund the development of new models and build a sales organisation. Baltic Yachts would remain part of Hollming for 12 years and during this period was famously asked by its owner to assist in the development of a secret Russian submarine by providing input for its composite shell structure. Despite some political controversy over the project, it was a productive exercise, the vacuum-infused, epoxy resin technology directly benefitting the build of the Baltic 43 Bully.

Expansion, masts and Midnight Sun

A combination of factors in the late 70s and early 80s saw Baltic advance dramatically as carbon fibre was first used. The new Baltic 51 showcased many of the technical developments the company had evolved using computer aided design and engineering. And in Bosund a new building hall was opened, vastly increasing production capacity and enabling much larger yachts to be built.  All sorts of innovation was in evidence, including pneumatically-powered cradles which would allow yachts to be moved effortlessly across the super-smooth floors of the new facility.

Baltic’s policy of drilling down into design and developing its own specification and checks for construction was not only beneficial for the quality of its yachts, but also impressed clients who were increasingly keen to get involved to learn how their yachts were built. They were actively encouraged to visit the yard to see their yacht under construction, something some other builders discouraged.

Baltic’s approach to design enabled the company to start building its own masts around 1980, their black anodised finish becoming a hallmark. The ability to build on site and on time greatly assisted production.

Baltic Yachts mast production (first picture) and Baltic 80 Midnight Sun (second picture), one of the first large, fully composite racing yachts in the world

By the 1980s there were clear signs that clients were looking at bigger and faster yachts with the associated need for complete customisation. The Baltic 80 Midnight Sun was the first fully composite racing yacht in the world, built as an IOR maxi for a Swedish owner who wanted to move on from successful Admiral’s Cup campaigns. Built using a super-light end grain balsa core in her hull she was quick upwind and enjoyed success on the maxi circuit before being converted into a luxury cruising yacht.

Lisbeth Staffans takes the helm

A need to return to their core business forced the Hollming Group to dispose of Baltic Yachts in 1990 which led to a management and employee buyout which saw 34 managers and workers including PG Johansson and Jan Erik Nyfelt immediately becoming owners of the business. The existing marketing manager Lisbeth Staffans (picture below) became managing director.

Her style of management, driven by straightforward communication, honesty and transparency across the business, plus strict financial controls, returned the yard to profitability. Lisbeth Staffans led the company for 18 years during which time Baltic Yachts went from strength to strength and took it to the cusp of the game changing era of modern superyachting.

One of the first genuine multi-role supersailing yachts which took part in the increasingly popular superyacht regattas springing up in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, was Anny, an 87ft all-carbon yacht from the board of judel/vrolijk. The German naval architect had already designed numerous Baltic production models prefacing a future in which they would become key, especially in larger superyachts.

With her lifting keel, extensive hydraulic systems and tender garage, Anny could be regularly seen at the front of superyacht racing fleets, particularly in Palma de Mallorca. She remained successful for many years.

Demand for the dual-role superyacht

The burgeoning superyacht regatta scene, many of the new ones trying to emulate the success of the St Barths Bucket in the Caribbean, offered a new dimension to ownership with many demanding a genuine dual-role yacht, one equally at home on the race course as crossing oceans and visiting the world’s remotest cruising grounds. This provided a great opportunity for builders of large sailing yachts, one which Baltic grasped with enthusiasm.

Anny was followed in the later 1990s by the Bill Dixon designed Vittfarne and the Baltic 70 Loftari, the former a classic looking yacht above the waterline with a high-performance underwater shape and the latter with an entirely pre-preg carbon and Nomex interior which demonstrated how large amounts of weight could be saved by building ultra-lightweight interiors.

Baltic 70 Loftfari was the first yacht with a fully fitted interior built entirely in prepreg carbon and Nomex

Baltic Yachts has built a number of motor yachts and while it cannot be regarded as a regular part of its portfolio a lot of information was gained about sound deadening which transferred to sailing yachts to great effect. The Raymond Hunt-designed M48 Far Niente and her slightly larger sistership Ben Nevis were powerful seagoing motor yachts delivered in the late 90s. Baltic later built the Mani Frers-designed M78 Bill and Me, a stylish offshore motor yacht.

Baltic at the leading edge of technology

By the turn of the century advances in technology were gaining even greater pace, exemplified by the Baltic 78 Super Baltic 5 which sported a canting rather than lifting keel, an additional benefit of which was virtually no loss of internal space, as the hydraulic canting mechanism was contained almost entirely beneath the cabin sole.

