The 1st Windelo 50 Adventure catamaran and her fabulous North Atlantic Tour

Dec 20, 2022

An exclusive interview with the Hakuna Matata crew

At Windelo, we follow with passion the adventures of our catamarans. Hakuna Matata (a Windelo 50 Adventure), the first Windelo catamaran to set sail in 2021, has crossed the Atlantic twice in less than a year and is back in Canet-en-Roussillon. With more than 20,000 nautical miles and a 10-month Atlantic cruise under its belt, Hakuna Matata has proved that a transition to efficient, high-performance, eco-friendly sailing is possible for the boating industry.

In this article, Matthieu and his family tell us everything about their trip: the preparation, the journey, the performance of their catamaran, the forward cockpit, electric propulsion, and autonomy! Discover their impressions, feelings, and best memories!

A Look Back on the Adventure of Matthieu and His Family, the Owners of Hakuna Matata

Leur voyage

After more than ten years of chartering on the Mediterranean Sea and the coast of Brittany, Matthieu and his family felt like taking to the ocean for a new, almost year-long family adventure. Matthieu chose Windelo for the elegant design of its catamarans and the innovative concepts, such as the forward cockpit and the electric propulsion system. He explains, “Windelo has designed a unique boat, combining sailing performance and an enjoyable quality of life on board for all the family.”

A few months after the launch of Hakuna Matata and a summer in the Mediterranean, Matthieu, Perrine, and their son Youri set off on a 10-month cruise aboard their Windelo 50 Adventure.

Hakuna Matata and its crew left Canet-en-Roussillon marina on 17 October 2021 and set sail for the Spanish coast and then the Canaries before sailing across the Atlantic to Martinique. After a few weeks of sailing in the West Indies and the Caribbean, they sailed Hakuna Matata to the United States Coast, heading North to Florida, New York, Boston, and then Canada. Matthieu and Perrine wanted to tour the North Atlantic and sail in all weather conditions and at all latitudes. They have now done this, with a return crossing between St Pierre and Miquelon and Iceland, before setting sail for the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and then the French Atlantic coast. This wonderful family adventure came to a close in August 2022 on the coast of Brittany. Hakuna Matata was then skippered to the Mediterranean to return to its home port, Canet-en-Roussillon.

Their Impressions and Feelings

Performance

“Sailing on the Windelo 50 is very enjoyable. The boat accelerates well, is quick in light winds, and is very stable on the sea. It makes exceptionally good progress upwind, and for me, this was a big surprise since I had never had a chance to sail on daggerboard catamarans before.”

The lighter the catamaran, the better its performance. The Windelo 50 Adventure catamaran weighs 11.2 metric tons. “We planned a load of 2 metric tons and seemed to stay within 1.5 metric tons, in the knowledge that the boat has a payload capacity of 2.6 metric tons. Since the weight distribution is very low and central to the cockpit, the center of gravity is always perfectly positioned. We regularly sailed at 13, 14, and 15 knots and reached surf speeds of up to 23/24 knots. Hakuna Matata sailed easily at an apparent wind of 35°, and tacking was incredibly simple with the self-tacking solent. The catamaran tacks easily in just 3 knots of wind.”

Matthieu’s Favorite Feature Is the Forward Cockpit

“Now that I’ve tried it, I would find going back to and aft helm station unbearable. When it was closed, we were perfectly protected from the spray and wind in the forward cockpit. Everyone is safe in the cockpit, and in all weather conditions, including young children. And in calmer weather, you can open the doors and enjoy sailing as if you were outside.

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In the 20,000 nautical miles and eight months of sailing, only a bucketful of water entered the space. The Windelo is a real sailor’s boat, with a special focus on the crew’s comfort while sailing. Add to that the opening onto the saloon and the fact that the helmsman is never far from the rest of the family, and you have the ideal boat for people like us, who like to clock up miles.”

Ecology

The Windelo 50 Adventure proved its range on this cruise.
“In eight months, we only used 800 liters of diesel, which is very little when you consider that this includes heating during the period spent in colder sailing zones. The boat had practically no need for fossil fuel. We had 3500 W of solar panels and, of course, hydro generation under sail. We love sailing, and we are the kind of people who like clocking up miles rather than staying several days at the same anchorage. This means that we very often sail on full batteries, and when we get to an anchorage, we have plenty of power for life on board.
On our outward crossing from the Canaries to the West Indies, four of us lived aboard and never had to turn on the generator. We arrived in Le Marin using only electric power. [Windelo] has made some very good innovations in electric/hybrid propulsion systems. After a few months of testing with the boatyard, the system was completely mature and really stood up to the test of our voyage. As far as I know, it is the first sailing catamaran to integrate a real electric and hybrid configuration.”

Some Travel Memories

The most impressive part of the journey for Matthieu was the Atlantic crossing between Canada and Iceland. “We had really bad weather and sailing conditions, with a cross sea and pyramid-shaped waves, seven to eight meters high! The forward cockpit proved itself to be very practical. Protected from the wind and cold, we were dry, and barely a bucketful of water entered the space once everything was closed – and above all, the cockpit is on the boat’s center of gravity, drastically reducing our movement in troughs of eight meters. It helped us hold out physically, and we felt better and much safer than if we were outside, even though it was really daunting.”
What was the most incredible moment? “When we entered New York by night, after a rough night’s sailing. We were enchanted by the size of the city, with illuminated buildings and advertising boards, so typical of this huge city.”