It does make you wonder a little. Is the flooring in the crew areas the same as in the guest areas? The colour and appearance appear to be identical. In reality, it's the other way round. The client of "Perseverance", this neoclassical cutter in bronze metallic, likes it pragmatic. His approach: the maple vinyl flooring is barely distinguishable from the organic original and is also low-maintenance and lightweight. What was much more important in the design - apart from the sailing characteristics - was to demonstrate the fuel efficiency and climate compatibility of sailing on a yacht almost 40 metres long.
The 18 metre long predecessor already bore the perseverance and stamina in its name. The equally raised hull and striking teak deckhouse were fitted with a wide range of technology so that she could be cast off with a small crew and carry out maintenance herself. More equipment to increase independence? Thanks to tried-and-tested systems and powerful software, the equation also works for the large vessel. An external team of electrical engineers developed a control system that orchestrates the energy hunger of all consumers. Above all, the air conditioning system is one of the most power-hungry consumers. The heat it extracts from the interior is used to heat water via a heat exchanger. This allows the 180 litre boiler to reach 55 degrees. At night, the room climate changes automatically and gradually from 18 to around 22 degrees. During the day, sensors recognise when the cabins are empty and do not need to be cooled or lit.
Recuperation and efficiency save 70 litres of diesel per day
Above all, however, the energy concept is based on a lot of sailing. The "Perseverance" earthmover is called this because he does not want to be labelled with the name that this publication usually uses to describe yacht owners who wish to remain anonymous. As will be shown below, this is both logical and unpretentious. Before doubling the size of the yacht, he chartered a lot to gather ideas. And the same design team came together again: deVosdeVries for the interior and Dykstra for the crack as well as the hull and rig calculations. With the decision in favour of Baltic Yachts, it was clear that there would be a carbon hull instead of an aluminium one. The Finnish yacht builders know complex systems only too well, just think of "Canova".
The controllable pitch propeller runs at 14 knots and generates up to 25 kilowatts. That only costs one to two knots of speed"
"The controllable pitch propeller runs at 14 to 15 knots and generates up to 25 kilowatts of energy. That costs just one to two knots of boat speed," reports Baltics project manager Tommy Johansson, standing on deck. When the propeller unfolds under sail, the electric motor becomes a power generator. The angle of attack of the propeller blades determines the resistance, but also the amount of power fed in. If you sail all day in this way, you can leave the diesel generators idle at night. "Fully charged, the batteries cover up to nine hours of hotel operation," says Johansson, pointing to the inner beds of the guest cabins located amidships, which conceal a maximum charge of 200 kilowatt hours in total. A lithium powder keg? A relaxed shake of the head from the experienced Finn. "Perseverance" fulfils the DNV-GL class specifications for worldwide charter use. And this includes the fact that the lithium iron phosphate batteries must be stored in five millimetre thick steel housings.
"Perseverance" logged 10,000 nautical miles in its first year
In addition to energy generation, the focus was on high consumption efficiency. There is only one pump motor for seawater cooling and one as redundancy. However, as its speed is automatically controlled by a frequency converter, the flow rate corresponds to the actual demand of the technical appliances such as refrigerators and freezers. The generators - usually only one is in operation - run under optimum load thanks to programmable logic control and pass on load peaks to the batteries. All measures taken together result in a saving of 70 litres of diesel per day or 9,000 litres per year.
In its first year, "Perseverance" logged 10,000 nautical miles, almost permanently with the client on board. He travelled to Jakobstad at the northern end of the Baltic Sea for delivery and asked to be added to the crew list the evening before casting off. "During the transfer, we managed 20 knots straight away. We usually travelled at twelve knots," the thoroughbred sailor told our sister magazine BOATS EXCLUSIVE on a joint trial run with Baltics Café Racer 68 off Mallorca. Standing on the wheel, he tried to sail away from "Perseverance", which has its home port in Palma. But his skipper Ryan Taylor had set full sail and quickly caught up with us. The New Zealander is a qualified yacht designer and supervised the entire construction process, even on site in Finland last year.
Everything is set up for smooth sailing operations
The mainsail on the furling boom of Southern Spars has three rows of reefs, each with loops on the leech, and can be replaced by racing cloth with a flared top. In the event of a race. Project supervisor Johansson intervenes: "The hydraulics of the sail systems run at 250 bar, fully powered by electric motors. There are no PTOs on the generators." The cockpit's fixed bimini, for example, is raised fully electrically. The Doyle sails offer a sail area of up to 1,559 square metres downwind and around half that downwind. The shrouds are made of carbon fibre and the lift keel is four to six metres deep. The working genoa is attached so far above the deck that its lower leech blows over the 5.20 metre long tender in manoeuvres when it is moored on the foredeck. The deck fittings, including the bollards, are made of stainless steel and not titanium, as is almost customary with Baltic. Carbon fibre plates hang from the hull above the rubbing strake to prevent the outboard sheets of the Code Zero or gennaker from damaging the paintwork.