High-tech cruiser-racer Baltic 78 Super Baltic 5

At the yard the company installed a 5m X 3m lamination press which meant they could custom build composite parts like bulkheads and interior components to its own specification ensuring that weight savings could be made without compromising strength or durability.

Iconic Visione

And then, in 2002, an iconic commission was secured to build the extraordinary and technically advanced Baltic 147 Visione. With naval architecture by Reichel Pugh and all the design and engineering capacity at Baltic Yachts coming to the fore, Visione became a marker by which many subsequent performance superyachts were judged. Even today, 22 years after her launch, she is still capable of winning.

To say Visione was ahead of her time is an understatement. She remains a development project to this day, and has been updated and used as a testbed for a multitude of new ideas and technological breakthroughs. In a way she fired the starting gun for the race to build new superyachts, a plethora of which followed from Baltic driven by technology which made them easier to sail, faster, more competitive and more fun!

Baltic 147 Visione (first picture) and Baltic 141 Canica (second picture)

The first genuine supercruiser was the 141ft Canica, a complex yacht using all the advanced composite building experience accumulated by Baltic’s design engineers resulting in a yacht displacing half that of a typical 140-footer – and there was no compromise on comfort. She was the first yacht with a Siemens PLC computer control system and to reduce vibration and noise levels her entire accommodation was set on shock absorbers so that, in effect, it ‘floated’ within the hull shell.

A waterside home in Jakobstad

Ten years into the new century Baltic Yachts realised its dream of its own waterside premises. The Jakobstad yard was a state-of-the-art building which enabled larger yachts to be built and reduced the complex and expensive trucking operation from Bosund 23km away. It also provided deep water access for yachts returning to Finland for a refit.

Baltic Yachts waterfront facility in Jakobstad

This development went hand in hand with the yard becoming the first of its type in the world to achieve ISO standards in quality, environment and occupational health and safety. Baltic Yachts was also awarded full DNV GL certification giving customers peace of mind over the performance of all aspects of the building operation.

2010 saw the launch of the highly successful Reichel/Pugh designed Baltic 112 Nilaya, which epitomised the superyacht racer/cruiser genre many owners sought. The yacht won almost every regatta she entered benefitting from grand prix pedigree design combined with Baltic’s exacting engineering and build standards designed to save weight. In short, Nilaya was an all-round winner.

The Professor provides stability and vision

Shortly into the new decade, new owners for the company were sought as the shareholding staff began to retire. In March 2013 Professor Hans Georg Näder, a keen yachtsman and a Baltic customer acquired an 80 per cent stake in the company through his family-owned prosthetics company Ottobock.

Professor Hans Georg Näder and PG during the christening of Baltic 175 Pink Gin

Professor Näder’s enthusiasm and vision was a shot in the arm for the company and he eventually increased his stake to become sole owner ensuring Baltic Yachts’ financial independence and solvency. He also appointed Henry Hawkins as Executive Vice President, a former yacht captain who brought a wealth of sailing knowledge and industry contacts to Baltic.

A presence in Palma – superyachting’s service capital

Not long afterwards, the first moves to establish a Service and Refit base in Palma de Mallorca got underway. Service and the need to look after everyone in what had now become a large Baltic Family became high on the company’s agenda. Today, the Palma operation is a vital part of Baltic Yachts providing refit, modifications and almost any service requirement in the heart of the western Mediterranean’s superyacht action.

For the next 12 years a succession of remarkable yachts was launched, many of which became award winners while others dominated the superyacht race courses of the world. Hetairos remains one of the most spectacular modern sailing yachts ever launched, her neo-classic styling hiding a phenomenal performance made possible by full carbon composite construction and a massive ketch rig with a mizzen sailplan almost as powerful as the main. An enormous lifting keel and a cassette style lifting rudder were examples of the advanced engineering required to make this yacht a success.

The Baltic 115 Nikata was a highly successful, stylish multi-role superyacht taking part in the RORC’s iconic Fastnet and Caribbean 600 races and the Middle Sea Race while providing a superb platform in cruising mode. At 130ft My Song was a study in exterior and interior design and as much at home on the race course as crossing oceans, while the Javier Jaudennes designed WinWin accumulated almost as much silverware as Nilaya.

A mix of Pink Gins

A string of Pink Gins built by Baltic saw the latest iteration, Pink Gin VI, launch in 2017. She is still the largest carbon fibre sloop in the world and notable for some advanced structural engineering which enables two large fold-down platforms to be set into her topsides, the forward one providing the owner’s cabin with a magnificent private balcony and swimming platform.

