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Baltic Yachts

Company Profile

There are remote little pockets in the world where the building of modern sailboats has reached the level of true art, where small groups of creative men have gathered the native talents of a region to build the very finest sailboats in the world. The little town of Pietarsaari, Finland, is one of these, where a few miles up the road of Seven Bridges, Baltic Yachts, whose five founders were mutineers from nearby Nautor twelve years ago, build their version of the very best. Compared to the silent countryside that surrounds it, the Baltic boatyard looks like a science fiction movie. The first thing you notice is that the cement floors of the shops are just like polished glass and the whole place is as clean as if it had been scrubbed down for surgery. And when you are told why, you start to smile because you realize that Baltic really is the boatyard of the future. A special sealant is used to make the floors as smooth as ice, because that is what you need when the cradles your boats sit in move on cushions of air. And you stare in sheer amazement when you see a man move a 6000 pound lead keel with one hand because the cradle the keel is in hovers on air too. And when you see the Olympic-pool-sized testing tank, and the building for the heating system that's bigger than most boatyards, and computer programs that can calculate the hull construction and the size and shape of a new rudder within minutes, then you realize that the folks at Baltic have a lot to teach you. We were lucky to have as our teacher for most of one weekend P.G. Johansson, whom everyone calls PG. He was one of the original mutineers from Nautor, and is one of the most well-spoken and knowledgeable men we encountered on our travels, who knew not only a lot about building sailboats but also about many little mysteries of life.