We live in schizophrenic times in which, on the one hand, there is a constant tension towards everything technological, towards extreme performance, towards the most ephemeral fashions; on the other, there is an unfathomable nostalgia for the good old days, when the substance of things was tangible and objects were made to last. In yachting, too, we witness this tension between opposite polarities: The flying catamarans of the America's Cup coexist alongside boats new to the shipyard that echo the materials and lines of the early 20th century.
The British shipyard Spirit Yachts was among the first to give a commercial outlet to this trend, producing wooden boats coated on the outside with a layer of epoxy resin (a method called the West System). Despite the long history of the Suffolk shipyard, which was founded in 1933, its commercial boom coincided with the clever product placement done in the film by James Bond Casino Royalin which agent 007 in the final scenes sails through the Venetian calli in this splendid yacht with classic lines. An extremely effective commercial that launched the brand in the Olympus of world shipbuilding.
Today Spirit Yacht has a particularly rich and varied range: the classic line, the deckhouse line and the cruising line (from 46 to 60 feet). In addition to a line of superyachts (over 100 feet) and the production of boats on commission. This for the sailing sector. In the engine sector, five particularly interesting models are produced, also with a distinct retro style, which we will perhaps talk about on another occasion.
Technical equipment
The yacht designer and owner of Spirit Yachts, Sean McMillan, has managed to fuse in his designs the best of a whole century of yachting. The wooden hull, with a carefully finished interior and deck and a great impression of solidity and quality, lives in perfect symbiosis with a modern, high-performance carbon rig and state-of-the-art sails. Below the waterline we opted for the short keel with bulbas the long keel at the beginning of the 20th century would have been decidedly detrimental to sailing performance, especially in light winds. Seeing them in the water Spirit Yachts boats convey a truly seafaring feelingdecidedly English one might say, matching perfectly with the idea of yachting that they have across the Channel. An idea that can be summed up in two words: elegance and solidity.
Conclusions
The marketing of the British shipyard summarises its commercial positioning with the label 'Modern classic"A definition that we like a lot and that perhaps represents the solution to overcome the emotional dichotomy of these bizarre times of ours. A modern classic, that is, being able to merge the best of yesterday and the best of today with a magic wand. They have shown that it can be done and that the result has a particular magic. We are sure that many other companies will soon realise the potential, not only commercial but existential, of this formula.
Source: spirityachts.com
