Review: The Spirit 70 Classic Boat SPIRIT OF ECSTACY

On Britain's East Coast one firm of yacht builders is pushing the limits of modern thinking while retaining those classic lines. We test its biggest boat to-date.

By Jeff Howlett

They say every yacht owner, as he walks away from his boat on it's mooring, will pause to glance back and admire her lines. Buy a Spirit 70 and you'd better set aside some time for the ritual - a few hours, perhaps - a nd a deck chair too, for the Spirit is an exceptionally beautiful yacht.

Ghost was easy to pick out on her swinging mooring as I was ferried across the East Coast's River Orwell to board her for a day's test sail. Her 83ft (25.3m) mast towered above those of her neighbours and her elegant profile brought to mind the Edwardian splendour of something like a Square-Metre yacht or even a Skerry cruiser.

From low down in the RIB, her overhanging stern appeared more extreme and yet more delicate as we drew nearer, the 71ft 10in (21.9m) light grey hull, and her bow even finer. She looked like a racer and, if she sailed as well as she looked, I was in for a treat.

The Spirit 70 was built at the Spirit Yachts yard near Saxmundham in Suffolk, in epoxy bonded Brazilian cedar Speed strip planking over a male mould. The Speed strip is overlaid with two layers of 1/4in (6mm) western red cedar, each laid at 45 degrees and epoxy bonded. The hog, keel, stern, sternpost, beam shelf and horn timber are all constructed from solid or laminated Brazilian mahogany.

The hull's 14 major ring frames are in laminated mahogany, and the structure is further stiffened by bonding all the internal furniture to the hull to form a monocoque structure. Yellow cedar is used extensively for structural components, with a little carbon fibre thrown in where the Spirit's designers deemed it necessary.

The hull is sheathed with two layers of 600gsm bi-radial epoxied glass with a 200gsm scrim above the waterline, the whole faired with Awlgrip epoxy fillers and spray coated with two-pack Awlgrip.

Her classic profile might hint at a long, deep keel but, in keeping with Spirit Yacht's commitment to modern innovation, she has a fin-and-bulb keel providing a 50 per cent ballast ratio. End result? An immensely strong yet light hull which is easy driven. Weight is a matter of concern to the people at Spirit Yachts, after all, the lighter she is, the faster she'll go.

Waiting aboard Ghost were designers and builders Sean McMillan and Mick Newman - the driving force behind Spirit Yachts and the men responsible for the Spirit 33, the 37 and the 46. In the 10 years since they began the company, Sean and Mick have made a successful business of taking the essence of 1920s classic beauty and blending it with cutting edge technology. The 70 is their most ambitious project to date.

ON DECK

As we sat in the gloss splendour of the large, deep cockpit, the pair talked about t5heir last project. "The larger size has freed us from the design restraints of the 37 and 46," says Sean. "We're always searching for innovation and good design solutions and the 70 is a bigger playground in which to try ideas."

Bigger it may be, but the attention to detail is impressive. Mick points out the mahogany grab/toe rail running fore to aft each side of the coachroof top. "We didn't want to use a shop-bought teak grabrail. It just wouldn't have looked right. we tried a few options but in the end there was only one thing for it. We took a large length of mahogany to use as a top side frame piece for the roof and then shaped it so that the grabrail was part of it." Result: a harmonious solution and a thing of beauty - if a little extravagant in terms of timber wastage.

"The yacht is so streamlined that if the tiniest detail is wrong, it screams at you," adds Sean. " We'll go tot any length to get it right." And there's certainly nothing to make you scream as you go forward on deck - unless it's with joy. A grand sweep of uncluttered inlaid teak takes you to secondary 'guest' cockpit with its own companionway down to the saloon, and then over flush-fitting hatches and past the Park Avenue boom and the towering moulded-carbon-fibre white mast to the knife-like bow. In this her regatta-mode, there are no stanchions and lifelines to spoil Ghost's good looks. However, should more security be wanted it's a straightforward matter of screwing stanchions into flush sockets so that safety is taken care of.

The triple spreader rig is held aloft by Nitronic discontinuous rod, all halyards are 5/8in (16mm) Spectra run inside the mast, which is fitted with a Harken battern car track system for the fully battened Quantum mainsail. With short-handed sailing in mind, reefing lines and clew out haul lines are led through the boom to the gooseneck, then aft to cockpit controls. The hydraulic backstay and the boom vangare also controlled from the cockpit. Lazyjacks collect the considerable expanse of main, which is of high-performance Dacron sailcloth.

All deck gear and blocks are by Schaeffer in mirror polished stainless steel. Andersen self-trailing winches are employed throughout and electrically powered where you need that extra grunt - the word 'Spirit' is elegantly etched twice into the top of each winch. A bow fairlead is located at the stemhead, with a fitted roller for anchor chain/warp on a retractable carbon fibre anchor mount. Deck fittings are in chrome-plated bronze or polished stainless steel.

IN PORT

It's time to scout out down below. The phrase solid luxury about sums up the accommodation. Spirit Yachts is renowned for good workmanship and Ghost is no exception. The companionway drops to a large, dedicated galley to starboard with heads to aft. A corridor leads you past a Pullman cabin to port containing two bunks and a comfortable nav station to starboard. The Yanmar 100hp 4JH3-HTE turbo diesel engine i centrally mounted beneath the nav station and enjoys good access all around should it require maintenance.

