Baltic Yachts have given themselves a 40th birthday present in the form Pink Gin VI, a 175ft sloop. Her owner recently bought Baltic Yachts and plans to launch his new yacht in 2017. Cheers!

One of the most popular postings on this site was a story written about the 152ft Pink Gin V. Exactly why the story caught people’s attention is not entirely clear, but I’d like to think it was because they agreed with us that Pink Gin, designed by Judel/Vrolijk, was, and still is, one of the best looking modern superyachts afloat.

So I was delighted to hear that Pink Gin’s owner, Hans Georg Nader, a successful German businessman in the prosthetics industry, has decided to build Pink Gin V1. These illustrations show how the new yacht, also designed by Judel/Vrolijk and employing the same interior designers, British-based Design Unlimited, has adopted an in-vogue plumb stem and traditional counter blended with a more modern deck saloon structure. I wonder how our readers will react to this! Do let us know.

Not long before details of the new yacht were announced, Herr Nader bought the Jakobstad, Finland-based Baltic Yachts and installed Pin Gin V’s skipper Henry Hawkins as managing director. There’s absolutely every chance therefore that the owner will get exactly the right ingredients in Pink Gin V1.

Baltic Yachts have always been carbon specialists and in their 40 years have built some stand out yachts including Hasso Plattner’s Visione, a yacht without doubt ahead of her time and Otto Happel’s audaciously rigged Hetairos. Their links with some of Germany’s leading sailing enthusiasts is notable.

By using carbon fibre in almost every aspect of a yacht’s construction weight can be reduced to a minimum, which in turn enhances performance. Baltic pride themselves in weight calculation and structural design so that they can get the full benefit of what carbon has to offer. The new Pink Gin yacht will displace in the region of 235 tons, in light yacht condition, which is low for a yacht of these dimensions.

Along with her plumb bow and bowsprit off which light wind code sails and asymmetrics are likely to be set, the new Pink Gin will also feature a lifting keel so that draught can be reduced from 7m/23ft to 4.50m/14ft 8in.

The ‘three zone’ cockpit lay out will also attract attention as will the two side opening boarding platforms. One is in a conventional position on the port side but the other is right forward on the starboard side. This gives away the fact that the owners’ suite is located foward. The opening can be used as a tender landing platform and double as a place to relax in the sun – with a pink gin, of course.

See the July issue of Yachting World for more coverage of this yacht.