Meet HASARD III

HASARD III is a Baltic 48 DP built by Baltic Yachts in 1986. Hull design was by Doug Peterson (designer of two America's Cup winners) and the interior by Baltic Yachts.

For some people, including this captain, Baltic yachts when they were established in the early 1970s, offered a perfected version of the perfect Swan yachts by Nautor. In fact Baltic Yachts was started by five Nautor engineers who established Baltic Yachts literally a couple of miles down the road in northern Finland on the Baltic Sea where they are making amazing sailing vessels till this day.

So how did they "perfect" the swan? you may ask. Well, I'm glad you did. This is obviously all very subjective. Swan was (and is) a shipyard that makes high-end, high performance racers that are also equipped for cruising. These are very high quality ships which shows both in the craftsmanship and in the selection of all top quality materials and systems. What Baltic Yachts did was to to add one ingredient and reduce another. They reduced the weight of the ship by using, for the hull and deck, a GRP sandwich construction over a balsa core. That makes these boats some15 - 20% lighter than the Swan for the same LOA, making the Baltic Yacht hyper competitive in terms of performance while retaining the required sturdiness. What they added, is a better (if you care about cruising and not just racing) interior layout. What they did not depart from however, is all the top-quality systems and materials of the Swan, from the teak interior to the Reckman furler and everything in between.

HASARD III docked at the Morro Bay Yacht Club guest slip.

HASARD III Entering Mission Bay ready to anchor, see open anchor well.

HASARD III Entering Ensenada bay in the fog.

This is a 10 second clip showing HASARD III displacing water while passing Point Conception.