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"Your jaw hits the floor because you just can’t believe the numbers," admits Captain Henry Hawkins. "She’ll make nine knots in just six knots of true wind and builds apparent wind very quickly. She gets over that acceleration hump fast, whereas most boats would be sitting in the water."

An additional benefit of less weight is increased range under power. When Canica, the Baltic 141, came up short during a transatlantic crossing, Hawkins pushed for an extra 528 gallons of fuel stored in forward tanks. With a fuel consumption of 12 gallons at a speed of 11 knots (and with the keel raised), Pink Gin has a 3,000-mile range more in keeping with a motor yacht than a sailboat.Carbon-fiber boats are traditionally noisy, as Pink Gin’s owner discovered with his previous yacht. So one area where saving weight was less of an issue on this boat was in the sound insulation. The acoustics specialists at Soundown of Massachusetts were called in to calculate the considerable volumes of insulation material required to achieve completely quiet, peaceful cruising. The crew was somewhat dismayed when during final sea trials on a bad day in the Gulf of Bothnia the Soundown technician kept the boat out another four hours to check decibel levels. In addition to floating floors and wall panels, between one and two inches of Tuff Mass, a vinyl barrier, was used throughout the accommodations zone. The combined mass and damper layers provide extremely efficient reduction of both air- and structure-borne noise. With the engine room lagging, the weight of insulation material totaled some 8,800 pounds.

"Over the past few years we’ve seen a rush to automate everything," explains Hawkins. "My personal feeling is that it’s a mistake. We were looking for a functional, easy-to-operate boat, and that went from the Edson two-speed mechanical steering to the engine-room specs."

Chief engineer Peter Gibson, who spent more time onsite in Finland than any of the owner’s representatives, came up with a straightforward setup using standard equipment. One handy concession to automation is an electronic control unit (ECU) that shares hydraulic and air-conditioning power demands between the two Kohler generators. Gibson very nearly didn’t survive the build process. Two weeks before the launch, he dove into a lake and broke his neck in two places. Miraculously, he not only lived but also walked away to tell the tale.

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On entering the deckhouse there is a large breakfast table to starboard and a nav station to port. In bad weather the yacht can be steered under power from there using a joystick. On a lower level is the open-plan dining room and salon. The forward area houses a master suite in the bow and an adjacent bathroom with full-size Turkish bath and a twin single cabin occupied by the owner’s children. This area can be closed off from the rest of the yacht and is dedicated to family use. There are two double ensuite guest cabins and a VIP or "sea cabin" amidships next to the galley, which the owner occupies when alone on board with the crew. Three crew cabins, dinette and chart desk are located aft with independent access to the helm cockpit. There is also space for a proper walk-in cold room in the galley. Unusual for a yacht of this caliber, all the countertops in the bathrooms are of Corian, although the owner is expected to replace those in the master bathroom with marble. The exception is the marble countertop in the VIP bathroom, which also features exquisite starfish taps by Lalique.The olive green, purple and gold color scheme of the chenille fabrics combined with the waxed American black-cherry flooring and mahogany paneling denote a warm and welcoming atmosphere to the interior. This familial feeling is further enhanced by the freestanding Donghi furniture and the addition of decorative accessories such as the antique Louis Vuitton trunk, used as a toy chest in the salon, and the art deco chandelier hanging over the dining table, sourced from Contemporania in London. A crystal chandelier weighing 79 pounds can be a liability on a sailing yacht, and it was originally thought it would be removed while under way. It was permanently secured with a dampened universal joint to allow some free play, although it still provokes some anxious glances when the yacht is heeling hard.

Pink Gin is an example of how a collaborative effort between boatyard and owner can produce the best custom yacht for a given size and intended purpose. The collaboration was such a positive experience that the owner has returned to Baltic for an open-transom, quick-trim, 56-foot daysailer—in carbon fiber, of course.