It really began in 2009 after a few years of dreaming as I searched the net or magazines for that perfect trimaran. I wasn't totally certain I'd buy a trimaran but for some reason I loved them and the way they moved upon the water. The simplicity and the efficiency of the designs always intrigued me as a kid growing up. Spirit had been for sale for some years and I'd been watching her price slowly come down. The Australian dollar was also strong and made boats that were for sale in the US a lot more affordable. After a few emails back and forth to her broker Bill Bullimore in the UK it was decided to pursue her a little more. Spirit was laying in Stonington, Connecticut in-between New York and Boston on the upper US East Coast. I was lucky enough to have a couple of great friends that were based in Newport RI just to the north of Stonington that were able to view her and give us the thumbs up. This gave me some idea to the kind of condition she was in before I flew over to the US. from where we were living in Thailand.. I ended up flying into Boston to view Spirit for the first time in September 2010. At the time Spirit was owned by Bill Foster. Bill had owned her since the early 2000's and had sailed her around the Long Island area with his family. As she was such a small boat and with his family growing he thought it was best to let her go. Bill hoped that someone else would come along that loved her as much as he did and would get good use out of her. On seeing Spirit for the first time I fell in love. Small, sleek and with a beautiful retro look from the 80's of the reverse sheer or camber in her deck. Huge carbon wing mast and loads of potential to be a comfortable and fast cruiser. It took a short sail and a few hours combing her interior and exterior before I decided to buy her. There was a fair amount of work to be done though before setting to sea so we hauled her out of the water at the Newport Shipyard and proceeded to complete the necessary work to make her sea worthy and ready for the trip back across the Pacific.
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