Not once but twice I was extremely "wowed" to see the contemporary luxury bespoke superyacht 'Geist' a Spirit Yacht 111.

Once was during a visit in February to meet my colleagues in Boatshed Suffolk where Spirit Yachts reside. This is where she was designed and built in-house. It was unbelievable to compare the size of the yacht to the actual size of the headquarters and work sheds.

The second time was here in the heart of Portsmouth Harbour, home of Boatshed Portsmouth, at Endeavour Quay Premier Marina during commissioning - I was even welcomed onboard and saw her lifted ashore - absolutely stunning!

My observations....her deck layout is amazingly clean, simple and actually underwhelming for a superyacht that could have easily had far too much gear and snazzy gizmos. I specifically noticed the perfect flow of the teak deck and the wonderfully engineered spoked glass sphere coachroof windows into the saloon and forward cabin.

Internally she didn't feel gigantic but you certainly felt the luxury, in keeping with tasteful design - warming, calm and tranquil. Her interior furniture is bespoke design and produced from American Walnut, taking 2000 hours to build by hand. I couldn't find a single surface that didn't curve perfectly into the other - no hard edges!

I couldn't see a light switch and was told the lighting was designed to illuminate automatically and to minimise the effect on your eyes, when walking from outside to inside.

Some stats:

She is the largest single masted wooden yacht to be built in the UK since Shamrock V in the 1930s

Construction: wood epoxy composite on stainless steel space frame

She is one of the most environmentally friendly sailing superyachts ever to be created, a Torqeedo electric propulsion system using a 100kW motor will propel the yacht silently for up to 40nm at eight knots from power alone. There are 4 BMW lithium battery banks, designed to prevent the need for any fossil fuels to cross the Atlantic, given enough wind.

She boasts the benefit of being one of the few superyachts not being solely dependent on crew to sail her. This was one of the bespoke requirements requested by her owner upon initial design - to facilitate this she has in-boom furling to help with short handed sailing and clever use of carbon enabling her to enter Mediterranean regattas.

If you would like to look at the rest of the incredible information about this amazing and exclusive yacht, you can view her here: https://spirityachts.com/spirit-yachts-launches-flagship-spirit-111-superyacht/

Some pics: