Big Spirit is a 72ft steel sailing yacht built at the Devonport yards in 2000 specifically to provide the safest platform for 18 people from all walks of life to come together as a team and complete what was billed as the toughest yacht race in the world, sailing around the world against prevailing winds and currents.
Challenge Business commissioned 12 identical yachts to be built based on all the experience they had gain from already running the 1992 and 1996 Global Challenge races with the original 67ft design. The new 72ft class were built to be stronger, safer, faster and more comfortable to sail and live aboard.
Big Spirit which was originally known as Challenge Business #45 and has a very successful record having recording two safe and successful round the world races (BT Global Challenge 2000/1 and the Global Challenge 2004/5), winning the last race in 2004/2005 and is still the holder of the class record for the round the island race on the south coast.
Since purchasing Big Spirit in October 2007 it has undergone a complete refit and refurbishment (the second in it’s short life!) and is now ready for more adventures, albeit with some creature comforts thrown in to make things a little more pleasant!
The yacht now has large screen AV system with PC connectivity for everything from presentations around the 18 seat table to relaxing off watch mid Atlantic when you fancy just watching a DVD.
Air conditioning has been fitted to the saloon area making it much more comfortable when the weather is hot and sunny and three fridge freezer units, washing machine, dryer and microwave oven mean fresh food and clean clothes are always available wherever you are in the world!
The yacht is coded to MCA Cat 0, meaning it built to the standard and carries all safety equipment for operating anywhere on of the oceans of the world.
Yacht specifications
- Length overall: 72ft (22m)
- Length of waterline: 61ft (19m)
- Air draught: 95ft (29m)
- Draught full load: 10ft (3.05m)
- Displacement (half load): 40 tonnes
- Ballast: 12.5 tonnes
- Sail area (windward): 2,825ft m² (262.5m²)
- Sail area (downwind): 4,020ft m² (373m²)
- Water capacity: 390gal (1,775lt)
- Fuel capacity: 475gal (2,150lt)
- Hull: 50A mild steel
- Deck: Stainless steel
Safety Aboard
Big Spirit Adventures prides themselves in offering relaxing sailing holidays safe in the knowledge that the highest level of safety has been employed throughout the yacht:-
Category Zero MCA Certification
Any charter yacht operating more than 60 miles offshore must have Category Zero coding to conform to legal and insurance requirements.Big Spirit is annually inspected by the MCA to Category Zero level. What this means is we are certified to the highest level available to enable us to operate safely across the globe.
Medical Support
Big Spirit works with MSOS to provide full 24 hour 7 days a week medical support for the yacht at sea. This service was originally setup to support round the world yacht racing and is currently the supplier of medical backup for the Volvo Round the World Race.
Personal Safety
Personal safety on deck is always taken very seriously and every crew member is provided with the highest safety rated lifejacket with built in harness and their own personal EPIRB (location beacon) that can be tracked directly from the yacht itself.
Training
We have no set minimum levels of experience required for sailing on Big Spirit and to ensure we have safe and enjoyable trips we run full training for the crew as a whole before heading off-shore.