Double Atlantic crossing aboard a Windelo 54 Adventure
by Windelo 1 Dec 2023 13:11 UTC
On board of their Windelo, Manon and Robert crossed the Atlantic in January 2023 from Cape Verde to Barbados, then in July 2023, from West Indies to Azores © Windelo
Atlantic crossing is an incredible experience. For the two weeks that it will take the ARC participants to reach Saint Lucia from Las Palmas, each crew will live by the rhythm of the wind, the sun, and the stars while taking in the unimagined beauty of the aquatic fauna.
While Joule, a New Windelo 50 Yachting, and her crew have just set off on the ARC Atlantic crossing, Manon and Robert, the owners of B Cube, share what made their double Atlantic crossing* (round trip) onboard their Windelo 54 Adventure different from their previous experiences on another catamaran.
Windelo, a fatigue-free Atlantic sailing crossing
"The first major difference is really the amount of rest! Onboard a Windelo, long-distance sailing, even with a small crew, is a different story compared with our previous experience on another boat - it is not tiring. When Robert and I arrived, we weren't tired at all, and that's crucial for crossings lasting over ten days! It is not just that it makes the trip comfortable; you also feel much safer. We all know that we make more mistakes when tired".
What made the difference? "We love the Windelo's forward cockpit! Especially since it can be fully closed, we weren't exposed to the elements, the rain, the spray, or the wind. And nothing got wet on board, unlike with lots of other boats. Apart from the comfort, this provided great security, seeing as we sail in a team of two. Thanks to the forward cockpit, we never leave the saloon unless we're changing the foresail sheets, of course, and from the cockpit, we step out directly onto the trampoline. But as Robert would say, "It's not because you can sail without putting a foot outside that you should spend two weeks in your pajamas," even though I must admit that he actually did. Jokes aside, protected by the inside cockpit, we never pulled out our sailing clothing to protect us from the rain and cold, and that's really something!
And because the forward cockpit is an integral part of the saloon, with a daybed, we could sleep better and more soundly because we were always very close at hand just in case something happened during the other person's watch".
Atlantic crossing aboard a Windelo using only green energies
"We crossed the Atlantic using only our sails, without a drop of diesel. This is something that some other boats are also able to do, but the significant difference was that we only used green energies to produce electricity onboard. On the Windelo, we never needed our power generator to charge our battery banks. All we needed were our solar panels and the hydrogeneration system when the sails were up.
Never compromising on comfort, we reached the other side of the Atlantic with an almost full battery bank. Yet, each day, we took long, hot showers, the water maker was switched on, I cooked a great deal (using electricity), we used our tablets, phones, computers, and e-book readers, and, of course, we had all the navigation equipment running, as well as the electric winches for hoisting and trimming the sails. Our autonomy in green energy was never at the expense of our comfort because our batteries were recharged each day. However, we had to get used to activating the hydrogeneration system any time we were sailing at 10 knots or more.
And to develop this mindset, the only advice we could give friends taking part in the ARC 2023 onboard a Windelo catamaran would be to aim to do things the sustainable way, without a drop of diesel"!
*On board of their Windelo, Manon and Robert crossed the Atlantic in January 2023 from Cape Verde to Barbados, then in July 2023, from West Indies to Azores.