The corridor opens on to a large saloon amidships. As with all the other principle cabins, the saloon is fitted out in traditional style, trimmed with solid mahogany o other carefully chosen timber, and surfaces are finished in either white eggshell paint or satin varnish.

Spirit has opted to have no linings in the yacht - why hide all that beautiful timber? Both bilge and hull planking are varnished throughout and the massive ring frames sweep in majestic curves from deck to floor. Polished stainless-steel tie rods and rigging brackets gleam against the cabin sides and are turned into features. Testifying to the generous headroom throughout, the underside of the guest cockpit simply occupies some of the saloon's air space.

Going forward, you pass through a double cabin with separate heads and on to a V-birth in the forepeak, with two bunks and a companion way to the deck.

The aft cabin is the most luxurious of all, with a large double bed, a dressing table and wardrobe and separate heads with shower etc. It's easy to imagine being very comfortable on board Ghost, whether in port or at sea. In fact, I felt I could happily live there permanently.

AT SEA

We dropped our mooring, under the eye of the skipper Angus Fuller, who would be taking Ghost to the Mediterranean for the classic racing series, and motored into the river. The engine barrelled us along at a cruising speed of 9 knots with a maximum of 12. There was no engine noise; I even had to find the rev counter to check it was running. Nose to wind, the 1,000sqft (93m sq) fully battened main, made by Quantum Sails, slid painlessly up the mast, the 120 per cent genoa was unfurled and we were sailing

The day's weather was undecided, one moment sunny, the next overcast. A southwesterly fluctuated between a force 3 and a 4 as we headed down river to the sea. I had been told this was a sailor's boat and I was keen to see how easily Angus at the helm , and Sean and Mick, one on each winch , tacked her as we negotiated the dredged channel of the Orwell. There were many tacks and a keen eye on the echo sounder; the Spirit draws 10ft 5in (3.2m) and we were on a falling tide, with the mud beckoning each side of the river.

I was astonished at how nimbly and surely the big yacht slid through the tacks; there is more fuss and fury in the cockpit of my 27 footer (8.2m). Ghost's up-to-the-minute keel design no double helps, and she turned in her own length, quickly on to the opposite tack and into an arrow-steady groove. As the slightest puffs found their ways between buildings on the shore, she accelerated instantly without ned for correction from the helm. In the 11 knots of true, we were making 8.7 knots close-hauled at 30 degrees off the wind.

As we neared the river mouth, I took the helm. I was surprised how easy she was to steer. There was reassuring feedback from the mahogany, carbon reinforced wheel and she responded smoothly and immediately to each slight change of course or trim. The wheel is mounted more or less directly above the rudder and so linkage is kept to a minimum, which means that you can 'feel' the boat gently play the merest touch of weather helm. Fingertip sailing on a 70-footer? Impressive.

As we cleared the shelter of the shore and nosed into the chop of the open sea, the wind picked up and so did the boat speed: 18 knots of breeze produced 12 knots close-hauled. Again, the tracking was superb. You might expect such a good looking filly to have a measure of temperament, but not a bit of it. The Spirit was sweet-tempered, obedient and generous to the helmsman.

Sean and Mick confidently expect Ghost to achieve a maximum speed of 20 knots on a broad reach with the kit up and, as everything else they promised was delivered. I see no reason to doubt them. They also told me that Ghost will carry full sail in up to 30 knots of wind.

At this point, our photographer's RIB was struggling to keep up in the chop and, after a little more jollying, we turned back and headed up towards Pin Mill with a following breeze. A bit more messing about upriver and it was time reluctantly to turn Ghost towards home.

Scorning the idea of starting the engine to overcome the wind on the nose, we tacked her back towards her mooring. The dredged channel this far up river was even narrower and its edges crowded with moored small craft. No problem. I could confidently hold on to a tack until her bow was a mere 20ft (6m) or so from a moored boat, spin the wheel , steady her on the new course and she was away. I had to remind myself that this was indeed a very large yacht.

It occurred to me that it would be possible to sail Ghost single handed, even on short tacks such as these. Release the genoa, a quick spin on the wheel, flick on the autopilot, nip round to the winch, heave the genoa, finger on the electric winch button to trim it, back to the wheel, autopilot off. And there you are. Single handing a 71-footer in a confined space. I would have thought it unlikely until that day on the Orwell.

Sean and Mick are designer/builders with a gleam of romance in their eye. They only build boats they like and their dream is to build bigger and better. The company is moving to a larger yard in Ipswich this Autumn to lay down a 110ft (33.5m) Spirit, with 150ft (46m) version to follow later. The drawings for both have been ready for some years.

Spirit Yachts is based on a solid record of success. There's swelling band of satisfied Spirit owners out there. As far as Sean knows, only one Spirit, of any type, has made it to the secondhand market - circumstances demanded that the owner switch to a powered craft. It's and indication of popularity of the Spirit marque, that he sold it for more than he paid new.

Finally, while we're on the subject of money, how much does the Spirit 70 cost? "We start talking at a little under £2m", says Sean. It's a lot of money, but then it's a lot of boat.

Back to Articles