Review: The Spirit 54 Classic Boat 007 Yacht of Choice

When the makers of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, needed a boat worthy of the famous super-spy, it had to be something special. Martin Smith finds out why they chose a 54 footer by the Ipswich-based Spirit Yachts.

In the midst of the modern-day luxury car market the names of British sports car marques such as Jensen, Jaguar and Aston Martin drip with connotations of quality, character and engineering excellence. But, if you had to choose a boat to match one of those vehicles, in terms of image, what would it be? It goes without saying that it would have to be full of character and beautifully crafted, and would have to perform better than almost anything else around. This was the problem that EON Productions, makers of the James Bond films, set themselves when they decided that in Casino Royale - the super-spy's latest outing - he would sail into St.Mark's square in Venice aboard his own yacht. And the craft that the Bond filmmakers - masters of appropriate product placement - decided he should own was one made by the Ipswich-based company Spirit Yachts. When you sail one, or even see one, you'll understand why.

Since we last visited Spirit Yachts, three years ago, the owners and workforce have shifted from Saxmundham in Suffolk to larger premises at the Ipswich Haven Marina. It's here that two large black sheds now house the company that is thriving by amalgamating classic looks with ultra-modern hydro-dynamics, all performed with large amounts of that classic British engineering skill. The formula is working extremely well and has seen the outfit become the biggest producer of wooden sailing yachts in the UK, with orders totaling £6 million, and the workforce enlarging to almost three times it's size in 2003.

On the day we arrived to test sail Spirit, the fittingly named 54-footer that appears in Casino Royale, the workshop was abuzz with activity that's needed to produce the seven boats currently in production. By far and away the stand-out item in the workshop was the newly turned hull of a 100 footer. The huge hull is Spirit Yachts' biggest to date and she is scheduled for completion in time for the Antigua Classics series in 2008. Because all the company's yacht hulls are constructed using similar methods, it seemed a good opportunity to see the bare bones that are common to all. As with most fine pieces of engineering , the structure itself is a thing of beauty.

As the hull was in an unfinished state, the inside showed the initial layer of Brazilian cedar strip planking. Outside of this are further diagonal veneers of khaya and then two layers of biaxial glass mat, all bonded with West System epoxy into a rigid structure that, on the 100-footer, with three khaya layers, is 46mm thick and on the 54-footer, with two, is 28mm. At the stage we saw the hull, just after turning, the crew was in the process of fitting structural members required to laterally stiffen the hull and deal with the loadings from the rig, keel and mechanics. On the hull of the 100-footer, these critical load members are fabricated from welded stainless steel, but on smaller craft, such as the 54-footer, they are constructed from laminated mahogany.

As we were escorted around inside the behemoth by co-director and designer, Mick Newman, it was fascinating to listen to him describe how the loads and stresses are dealt with and how the wood with which he works is going to perform. He points out that this is the 39th boat that the company has produced in their thirteen years of business, and the fact that every boat is a sister to all the others means that all developments are carried forward into each subsequent design.

On the dock

Clambering out of the enormous structure, we moved outside. On the pontoon, looking over Spirit, I was at a loss to put into words what it was that made her so appealing to the eye. By way of explanation Mick took me to look at the corner of a nearby mass-produced motor cruiser. Within just one square metre of topsides, there were six or seven different finishes and materials: a matt-finished aluminum fairlead, polished-steel stanchion, gloss-white GRP, plastic rubbing strip in extruded aluminum runner, the list went on and on. - the whole scene was incredibly busy. Back at Spirit, with her mahogany topsides, swept teak decks and chrome fittings, I began to get an idea of some of the work that goes into the design of a cutting edge luxury yacht of this class.

