In 2021, the Windelo 50 Adventure is the first production ocean-going catamaran equipped with electric motors to have completed a 20,000 nautical mile Atlantic loop. This adventure confirms that electric catamarans have a future and are capable of making long crossings, while respecting the marine fauna and flora.
The journey of Matthieu and his family, owners of Hakuna Matata
After more than 10 years of chartering on the Mediterranean and Brittany coasts, Matthieu and his family wanted to take to the sea for an unprecedented family adventure lasting almost a year. Matthieu chose Windelo for the sleek design of its catamarans and the innovative concepts implemented such as: the central cockpit and the electric propulsion. He explains: "Windelo has created a unique boat that combines high performance sailing with a pleasant quality of life on board for the whole family". A few months after the launch of Hakuna Matata and a summer season in the Mediterranean, Matthieu, Perrine and their son Youri embarked on their Windelo 50 Adventure for a 10 month voyage.
Hakuna Matata and its crew left the port of Canet-en-Roussillon on October 17, 2021 to head for the Spanish coast, then the Canary Islands before crossing the Atlantic to Martinique. After several weeks of sailing in the Caribbean, Hakuna Matata and its owners reached the coast of the United States by sailing north to Florida, New York, Boston and Canada. Matthieu and Perrine wanted to make a loop of the North Atlantic and thus sail in all conditions and latitudes. It's now done with a return crossing between Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and Iceland. Then direction the Faroe Islands, Scotland and finally the French Atlantic coast. This incredible family adventure officially ended in August 2022, on the Breton coast. Hakuna Matata was then skippered to the Mediterranean Sea to reach its home port, Canet-en-Roussillon.
Their impressions and feelings: a high-performance sailboat
" Sailing the Windelo 50 is extremely enjoyable. It is a boat that accelerates well, is fast in light winds, and very stable on the water. It goes upwind exceptionally well, and this was a big surprise for me, as I had never had the opportunity to sail on sabre daggerboard catamarans before. "
The lighter a catamaran is, the better its performance. The Windelo 50 Adventure is a catamaran weighing 11.2 tons: " We have always been around 1.5 tons of load out of the 2 tons we had planned, knowing that the boat has a payload of 2.6 tons. As the weight distribution is very low and central to the cockpit, the center of gravity is always well placed. We regularly sailed between 13 and 15 knots and up to 23 to 24 knots in the surf. Hakuna Matata sails easily at 35° to the apparent wind and the tacking is so simple with the self-tacking solent. The catamaran tacked easily even with only 3 knots of wind. "
Matthieu's favorite: the front cockpit
" Now that I've had a taste of it, I couldn't bear to go back to an aft helm position. In this forward cockpit, we were perfectly protected from the spray and wind, especially when it was closed. Everyone is safe in the cockpit, including young children, in all conditions. And in calmer weather, you can open the windows and enjoy the sailing as if you were outside.
catamaran without fossil fuels The Windelo 50 Adventure was able to demonstrate its autonomous capabilities during this trip. ">
Over 20,000 nautical miles and eight months of sailing, in the cockpit, we have taken on the equivalent of a bucket of water. The Windelo is a true sailor's boat, with particular attention paid to the comfort of the crew during the navigation. Add to that the openness of the saloon and the fact that the helmsman is never isolated from the rest of the family, and you have the ideal boat for us who like to add up the miles. "
Strong memories of this trip
The moment that impressed Mathieu the most during his adventure was his return crossing of the Atlantic between Canada and Iceland. " We consumed only 800 liters of diesel in eight months, which is extremely low when you consider that the consumption includes the use of heating during the period in the colder sailing areas. The boat was almost autonomous in fossil energy. We have 3500 W of solar panels, and of course the hydrogeneration as soon as we sail. We love to sail and we are more the style to accumulate miles than to stay several days in the same anchorage. That's why we often sailed with full batteries and once we arrived at the anchorage we had enough reserves for life on board.
The most incredible moment? ">
On our outward journey, from the Canaries to the West Indies, there were four of us living on board and we never turned on the generator. Our arrival in Le Marin was done with the engine in full electric. It's so pleasant. With this principle, Windelo innovates very well in hybrid electric propulsion. After a few months of testing close to the shipyard, the system was totally mature and really proved itself during our trip. To my knowledge, this is the first sailing catamaran with a real integrated electric and hybrid configuration. "
