An little known Mallorcan designer has created this wild card 108ft cruiser-racer called Win Win. Toby Hodges hears her story

Javier Jaudenes is a name you probably will not have heard of before. But, judging from these explosive pictures of his first superyacht design, Win Win we will be seeing more from this Mallorcan designer.

C3PO

The 108ft Baltic Win Win is an uncompromising, dual-purpose cruiser-racer, a lightweight carbon machine representing the latest in an increasing trend of 100-115ft performance superyachts designed for race-hungry owners who also want to cruise with a minimum of professional crew.

The owner of Win Win is an experienced long-distance sailor who owned the 95ft Jongert, Scorpione dei Mare. The story goes that on the morning of the opening race of the Superyacht Cup Palma four years ago, Scorpione’s mainsail trimmer dropped out. The bowman contacted Palma resident Javier Jaudenes, who jumped in a RIB and met the yacht on the startline. They went on to win the regatta.

Jaudenes had studied naval architecture in Southampton and worked for Barracuda Yacht Design. After helping to race and optimise Scorpione, Jaudenes showed the owner some of his drawings. The result is this feisty, contemporary, lightweight cruiser-racer. “He was a wild card decision,” says WinWin’s captain, Clive Walker, “but having sailed with Javier, we had the confidence in him.”

A sleek contemporary design

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Jaudenes himself is happy with the yacht: “She feels great: light, powerful and balanced – a boat that wants to go fast all the time.” In trials she made 18.7 knots under gennaker, and 12 knots easily upwind.

Jaudenes was influenced by the latest trends in the racing scene for wide and powerful hull shapes. “In my experience superyachts tend to get overpowered very soon,” he says. So he drew a shape that was both very powerful when reaching and that wouldn’t need to be reefed early when cruising with limited crew.

Specifications

LOA 33.04m/108ft 5in

LWL 30.68m/100ft 8in

Beam 7.58m/24ft 10in

Draught 3.50-5.50m/11ft 6in-18ft 1in

Displacement 77,400kg/170,636lb

The Loro Piana in the British Virgin Islands and the St Barths Bucket will be WinWin’s first competitive outings. And competition in this sector is hot. But she’s also intended to cruise in luxury and, for this, insulation was a key focus – carbon yachts are notoriously loud places below.

“The noise levels were the lowest we had specified in a contract before,” says Baltic’s marketing director Kenneth Nyfelt. Natural cork-cored sandwich panels were used for both non-structural and interior panels to achieve better acoustic damping.

The interior uses washed and limed oak veneers

“It was striking just how quiet the boat was below with, at times, 25 knots true on deck and boat speeds hitting the high teens,” maintains Baltic’s CEO Henry Hawkins. “Our efforts to keep this boat light and yet quiet have clearly worked.” The weight-saving target was strict and so this 108-footer weighs just 47 tonnes without her keel.

WinWin has a similar retractable propulsion system to the one developed for the 147ft Visione. Nyfelt feels it is worth the small extra weight as the prop is fixed and optimised for both efficiency and noise under engine.

The benefits of a clean hull profile can be felt on the wheel when sailing. “She doesn’t have any drag,” says Jaudenes, “she feels like a dinghy, with a very clean flow on the rudder and a clean stern wake.”

Hawkins adds: “The performance potential is clear and yet notably the creature comforts have not been set aside in order to achieve this.” UK firm Design Unlimited has styled the light (in both senses) and minimalist interior, the forward section of which is devoted to one vast master suite.

Jaudenes is also commended for the comfort of the crew area he designed at the widest point aft. “He created a place we are all happy to be,” says Walker.

With the cruising goals achieved and the regatta performance looking promising, expect to hear more of WinWin, and particularly the name of Javier Jaudenes.

A beamy, powerful stern should suit breezy conditions

This is an extract from a feature in the January 2015 issue of Yachting World