Our beautiful Spyrys was recently delivered to Venice after a refit at the Spirit Yacht yard. Spyrys was sailed by the PYD team, made up of Steve Pickles, Sally Visick and Jack Bush, from Croatia to San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, to much adoration along the way. Steve takes up the story:

“With an experienced crew, and many high profile yacht deliveries under our belts, you could argue that each delivery is just another job, but having the opportunity to sail a Spirit is always a privilege.

“We began our adventure in Croatia, in the fascinating town of Split. Spyrys arrived aboard a cargo ship safely into Split Docks early in the morning. Once in the water, she soon began attracting attention and not for the first time that journey she had many admirers photographing her.

“As we slipped our lines and cast off beside the cargo ship, work stopped on board for the ship’s crew as they took time to watch us cast off.

“Soon after leaving Split we hoisted the sails. Wind was not forecast for the trip so we made use of the fresh breeze while we had the chance. Once we had popped a quick reef in the main, we sailed at a happy 10 knots all the way around to the main harbour. Spyrys effortless performance on and off the wind was undeniable and aside from a brief interruption to retrieve a mates cap, we enjoyed a smooth first sail.

“Our next port of call was to refuel at the main harbour so that we were prepared for the trip ahead. We met the owners of a large motor yacht, who admired Spyrys resemblance to the James Bond yacht and were thrilled when we confirmed she was a Spirit Yacht of the same design. Our chat led to the kind offer of fresh water to fill our tanks and wash the decks ahead of our journey.

“Once leaving Split, Spyrys sailed beautifully. Whether reefed or under full sail, she went windward like a dream. We left mid-afternoon in wind that was gusting low to mid 20s. However, once reefing the main and jib we sailed comfortably with the north north-easterly wind keeping us nicely on track. The wind continued until the early hours of the morning before slowly dying off, leaving us to turn to the engine. Despite this, at 2000 revs we maintained a good speed at around 5 knots which increased to 6-7 with assistance from the wind.