Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here we present to you, day by day, the best stories, yachts, characters we have covered in these 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to the present day.
Taken from Top Yacht Design no. 1 / 2015, pp. 72-79
Baltic 108 Win Win, the racer-cruiser is hi-tech
2015 saw the unveiling of the Baltic 108 Win Win, a 33-meter high-tech racer-cruiser built by Baltic Yacht and designed by Javier Jaudenes, whose mission was to try to satisfy the two most widespread needs of today’s boat owners: on the one hand, the desire to cruise with all the comforts and be able to take the boat even with a small crew, and on the other hand, the desire for fierce competitions with a full crew that ruled the Maxi Yachts field.
Javier Jaudenes for naval architecture and exterior design, Mark Tucker and his Design Unlimited team for interior design, and Baltic Yachts for construction. The result: Win Win, the Baltic 108 designed for long cruises and for competing in Maxi appointments. And to achieve these two goals Win Win combines solutions dedicated to performance with others that focus on maximum comfort on board. For performance, in addition to the expertise of Jaudenes and his Surge Project studio, Win Win is also equipped with a special auxiliary propulsion system that complements the lifting keel. This is the Retractable Propulsion System, a retractable propulsion system that reduces propeller drag in the water. This is an evolution of the system first installed by Baltic Yachts aboard the Baltic 147 Visione, the 2002 Reichel/Pugh design with interiors designed by R&J Design and Design Unlimited. The work of Javier Jaudenes, however, has not only involved naval design aspects but has been able to introduce into Win Win exterior design elements that make this Baltic 108 absolutely unique.
Here, in fact, is the long deckhouse that accommodates a living area in practice in direct contact with the cockpit (equipped with large sunbathing areas, but which is also an open-air living area) from which it is separated by a simple glass panel. By pressing a button, the panel descends, thus realizing a single space between inside and outside. And, again with regard to the cruising aspect, one goal, closely related, however, to racing use as well, was to seek maximum lightness combined with comfort, in the sense of achieving the greatest possible sound insulation. To do this, Baltic Yachts enlisted the services of Van Cappellen Consultancy. Carbon fiber, foam, rubber panels, and the use of sandwich structures for both the nonstructural elements and the interior panels made it possible to achieve, on the one hand, remarkable levels of “silence” and, on the other, to contain the overall weight of Win Win in only 77.4 tons, 33 of which were in the ballasts.
Relative to the interiors Mark Tucker has transfused into Win Win all his experience in large sailing yachts, which, just to give two examples among many, ranges from the Wally Cento Hamilton to the refit of the 30.50-meter Leopard. In organizing the interior, Tucker and Design Unlimited have focused on a modern, yet highly functional and space-focused design. Thus the salon and especially the owner’s area located in the bow have absolutely generous dimensions. Particularly the owner’s stateroom, which includes, in addition to the full-beam cabin proper and the large bathroom room, a studio that extends over the port side and precedes the cabin.
A study complete with desk and sofa. But not only that, the owner’s area also includes a second cabin. Located to starboard, opposite the studio, this cabin is furnished with pullman bunks and is used of the owner when Win Win is racing. Two double guest cabins aft of the living area and technical and crew quarters complete the interiors all in light and with minimalist finishes. In these rooms, Tucker chose bleached oak for furniture and floors combined with glossy white ceiling tiles to reflect natural light and those from light panels that help maintain Win Win’s image of simple formal cleanliness, not just interior, that sets it apart.
by Emilio Martinelli
