Refitting a Spirit Yacht: Brightwork, Decks, Repower and Rig

Spirit's guidance on varnish is a touch-up most years and a full revarnish about every fifth (Spirit Yachts), and in the Mediterranean it tends to come round sooner. That cycle sets the rhythm of a Spirit refit. The deck, the rig and the engine each run to their own, much longer timetable, and planning a refit is largely a matter of deciding which of them to take together.

Brightwork and deck

A full revarnish is a winter's work: stripping back, cutting out and repairing any timber the water has reached, and building the coats back up in a heated shed. Nobody knows how much of that repair there is until the varnish is off, which is the reason to survey before the yard prices the job.

Spirit has used teak, an epoxy-treated softwood and now quarter-sawn Douglas fir as its standard deck timber (Professional BoatBuilder). When a deck reaches the end of its life, the choice is whether to renew like for like or change, and it turns on how much sun the yacht sees and how much maintenance the owner is content to carry.

Repowering

A new engine is the usual reason for a major refit on an older Spirit. The choice now includes hybrid and full electric, and nearly half of Spirit's own recent new builds are electric. Conversion is a bigger job than the motor swap suggests. Batteries are heavy and their position changes trim and stability, the compartments need ventilation and fire protection, and the charging has to suit how the yacht is used, since range under power changes where she can go. We would have a naval architect check weight and stability at the start, before anything is ordered.

Structure

Cold-moulded hulls repair well. Damaged veneers are cut back, new ones scarfed in at the same orientation, and the sheath and paint rebuilt over them; Spirit repaired a 52 at Ipswich after she struck a rock in the Baltic. The less visible risk is water that has got in through a fitting or a breach in the sheath. It is found by comparative moisture readings, percussion and opening up suspect areas, and repaired by drying out and replacing the timber. In both cases the quality depends almost entirely on the people doing it.

Choosing a yard

Spirit refits its own yachts at Ipswich, where the drawings and build records are kept, and for structural work or a full revarnish that continuity counts for a great deal. For a yacht based far from Suffolk, or for work that is mostly systems and rig, a yard nearer her cruising ground can make more sense. It should be able to show recent wood-epoxy work and hold temperature and humidity in its shed. Our guide to choosing a refit yard covers the tender itself.

Timing and the record

For a Spirit kept in the UK the natural window is the winter lay-up, with the survey done and the specification agreed by late summer so the yard can plan its shed. Keep the record as the work goes: coating systems, timber species and source for any repair, and photographs of structure before it is closed up. The next refit yard will ask for all of it, and so will a buyer's surveyor.

We have no commercial relationship with Spirit Yachts or any yard named here. If you are planning a refit on a Spirit or another cold-moulded yacht, our refit project management page explains how we work, and we would be glad to discuss it.