Spirited performer

Choosing a traditional-looking boat doesn’t mean going low-tech, as Sam Fortescue discovered when he sailed the Spirit Yachts’ new 44E

- Sam Fortescue

There’s no denying it when you clap eyes on the latest boat to emerge from the Ipswich yard of Spirit Yachts. There is a lot to be said for old fashioned looks. With her long overhangs fore and aft and a glowing mahogany finish, the new 44E cruiser racer is a thing of beauty. And yet, this is a pioneering boat, designed and built to cross oceans in comfort without burning a drop of fossil fuel.

Compared to the pared-down, sleek lines of her larger sisters, the 44E offers more volume and therefore greater comfort for adventurous sailing. “These hulls have a little more beam and volume with increased displacement,” explains Spirit founder and head designer Sean McMillan. “Their counters tend to be a little less extreme, as the lazarettes are required for carrying more equipment, a dinghy and so on. The fuller volume is carried further aft.”

It is nothing like the volume of other modern 44-footers, but volume is not the main reason to consider this boat. With her gleaming brightwork and lines reminiscent of a 1930s yacht, she is a thing of beauty. Construction is in the well-proven combination of cold-moulded wood and glass infused with epoxy. Hull planking is in Douglas fir as standard, but the Canadian owner of this first boat, Dr Vincent Argiro, opted for yellow cedar. It is more expensive, but saves around 150kg in the build. “When it came to making the boat go faster, I stopped looking at the budget,” he tells me.