We're here today on the River Orwell at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club to sail the Spirit 44e.
Now Spirit have been building beautiful traditionally-styled yachts but built with
modern techniques since 1993 so that's nothing particularly new. What's exciting about the 44e
is that she's their first fully electric cruising boat, but it's the engineering under the surface
that's the really exciting thing about this boat. On the water the 44e doesn't disappoint at all.
When you step aboard with all this timber and bright work she feels like a really solid boat
but when you realize that her displacement is just under seven tonnes, which for 44 footer is
not very much at all, and couple that with a tall carbon rig, one piece sails, you've actually got a
very sporty setup. She's got a deep thin keel and a deep balanced carbon spade rudder and together
they make for a really manoeuvrable package. Given that her water line is only just over 30ft (9.1m)
on a 44ft (13.4m) boat you can actually throw her around on a sixpence so going through the tacks,
you'll tack very quickly, which you have to get used to to actually slow the tacks down slightly
but you feel like you're really sailing your dinghy. I mean you can see that
it's very light which is also really responsive to every little input so you can sail on the gusts,
the lifts, the headers. Because she's quite a narrow boat relatively compared to some of the
the wider sterns these days it means that even when you're heeling over you're still
quite close to the water so you have a real sense of connection to the sailing experience,
which is just really satisfying and a lot of fun. You've got a deep secure cockpit with coamings
all the way around and this really well thought out helm station. You've got a nice
big wheel (40in) that you can comfortably steer from either side either coaming, but actually
the coach roof isn't that high so you've got a good all-around view whichever side you're on.
The main sheet is on a traveller aft of the wheel and that comes to these two Lewmar 40ST winches
which you can do while on the helm and down here you've got the backstay - adjustable backstay with
a purchase below the deck coming forwards. you've then got two 48ST winches and at the
moment the jib is rigged up to go to the forward of the two winches, but if you're single handing
then the aft winch can actually take the sheet so that then everything is within your reach. She's
got an autopilot fitted and a chart plotter but actually, particularly if you're sailing upwind,
you can just lock the wheel off and she'll steer herself for a good while.
As part of the drive to make Spirit Yachts and this 44e more environmentally friendly,
more sustainable rather than using teak hardwood on the decks they've actually used
a new treated softwood called Lignia. So it's an infused wood to make it really hard and it's
actually more durable than teak but it's got a lovely finish under foot it feels really grippy.
A couple of little things I noticed if you're cruising, having a boom this low is probably
a little bit low for comfort. For racing it gives you more performance but if it were my
boat i want that a little bit higher. And then just the width of these seats - if you sit in
the middle of them they're a little bit too deep for your legs. If you're sitting at the ends it's
much more comfortable but you might want to sort of scallop those out a bit if it was your boat
but otherwise it's very comfortable. You've also got this brilliant storage under here
under the cockpit seat - goes all the way down to the bottom of the hull.
Up at the bow you've got a lovely clear deck here for working on.
The furling is under deck electric furling and then you'll see this beautiful solution
for the bow roller carved into the mahogany bulwarks, into the cap rail
and then you stow the anchor down below and you've got a really good deep anchor locker in here with
four separate compartments. Obviously it's not all been fully fitted up yet - the boat's absolutely
brand new - so that's really good access in there and you've got flush hatches on the deck
and you've also got flush hatches on the coach roof and this is one of the sort of signature bits
of craftsmanship from Spirit. You've got these flush deck hatches but the drainage for around
the edges comes out through this little hole and that's guided through one of the deck beams so you
can't see it below decks. It's those beautiful little details that really make these boats.
You'll also notice that we haven't got any guard rails on but they just screw in really quickly.
So we've been river sailing today so we haven't had them on but if you're going out to sea you'd
screw them in here and then you'd have proper offshore guard rails down both sides of the boat.
Moving aft you notice that we haven't got stainless steel rigging - we've got EC3
carbon rigging which is another way of keeping weight out of the rig and
keeping the weight of the boat down for performance. The side decks are a little
bit cluttered here so it's actually easier to walk after stepping up onto the coach roof.
