THE skipper of the sunken Spirit of Teignmouth project has vowed to make good his personal dream of building the yacht and honouring all those left out of pocket by the demise of his record-breaking sailing attempt.

Simon Chalk's vision for a new era in Teignmouth's maritime history has been grounded by major financial problems.

The 34-year-old this week announced that two of his companies have been put in voluntary liquidation and a third has gone into administration. It means the doors will close on the controversial visitor centre on December 3, the site cleared and any assets sold off to pay creditors. The future of the partially completed trimaran, designed by John Shuttleworth, is uncertain.

It is hoped that the custom built yacht can be removed and stored, but it will cost another £600,000 to make it seaworthy. It is a major blow for Mr Chalk who invested huge amounts of money into the project.

Commercial sponsorship has not been forthcoming and his other companies bowed under the pressure. He said: 'The level of debt is now too high to be supported by existing cash flow.

'We are all devastated that the Spirit of Teignmouth visitor centre has to close. We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received but I cannot jeopardise my other businesses any longer by funding this project without commercial support.

'I still fully intend to build the yacht and fulfil all the obligations we have made to every individual who has put a donation in the pot or purchased a hull name on the yacht. 'But we have to take the opportunity now to regroup and secure financial backing before we can continue with the project.'

Woodvale International Ltd, behind the Spirit project, is in voluntary liquidation, along with Four Seasons Leisure Ltd, the company running his Torquay nightclub venture Route 66. Woodvale Events Ltd, which organises ocean rowing races, is in voluntary administration.

The company recently made headlines through competitors Ben Fogle and Matthew Pinsent. The next race is planned for December 2007 and Mr Chalk and administrator Ian Walker of Exeter based firm Begbies Traynor hope it will go ahead.

Mr Walker said: 'Based on what I have been told, there is absolutely no reason why the race being organised and promoted for December 2007 should not go ahead. The business is essentially self-funding, and will return to good shape once the debt situation has been remedied. It is hoped that all existing contracts will be fulfilled, and entries for the next race remain open and are being processed in the normal way.' The end of the Spirit project is a bitter blow for Mr Chalk. 'I went into this believing that I had enough money to do it whether there was a sponsor or not. There is no way that I could have foreseen this situation, but the series of events that followed had a knock-on effect, 'But I'm not about to run away or shy away. The site will be cleared as promised and I will work hard to fulfil my obligations to the people that have been affected by this,' he said.