The question of all layout issues is of a rhetorical nature: of course the crew sleeps at the back and the guests at the front. The project initiator also insisted on a doghouse in front of the mast. "To get on deck without having to wake everyone up," says Johansson happily. From the saloon, there are two mirrored double cabins, one with a single bed and the other with a double bed. Opposite the owner's bathroom is an additional sleeping area for two thanks to the Pullman bed. The deVosdeVries interior exudes a contemporary industrial charm. Although the Amsterdam designers do not allow the bare structure to shine through, instead of brick, there are CFRP surfaces with a creamy white finish. Round mirrors framed in matt black fit into the loft look, while the door handles and fittings in the bathrooms are bronze. Grey-white stained oak is the main wood, alternating with maple on the furniture, as a veneer on a carbon foam core sandwich in line with Baltic's lightweight construction philosophy.
The mast becomes a work of art
According to Johansson, it is rather unusual not to clad the mast, which presses 120 tonnes onto the base. On "Perseverance" it becomes a work of art. Without a display case, but with practical seating all round. They are adorned with heavily ornamented leather in a black and red colour reminiscent of western saddles or riding boots. It can also be found on the walls or on tables, which are always surrounded by slats. There are handholds within a one-metre radius so that the route to the lounge in front of the engine room is safe even in heavy seas.
From here, you can watch the boss or - with the partition wall up - enjoy an evening at the cinema. An espresso machine made in Germany (ECM) and a wine cooler are still available in the guest area, which incidentally has the same layout as the crew quarters. The galley is dominated by Corian surfaces with coving and various kitchen appliances for convenient autonomy on long voyages. To port is the half-height engine room with electric motor and the two generators (in carbon boxes!), which, with 120 kilowatts of power each, do not require exhaust gas aftertreatment in accordance with IMO guidelines. Further aft is the crew mess, prominently located in the deckhouse and opposite the navigation corner.
Hull flap compensates for closed tail
When you step out into the working cockpit, you notice that the teak superstructures do not shine evenly. "They are not painted and need to be oiled once a month," explains Tommy Johansson. In the constricted stern, the classic and narrow transom offers no opening option. Boarding and provisioning take place via a hydraulically opening hull hatch on the port side. The associated carbon fibre stairs are stored in dismantled form in the wide running deck. There are classic references everywhere. There is the 3.80 metre long, laminated bowsprit with outriggers, both made of carbon, the impressive water stay and a jib net made of Dyneema. The anchor, in turn, extends out of the underwater hull. Dykstra's design is striking, and no amount of heeling can conceal the two deckhouses. But they fit into the overall picture, also because the teak is covered with white composite roofs.
Teak - oiled, not varnished
Against the backdrop of the technocratic foundation, the sparkling bronze shell looks almost flamboyant. The choice of colour was one of the few daring decisions, especially in a metallic finish. Reflections on the water could have led to undesirable effects. Although he was familiar with the bronze shade, which seems to be on the verge of becoming patina, from BMW and his old yacht, the client made sure: first came a postcard-sized colour sample, but this was not expressive enough. The next one was the size of a wall calendar and was completely convincing.
"Perseverance" can also be chartered
The carbon mast could literally take pragmatism to the extreme. Project manager Tommy Johansson smiles as he imagines: "Why not use the cavity as a high-pressure tank for hydrogen and replace the generators with fuel cells?" Doesn't seem impossible, cars already use carbon fibre tanks for liquid hydrogen, but it has to be cooled down to minus 253 degrees.
On "Perseverance", pragmatic solutions also work in the other direction: for example, a TV folds down from the ceiling of the owner's cabin, although this was originally anything but planned. However, the project initiator was convinced that this measure would contribute significantly to success on the charter market. After all, the extremely well thought-out 40-metre Baltic also sails on this market. However, there is no broker in between, the digital contact point is the website perseverance-charter.com. It provides transparent information about availability and allows direct enquiries about the charter rate. In winter, we head to the Caribbean - on our own keel and guaranteed with a sailing-mad client.
Technical data "Perseverance"
- Length over everything:39,60 m
- Torso length: 35,80 m
- Length (waterline): 31,03 m
- Width: 7,87 m
- Depth:4,00-6,00 m
- Displacement: 103 t
- Ballast:30 t
- Material:Prepreg carbon
- Rig: Hall Spars, Southern Spars
- Standing crop: Future Fibres, ECsix
- Sail:Doyle Sails
- sail area (before the wind): 1559 square metres
- Sail area (on the wind): 754 square metres
- E-motor: 1x Danfoss Editron PM, 280 kW
- Generators: Volvo D7TA, 2 x 120 kWe
- Batteries:LFP, 2x 100 kWh
- Construction: Dykstra Naval Architects
- Exterior design:Dykstra Naval Architects
- Interior design: deVosdeVries Design
- Class: DNV-GL 1A
- Shipyard: Baltic Yachts, 2021
This article first appeared in our sister magazine BOATS EXCLUSIVE
