Design and Construction
The Spirit 24 carries a solid fiberglass hull with an iron keel, a combination that keeps the structure straightforward and the underwater profile clean. Her beam of 7.41 feet yields a length-to-beam ratio of 3.26, a narrow-ish section for the era that, paired with a displacement of 2,977 pounds and 1,256 pounds of iron ballast, produces a ballast ratio of 36 percent. The displacement-length ratio of 211, as recorded by the review, categorizes her among moderate racers anchor, while a capsize screening value of 2.05 means she would not be accepted to participate in ocean races. The wetted surface of the hull is about 172 square feet, and her theoretical displacement-hull speed tops out near 5.8 knots. With a fin keel, the design reflects van de Stadt's late-sixties approach to small performance-oriented cruisers-racers.
Rig and Handling
She is built with a masthead sloop rig carrying a sail area of 282 square feet. The standing and running rigging dimensions are modest: jib and genoa sheets run 24.3 feet at 3/8-inch diameter, the mainsheet is 60.7 feet long at the same diameter, and spinnaker sheets measure 53.4 feet. Docking and close-quarters maneuvering are typically handled with an outboard motor rather than inboard propulsion; the review notes that a 3 to 4 horsepower unit, or alternatively 62 to 74 pounds of thrust from an electric motor, is typical for the boat anchor. The draft sits at about 4.92 to 5.22 feet depending on load, which lets her enter most marinas without difficulty. Her immersion rate of 485 pounds per inch means she sits sensibly in the water, and the Motion Comfort Ratio of 16.0 describes a firm, albeit small, coastal platform.
Accommodations
Below, the Spirit 24 is equipped with four berths, a practical arrangement for a boat of her length that supports weekend coastal use without pretending to be a voluminous cruiser. The interior volume is constrained by the narrow beam, but the berth count confirms she was laid out for short-handed sailing with a companion or small family.
The Verdict
The Spirit 24 is a small, honest van de Stadt design from the late sixties, built in fiberglass by a Belgian yard to a moderate-racer brief. She is light, narrow, and simple, with an outboard-dependent maneuvering setup and a rig that is easy to handle by modern standards. Her limitations are clear—she is not an offshore vessel by screening standards, and her size restricts accommodation and load-carrying—but within her class she is a coherent, well-proportioned pocket racer-cruiser.
Pros
- Late-sixties van de Stadt design with solid fiberglass hull and iron keel
- Moderate-racer DL ratio of 211 with manageable 36% ballast ratio
- Four berths in a 24-foot hull for coastal weekends
- Shallow-enough draft (under 5.25 ft) for most marinas
Cons
- Capsize screening value of 2.05 excludes her from ocean races
- Outboard-dependent maneuvering with no inboard
- Narrow beam and small size limit accommodation and comfort