There's good hand holds and then you'll see here that you can put a spray hood on
giving you shelter in the cockpit and all the lines are led aft so the sails are really easily
handled. This boat as i said is completely brand new so there'll be stowage for the ropes to tidy
those up. Then the genoa lines with towable car tracks come back to the winches in the cockpit
and then you're back into this lovely wide safe-feeling cockpit. Into the stern you've got
this lovely open quarterdeck which is perfect for sunbathing or having your sundowners on.
It's also home to two bespoke Solbian solar panels that kick out 230 watts between them also
cleverly hidden beneath them are these two cavernous lazarette lockers,
which is more than enough space for a dinghy, folding bikes,
whatever else you want to shove in there. You can also see the purchase for the backstay
hidden below decks and on the starboard side you've got access to the steering quadrant.
One of the reasons that you would come to Spirit for a yacht
is that you want a bespoke boat and because all of the boats are wooden, they're not
built off moulds which means that every boat really can be built to an owner's wishes.
What you do get with Spirit is everything made in timber down below and with it comes a really
homely, cozy feel. You'll notice that there's a lot less accommodation space than you would get in
a production 44ft cruiser but what there is has been really well used. Let me show you around.
In the starboard quarter you've got two single berths. Here you could have them as a double
if you wanted them and then you've got this navigation station that's sort of tucked away
but it makes really good use of space. The chart table actually folds up and closes
off the rest of this cabin but when you drop it down it opens up and you're part of the
rest of the cabin - the door here still needs to be installed - but that will fold back out
of the way here and then you've got all of your instruments. You've got radio, chart plotter,
c-zone electronic switching and everything to control all of the systems on board.
It's not a full-size chart table but it is a very good use of the space.
In the saloon you've got pretty good headroom on this boat you've got a higher freeboard than on
the classic Spirit Yachts and I'm 1 meter 85cm and without my sunglasses i can just about stand up
between the beams so you're looking at about 1 meter 80cm which actually most of the time is more
than enough. You've got the keel-stepped carbon rig coming into the saloon and then on port you've
got C-shaped seating there and a straight settee on starboard, so they'll make two good seaberths,
both of them two meters long. And then as a touch of Spirit craftsmanship you've got this lovely
folding table. It's in oiled walnut like the rest of the interior and then you've got this great
cutlery stowage in the middle of the table which is a really sensible place to have it
Moving forwards you've got the heads compartment to port which is a decent sized compartment
with a shower and a draining floor and everything in this oiled walnut finish again.
Opposite the heads you've got a nice locker for hanging stowage in there.
There's some systems down below there and then coming into the forward berth this would be the
owner's cabin so you've got a traditional V-berth with an infill but at the far end you've got
it's been brought further aft so the foot end's quite wide which makes it more comfortable
and you've just got acres of this beautifully finished mahogany here
and you can even see the inside of the douglas fir that makes up the hull.
In the galley port side aft again it's not huge but it's a very practical space. You've got a
double sink under this wooden surface here. The owner has opted for an alcohol stove and oven
but a lot of the Spirit Yachts are now fitted with induction cooking and that would fit with
the electric propulsion of this boat. You've got a full-size fridge behind me here and another drop
top stowage in there which could be a fridge if you wanted it to be. And then you've got lockers,
plate storage, cup stowage and a reasonable amount of work surface for preparing dinner.
In the aft cabin midships under the companionway you've got the electric motor. It's an Oceanvolt
SD15 - 15 kilowatt electric motor
and if you had a diesel all of this space would have been taken up as an engine compartment
but because it's electric it fits underneath this bunk here and you actually get an extra
bunk. And then the batteries are forward in the saloon with a few under the bunks on either side
so it's a really compact and actually saves you probably two-thirds of the space.
What Spirit Yachts has always done really well is push boundaries both in terms of
style and performance and their boats are instantly recognisable. What the 44e does
is also push boundaries in terms of sustainability both of how she's built and of
power and management on board. Her electric propulsion and all of the
other systems that she has on board mean that she's almost completely free from fossil fuels
and that's something of a game changer in the yachting industry clearly this comes at a price
something in the region of £800,000 excluding VAT as a starting price, but what you get for
that is a boat that is utterly bespoke to you and will turn heads wherever you go.