IN ASSOCIATION WITH
W indy has been building boats since 1966 when Hugo Vold, the son of a Norwegian fisherman, started manufacturing cabin cruisers and day boats. The firm’s name is a nod to Hugo’s dad, who called all his boats Vindy. From the get-go, Vold the Younger focused on quality and precision in order to build boats of the highest order which, as the company’s website humbly informs us, are “acknowledged throughout the world as second to none.”
It has a point, the Windy name still generates squeals of excitement among members of the boating community, who appreciate the company’s commitment to building stylish, high quality boats that prioritise efficient performance, good seakeeping and agile handling over the current trend for internal volume. Speak to any Windy owner and you’ll find they are almost all in love with their boats.
Over the years Windy has produced a multitude of vessels with suitably breezy names, ranging from the extreme (Typhoon, Tornado) to the more evocative (Mistral, Scirocco), while the monikers of others blow in a completely different direction – Triton (Greek god of the sea) and Xanthos (a city in ancient Lytha) to name but two. The subject of this review – the Windy 29 Coho – may well be named after the Coho salmon. It certainly seems a good fit, for the 29-foot Coho is a sleek and slippery performer that is more than happy to leap out of the water when cresting a wave at speed. Good looking too, in a typically minimalist Scandinavian fashion.
IN BUILD 2013 – 2018 PRICE RANGE £95,000 – £190,000
LEAN MACHINE
Launched in 2013, and superseded in 2018 by the 29 Coho GT, (a facelifted model with a number of extra features), the 29 Coho evolved from the highly rated Windy 28 Ghibli. Lighter, stronger and more economical than its predecessor, the 29 Coho is faster too, its deep V hull capable of achieving a top speed in excess of 45 knots. If that doesn’t impress the fast RIB owners out there, remember this gokart of a boat also has a galley, double bed and a washroom, so it’s good for weekends as well as day tripping. And should you require more evidence as to just how exhilarating the 29 is, check out Motor Boats Monthly’s 2014 Youtube review of one flying around the Solent at speed.
The model we found for sale at Salterns Marina in Poole was a 2014 boat with an asking price o
