Bush Spirit is now sailing and the owners are ecstatic. Unfortunately these are only on-board photos but you get the idea!! They had some comments for the day:
"We got out last weekend, with winds between 10 and 15 knots. At the end of the day when it was probably 15knots with about 0.75m of sea in Moreton Bay, the GPS said 11knots boat speed with a main and the jib up on a broad reach. We seemed to be passing every boat we encountered all day, even downwind!"
We'll keep working on the owners for some on-water shots of the boat!
This Spirited 230 is the very first boat sold, in fact the original owner/builder of this boat pitched the concept for the design to us and we designed it to suit his brief. In other words this design may have not existed without his input, and what a shame that would have been! The build was started in early 2008 and launched in May 2013. Shortly after this the boat was listed for sale with a local broker due to personal reasons, and the current owner bought the boat in May 2015 almost exactly 2 years after the launch. The new owners are delighted with the boat and sent this photo of the boat while on a trip to the Keppel Islands off Rockhampton where they live. They had this to say about their experience so far:
"All going really well with the boat, even though not been out since before Christmas. Before that we did have several magnificent short trips (three days at a time is enough) around the Keppels. The weather is fairly predictable here in the summer!"
The lines are bold and powerful, and now can be fully appreciated wearing the final paint finish. The engine will be installed next week along with decals to set it off. This prototype is the first of the new range of plate alloy production boats from this company marketed to recreational or professional fisherman, and also commercial applications such as water taxis. This no-nonsense power-cat is set to make an impression.
We will keep everyone up to speed with the imminent launch...
This builder has been steadily progressing in a little beach town called Beachport in South Australia. He is hoping to have the boat launched towards the end of the month. The painting is now done and looks amazing with equipment now being fitted - permanently! This will be number 26 to hit the water for this design and the excitement is building! The owner has promised some high quality photos of the big day as his son is a photographer with all the gear.
The very first Spirited 380 sold has been launched! This project was started in 2005 by the original owners from Belmont NSW in the shed behind their home. They put in an admirable effort for a few years until work took them away from home to WA where they ended up staying. The boat was relocated to Caves Beach where a local boatbuilder worked on it periodically until the project came to a standstill. The new owners Shane and Kate Simpson bought the boat in early 2015 and put a full work force on the project originally hoping to launch prior to Christmas 2015. Shane was very much hands on during the project and now knows every detail of his boat.
Named 'On site', this Spirited 380 was launched in the Swansea channel on Sunday the 28th of February. Although the weather was forecast to be wet and windy, the day was quite the opposite, sunny and still. Everything went very smoothly with the new owners christened the boat with a bottle of bubbly broken over the pulpit!
The rig and sails are on their way so we look forward to seeing 'On site' sailing Lake Macquarie very soon!
Congratulations to Shane and Kate on the launch of their beautiful Spirited 380!
