WINDY ZONDA
BUILT: 2018 PRICE: £239,950
LOA 31ft 6in (9.6m) Beam 9ft 8in (3.0m) Draught 3ft 6in (1.1m) Displacement 3.9 tonnes Fuel capacity 517 litres Engine Volvo Penta D6-400 400hp diesel engine
When Windy launched the Zonda, it referred to it as a “new old” boat – a homage to classics of the past. It’s why there’s no radar arch and no massive hull windows, and why it looks so amazing. Following the bloodline cast by boats like the 8000, the Tornado and the Khamsin, this is a proper old-school high performance weekender.
INTERIOR
Having introduced the Zonda as a boat that harks back to the classic weekenders of yore, we immediately have to begin with the most obvious departure from all of those boats. Head inside any previous Windy weekender and you’ll find a dinette snuggled up front. But Windy reckon no one really sits inside the cabin, with its limited headroom and lack of a view, it’s mostly used for sleeping. So for the Zonda, the dinette makes way for a proper fixed double bed – less adaptable but far more comfortable for actually sleeping on. Also down here you’ll discover a small galley and a separate heads.
It’s all very compact, but it’s also beautifully trimmed, with virtually no fibreglass showing other than in the heads.
EXTERIOR
With the cabin given over solely to sleeping, cooking and, err, other things, the cockpit becomes the living space. And in order to make that function as practically as possible, Windy developed a canopy that stays on its framework and simply drops beneath the back seat once the engine hatch is raised. There are no side decks, in order to maximise cockpit space, so foredeck access is through an opening windscreen section.
PERFORMANCE
Most buyers opted for a single Volvo D6. Originally in 370hp output when the boat was launched in 2011, we clocked a smidgen less than 40 knots. The later D6-400 in this 2018 model seals the 40-knot deal, with factory figures promising 43 knots.
SEAKEEPING
With Hans Jørgen Johnsen working his magic on the hull design, it’s no surprise that this is a seriously capable driver’s machine with first rate seakeeping. We tested it in some big seas and discovered that “you simply set the revs to reflect your mood, not the sea conditions”, concluding that it was “Windy’s best ever hull”.
FOR SALE Berthon International www.berthoninternational.com