Some like it hot pink

Performance racer Pink Gin VI is not your average sailing yacht. But then Professor Hans Georg Näder is not your average yacht owner. A sailor since the age of seven, the serial builder has constructed several yachts at Finnish shipyard Baltic Yachts (including his four most recent Pink Gins), but none have rivalled the attention-grabbing success of number six; the world’s largest carbon fibre superyacht with a brazen hot pink sail.

Of course, for Professor Näder, it’s not about turning heads but creating his ultimate boat. In 2013, he was so impressed with the Finnish shipyard’s composite engineering that he acquired an 80 per cent share hold in the business. But Pink Gin VI’s beauty has less to do with carbon and more to do with the fact every inch of the yacht is infused with tributes and reminders of his personal experiences, travels and passions.

“I wanted the yacht to be fun and quirky,” he says, “so small details like the inclusion of art by some of the artists I have encountered on my travels and whose work I admire help to achieve this.”

A stellar cast of designers helped with the final result, too. Exterior design is by Rolf Vrolijk, known for his role in helping team Alinghi twice win the prestigious America’s Cup in 2003 and 2007. Unsurprisingly, Pink Gin VI is a regular attendee at superyacht sailing regattas; St Barths Bucket and the Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo being two of Näder’s favourites. But the yacht is as much a world cruiser as it is a high-performance racer. Memorable cruising grounds include Sardinia in Italy, the French West Indies, and Ilhabela, an archipelago off the southeast coast of Brazil.

Näder’s appetite for sailing began when he was a young boy learning to sail in his “little Optimist” – a small, single-handed dinghy specifically designed for children. “It was a great experience, and many famous sailors started their career on one,” he enthuses. He has dabbled in motor yachts since, but truly feels that when on board a sailing superyacht “you are so much closer to the beauty of nature.”

On Pink Gin VI, his love of travel is reflected in the “eclectic but comfortable” interior by British studio Design Unlimited. A mauve self-playing piano in the main saloon evokes happy memories of sundowners in Porto Cervo. The saloon table by Polish-born artist Marcin Rusak sees flower petals encapsulated in resin and set within a brass frame. Wood panelling artwork by Cuban artist Roberto Diago creates a feature wall in the master suite, while statement works of art by fellow contemporary Cuban sculptor and illustrator Roberto Fabelo adorn the corridors.

“At the inception stage we came across the idea of using 7000-year-old bog oak wood as a feature and this runs through the yacht, from the capping rails outside through the upper saloon table and even to the sharp keys on the piano. Such little details are what make the interior so special,” says Näder. “The day head wallpaper features a hand-embroidered koi carp design which wraps around the ceiling and shows the underbellies of the fish. Even the bulkhead which houses the lifting keel is designed to look like the spine of a book.”

The Pink Gin name, carried forward since his first boat in the mid-80s, came about after a night drinking pink gin cocktails with his then-captain Henry Hawkins at Hamburg’s famed Old Fashioned Bar. “Never drink it, it’s the most ugly cocktail you can order at a bar,” he says, laughing. “But I believe that a boat’s name becomes a brand over time, so I keep it.”

And there’s nothing ugly about Pink Gin VI. It’s an evolution of Näder’s previous builds, which have gradually developed to accommodate his growing family. He was especially excited this time to make use of side-opening balconies, as the side access is unique on a sailing yacht. “It has indeed proved very useful as an easy way to board the yacht from a tender, as well as being a place to relax,” he says.

Even more revolutionary was the recent decision to add a Damen-built support vessel to his arrangement. Pink Shadow is thought to be the first ever shadow vessel for a sailing yacht. Since last November it has clocked up 17,000 miles cruising around Uruguay, Brazil and Greece with the mothership. True to form it features a custom artwork on the hull, or “yacht tattoo” as Näder calls it, created by his close artist friend Ann-Kathrin Otto.

“We saw how well shadow vessels worked for bigger motor yachts and wanted the same thing. To have a shadow boat that you can unload toys, spare parts and diving equipment onto makes a lot of sense performance-wise.”

As the third-generation owner of Ottobock, a German orthopaedics technology company that creates advanced prosthetic limbs, Näder is used to pushing boundaries. But his custom-built Pink Gin V1 is “the best sailing yacht I have ever been on” because it allows him to “be with his family, make time for friends and be at peace while exploring new destinations in a stunning and comfortable way.” And no one can argue with that.