Baltic 110 Yacht Zemi Bathes in Champagne

The traditional christening ceremony with a bottle of bubbly officially welcomed the new yacht Zemi to the water in Finland. She’s a Baltic 110 custom superyacht with electric propulsion, for a cruising family. In fact, around-the-world travels are in their plans.

The ceremony for the carbon-composite sailing yacht held some extra-special moments. For instance, the owners chose the same champagne from their first yacht’s christening, in 2005. They saved a bottle from that celebration. Additionally, for Baltic Yachts, the launch represented its 565^th yacht, in five decades of business.

The yacht Zemi gets her name from the term zemi, common among the ancient Taino people of the Caribbean. It refers to a spiritual force, or quality, of deities and ancestors. The spirit that the yacht embodies is that of performance cruising. With design and naval architecture by Malcolm McKeon, she has a low-slung profile, with metallic bronze paint highlighting her lines. Teak decking—notably, McKeon’s characteristic wrap-over application on the transom—figures prominently, too.

Leisure areas include a cockpit convertible for sunning and lounging, the latter especially with a full-length bimini and a fold-down spray hood. Inside, meanwhile, the owners collaborated with Andreas Martin-Löf for a warm, welcoming, and streamlined look and feel. Walnut paneling appears prominently throughout the saloon and staterooms. The nearly 6-foot-long (1.8-meter-long) saloon windows let daylight stream in, as do coachroof skylights. Japanese rice paper and walnut fashio lantern-like lighting, too. Limestone covers sinks and en suite bath surfaces. Since weight savings was crucial, all woods and stones are veneers with honeycomb or otherwise lightweight backings.

With her mast stepping being completed immediately after launch, Zemi has a few short weeks to go before delivery. The first destination the family intends to visit this summer is Norway. They’ll take the yacht farther north, too, to Svalbard. Iceland and Scotland should follow before an Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean for the winter. Since the yacht is also a performance yacht, the owners intend to have her compete in the St. Barths Bucket in early 2024. Later in 2024, they’ll cruise Pacific Ocean destinations (via the Panama Canal).

Aiding in her travels is an electric propulsion system. Twin gensets power a battery bank, the latter of which powers the Danfoss hydraulic motor. Further noteworthy, the motor turns a four-blade folding propeller instead of a more common controllable-pitch propeller. Baltic Yachts says the decision was made for significant weight and space savings, along with fewer drive-train parts. The batteries also power all the hotel loads and the rig handling. Yet another emissions-saving aspect, the prop can freewheel and therefore allow the electric motor to recharge the batteries while the yacht Zemi is under sail,

Speaking of sail, the headsails include a fixed furling J1 and J2, a detachable storm jib stay, a furling Code sail forward of the J1, and various A sails off the bowsprit. The bowsprit is integral to the hull, for quick weather-related gear switches.

Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekter martinlof.se

Baltic Yachts balticyachts.fi

Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design malcolmmckeonyachtdesign.com