BALTIC 68 CAFÉ RACER – THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
4 June 2020
These are the early stages of construction of the new Baltic 68 Café Racer, an eco-friendly, easy to sail yacht for the 21st century with a performance designed to thrill.
The video shows our skilled wood workers building the timber hull plug from which a mould will be taken. The plug comprises strip planking laid over temporary wooden frames which are set up to establish the precise shape of the hull. Thin wood veneers are then nail-gunned into position before the entire structure is faired to a perfect finish.
A mould can then be taken from the disposable plug and used to produce the Baltic 68 Café Racer’s advanced composite hull. The mould is designed for multi-use, series production.
The new Café Racer is not only a high-performance sailing yacht with super-cool looks, which can get you out on the water quickly and easily, but also she embodies the latest thinking in eco-friendly building materials. More than 50% of the hull structure will use Bcomp ampliTex flax as a reinforcement, dramatically reducing her carbon footprint.
Her 2 x 20kW 48v drive legs runs off a Lithium battery bank which can be hooked up to shore power or charged using the yacht’s hydrogeneration system using her free-wheeling propeller while sailing. Highly efficient micro-turbine technology is also being used in a ‘get you home’ range extender designed to eventually run on hydrogen.
Reducing the Café Racer’s power consumption is a key aim so the latest air conditioning technology is being employed, mixing re-circulated, drier air with fresh air to reduce power needs by 30%. Materials used in the Café Racer’s accommodation continue the eco-theme with light oak timbers and flax composites combining with specialist wallpapers, wicker and paper cord to produce a light, cool, contemporary accommodation.
The Baltic 68 Café Racer offers a powerful package of exciting sailing and eco-technology, a modern yacht reflecting the Café Racer era of the 1960s when London’s Rockers rode pared down, visually minimalist motor bikes designed for fast rides over short distances. Riders and bikes were seen as disrupters displaying speed, status and rebellion – they had attitude.
