Usually, Spirit Yachts’ projects are designed in house. But, there’s a first time for everything, which explains why the UK builder has teamed with Rhoades Young Design on a new motoryacht. She’s Spirit Royale, a 110-footer (33.5-meter) as classic in looks as she is in build.
To the latter point, Spirit Royale will feature all-wood construction. This is as per tradition at Spirit Yachts. Styling wise, Spirit Royale looks as if she could date back to the Gatsby era. Even two of her tenders echo the era. One is a 27’9” (8.5-meter) resembling the old Slipper launch style popular along the Thames in the 1930s. The other is a 13-foot (4-meter) Whitehall-style sailing dinghy, an all-wood boat which gained popularity in the early 20th century.
Spirit Yachts’ head of design, Sean McMillan, has been working with Rhoades Young Design over the course of several months to give shape to Spirit Royale. The general arrangement remains true to the modern-day yachting lifestyle. The owners’ suite is on the main deck, for example, and guests and crew are given separate stairways to go about their activities. (On a related note, the design seems intended for a non-American owner, since the galley is below decks in the crew area.) Sunning and seating spaces span Spirit Royale’s main aft deck and foredeck, with the forward seating accessed directly from the owners’ suite. Spirit Royale will also tote a jet-driven RIB housed beneath the foredeck. (The above-mentioned tenders are being stowed on the upper deck.)
Some of the stand-out features aboard Spirit Royale include opening skylights or ports in the four guest staterooms below decks. A staircase, topped by an octagonal glass skylight within an atrium, connects the wheelhouse to the saloon and farther down to the guest staterooms. Accompanying the guest staterooms is a lower saloon, opening out onto the water. That’s thanks to a fold-down hull section. Picture the owners and guests enjoying cocktails at the interior bar here in a quiet anchorage. Alternately, guests can use the platform to board the tenders or to simply jump in the water.
While there’s no contract yet for Spirit Royale, the project is based on significant interest. A Med-based yacht broker who represents a number of clients approached Spirit Yachts about a classic yacht several months ago, with this being the result.
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