SPIRIT OF TRADITION
Out and about
EMILY HARRISReinventing
traditions
All the looks and modern performance with none
of the headaches! We look at the grand sweep of
Spirit of Tradition boats on the market today...
WORDS BY STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHESY
achts that belong to the ‘spirit of tradition’ are
simple to defi ne, but nearly infi nite in variety. They
are yachts built today that combine, in varying
proportions, new and old design ideas and build.
Typically, this will mean a yacht that might be built in glass or
cold-moulded, with traditional appearance above the
waterline (or at least with a strong hint of tradition), while the
underwater profi le will be more modern.
It is an attempt to combine the best of both worlds: a
beautiful craft that will require little maintenance, will perhaps
sail faster and be easier to handle. The variation comes not
only from the build method, but from the balance of
modernity with tradition. Some SoT yachts retain long keels
and are built of wood (albeit to a modern method), whereas
some are creations in foam sandwich or even carbon, withtwin rudders, fold-down swim platforms and other modern
fi xtures and fi ttings. These days they range in size from simple
dayboats and trailer-sailers from the likes of Churchouse
Boats (known for the Drascombe range), to small cruising
yachts like GRP Folkboats and the famous Cornish Crabber
range, to some of the largest superyachts in the world,
including the modern-day J-Class. And they’re here to stay:
like the new Mini, the Fiat 500, the London Routemaster and
many more examples, they refl ect a need for a strong
iconography in a world that is drifting ever further from
traditional form and function. Our list over the next few pages
aims to show the full range of what is on o er in 2017.
First, though, we look at the latest arrival from Spirit
Yachts. Oui Fling is, in Spirit Yachts founder Sean McMillan’s
own words, perhaps the ultimate modern classic...CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2017 47CB353 SoT_Intro.indd 47 26/09/2017 13:05