Baltic 175 Pink Gin – the largest full carbon sloop in the world

By 2018, technical advances in sailing were moving at such a pace that design features normally seen on much more performance-orientated yachts were now being considered at superyacht scale. Baltic Yachts’ ability to meet the challenges these design innovations set made it a natural choice for customers looking for something special.

First foil-assisted superyacht

In the Baltic 142 Canova, the world saw the first foil-assisted superyacht using a Dynamic Stability System (DSS) sliding foil set athwartships in a cassette beneath the owner’s cabin. When deployed to leeward the 9m long foil provided lift to reduce heel and also dampen pitching motion.

Baltic 142 Canova – the first ocean cruising superyacht with a DSS foil

  The yacht was also one of the first to be fitted with an electric propulsion motor, large banks of lithium-ion batteries and the ability to charge them using her free-wheeling propeller while sailing. This reduced the use of internal combustion engines for propulsion and charging, cut emissions and took a large step towards improving the ‘green’ credentials of superyachts.

The move to power yachts with electric motors, big battery banks and the propeller-driven hydrogeneration developed by Baltic Yachts and its partners, has rapidly gained pace in recent years although in 2020 the company launched the Baltic 146 Path which opted for a conventional drive train. This yacht’s construction was complicated by the devastating COVID pandemic but she was launched to schedule and kept the company going over a difficult two-year period.

Apart from her sheer size – the third largest yacht by volume built by Baltic – Path had a remarkable combined deck saloon and covered cockpit the hardtop ‘bimni’ for which was also a landing for the largest array of solar panels ever seen on a sailing yacht.

Testbed for technology

Two smaller semi-production yachts were also gaining in popularity at this time. The Baltic 68 Café Racer was conceived as a testbed for sustainable build materials and rig technology designed to make a high-performance yacht easier to sail for a short-handed crew. Naturally grown flax instead of carbon was used as a reinforcement in 50per cent of the hull and deck mouldings, a swept spreader Marstrom rig and Doyle Sails’ Structured Luff technology were used to improve performance and simplify sailing, while cork decks and twin electric motors all combined to provide a glimpse of what, in the future, might be the norm.

Baltic 68 Café Racer Pink Gin Verde – hull number one in our latest semi-custom series

The third Baltic 67PC, Freedom, was launched last year, a different take on a series production hull designed to speed up build time and control costs. The 67 also provides an opportunity for highly efficient shorthanded, long-distance sailing and offers a multitude of interior layouts and finishes.

Modern classics are occasionally commissioned, their looks often belying the use of the very latest in superyachting technology. The Baltic 117 Perseverance is no exception, her elegant lines, straight stem, long counter and deep bulwarks giving the impression of a vessel from another era. But she has electric propulsion, hydro-generation, optimised pump technology and her superlight hull and easy to manage rig make her a very potent sailing yacht.

Luxury world class cruiser – Baltic 110 Zemi

Epitome of the modern superyacht

Just launched and available for viewing at Baltic Yachts’ Anniversary party is the stunning looking Baltic 110 Zemi, the second yacht built by the company to a Malcolm McKeon design. Her metallic bronze hull is complemented by a stunning teak deck and superstructure while her systems represent the very latest in superyacht design and engineering. She is the epitome of a fast, luxurious world class cruiser with serious racing potential.

Baltic 111 Custom – in a class of her own

It is perhaps entirely appropriate that Baltic Yachts’ 50 th Anniversary Party coincides with the near completion of the most extreme yacht the company has ever built.

Her, aesthetics, control systems, rig, generating and propulsion systems use the most advanced engineering, building and design techniques available in yachting.

Baltic Yachts was chosen to build this ultra-lightweight yacht because her owner believed it has the track record, design and engineering ability and, above all, highly skilled workforce to meet the immense challenges Baltic 111 Custom sets.

What a birthday present!

MORE ABOUT US

BALTIC 110 ZEMI IS CHRISTENED BY HER OWNERS AS SHE TAKES TO THE WATER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN JAKOBSTAD

A two-year build period culminated in the naming and launching of the Baltic 110 Zemi in Finland last week when...

50 years of determination, innovation and quality

In 2023, Baltic Yachts celebrates its anniversary as a luxury yacht builder ...

We’re constantly updating our website to bring you news of launchings, new commissions and Baltic inspired innovation.