The Spirit P50 and Gwenhyfar II at St Katharine Docks

Spirit Yachts brought two boats to St Katharine Docks on Saturday 3 October for the UK launch of the P50, in this historic location just next to Tower Bridge, and welcomed both prospective clients and trade press to take a look. We went to see Selkie, one of the first of the new P50 motor yachts.

Selkie

The P50 was drawn in-house by Tom Smith and announced in June 2025 in two versions: an open Sport for warm water, and a Coupé with an enclosed deck saloon for northern Europe (Marine Business). Selkie is a Coupé. On Spirit's published figures she is 15.24 metres overall, with 4.20 metres of beam, a draught of 1.02 metres including the drives, and a displacement of 15 tonnes. Twin Volvo Penta D6 IPS600s of 440 hp each give 30 knots flat out and 22 in the cruise (Spirit Yachts).

The hull is built the same way as every Spirit since 1993: cold-moulded timber frames, strip planking and double-diagonal veneers under an epoxy sheath. Spirit has built planing boats this way before, the P40 and P70 among them, and the P50 is certified to RCD Category B, the offshore category for winds up to force 8 and seas up to four metres.

Above the dark blue hull and its gold cove line, nearly everything is timber. The transom, coamings and foredeck are varnished mahogany; the aft deck and swim platform are teak. All that brightwork comes with a maintenance bill, and Spirit's own guidance is a touch-up most years and a full revarnish about every fifth. A motor yacht spending her summers in the Mediterranean will sit at the short end of that.

The saloon roof light was the detail we photographed most, varnished spokes radiating from a central boss over the helm and settee. The helm itself is two screens, the IPS joystick and a mahogany wheel with the Spirit mark in the boss, which is all an owner needs to bring 15 tonnes alongside without crew.

Below, the joinery is high-gloss mahogany against paler timber, with the owner's cabin forward under a deck hatch, a twin guest cabin and a separate day heads.

The engine room

Unsurprisingly, this is where we spent longest. It is finished in white, with a non-slip walkway between the two D6s and grab poles overhead, and the pumps, filters, charger and generator are mounted on the bulkheads at working height. Anyone who has changed a fuel filter lying on their side behind an engine will appreciate the arrangement.

Gwenhyfar II

Across the dock lay Gwenhyfar II, a C72 launched in 2023 and based in Guernsey, which won Class 1 and the overall title at the 2024 Spirit Yachts Regatta off the island (Yacht). She is 22.2 metres overall, draws 3.1 metres and carries carbon spars, with a Bartels furler below deck to keep the foredeck clear.

Down below she shows the construction that Selkie keeps behind her joinery. The laminated frames are left bare and varnished against pale planking, and the deck beams run across under a white deckhead.

She is for sale through Spirit's brokerage at GBP 3,300,000, VAT not paid, because her owner is starting a new project with the yard (Spirit Yachts).

We have written separately on building a Spirit, buying one and refitting one. Our thanks to the Spirit team for having us aboard.