Going below, I was greeted by more rich yet functional simplicity and a level of craftsmanship that's unsurpassed. Right aft, in what is termed the owner's cabin, was a double berth set to port of the doorway and extending partially beneath the cockpit. Looking back through the doorway at what I thought were cupboards to starboard I noticed a 5in (127mm) diameter circular drain set flush in the floor, and wondered why why there might be a need to slice down the cabin. As I looked into the cabin, I was answered with the sight of a small heads and shower unit. Neatly, the two floor-to ceiling doors open up across the walkway to form a totally enclosed en suite shower cubicle, which drains through the floor. Going forward, the nav station, with chart stowage and Raymarine C80 plotter, is located to starboard, with galley to port, and beyond these is the saloon, which can seat six with ease around a double folding mahogany table. Further forward is a cabin with double vee-birth, which incorporates the same heads and shower cubicle design as aft. Throughout, the boat is ventilated by six hinged smoked-glass hatches of Spirit's own design.

The colour scheme below deck deck is mahogany with chrome fittings, but the paneling is carefully selected and matched to bring out grain patterns and enhance the appeal. Somewhere on the Spirit staff there is a fine cabinetmaker, and he loves to express himself with bevels, double-bevels and artful radiuses and chamfers. The effects take away any heaviness that might be produced by all that wood paneling and leaves an easy, light and thoroughly liveable interior.

On deck

My reverie below was brought to an end by the sound of the three-cylinder Yanmar chomping into life, and I emerged on deck as the lines were being slipped to allow us to slide away from the pontoon. Nosing out of the marina and into the channel, it was apparent how slippery the ultra modern hull is as we pushed quickly against a slightly flooding tide with minimum effort from the engine. Unfortunately, the breeze was only slight, but with the huge fully-battened main and 130 per cent genoe set, we were soon trickling down river under sail with engine off.

On deck there are a total of eight Andersen winches: two primary sheet winches and two spinnaker winches either side of the cockpit, with a single mainsheet winch inside the cockpit to starboard. Then there's a small winch mounted on the rear end of the coachroof to deal with the kicker, Cunningham and mainsail foot out-haul lines running from the mast to the cockpit. At the mast there is an electric winch for working halyards and lines.

Aboard, along with Mick and I, was Mick's son Will, who had sailed here on her trip for the filming of Casino Royale. As we drifted idly down the River Orwell, Will testified to the boat's ability to handle more brutel conditions by telling us of the sailing from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico, and through the British Virgin Islands to Tortola Harbour, before she was shipped to Venice. It sounded like a fantastic voyage, during which they encountered coral littered shallows and 30-Knot winds on the nose, with seas to match.

Under sail

The sun was warm and the breeze still light when we turned to head back upriver, and it was my turn to take the helm. I'd imagined that short tacking such a large boat back into the breeze and traffic would be something of a slog in a channel confined on either side by moored boats, but the reality was nothing of the sort. Tacking took just a measured spin of the large wheel, and the laminated spade rudder drove the boat around the lead-bulb keel, and through the wind. All that was then needed was to sheet in the genoe on the new tack and all was set, the boat was already carrying speed through the turn.

As the speed built further it felt as though I was able to climb endlessly up tot windward; the angle off the apparent wind becoming ridiculously small as she generated her own breeze with her speed. This was like sailing in another dimension.

All too soon the marina came back into view and it was time to hand her back and wind up the interview. On our return I was again reminded of comparisons with the good old days of British engineering - it was tea-break time. Up in the offices, as we shared a brew, co-owner Sean McMillan appeared, covered in sanding dust, and pointing out that the tea-breaks are actually a good way to break the working day up into periods where people can focus, followed by those where they can assess what has been achieved. When I was an apprentice, we saw it a good excuse to get away from the foreman, but, then, there are no foreman at Spirit Yachts.

Legend has it that if you'd ordered an Aston Martin in days of yore and took the time to visit the factory while it was being manufactured, the guys who built the engine would ensure that your Aston was blessed with a little extra horsepower. You get the feeling a Spirit Yachts everything from performance to varnish finish is maxed out all the time.

Martin Smith

Back to Articles