VIDEO: Windy 39 Camira – used boat review

It's a rare breed but this big, open sportsboat boasts major ability. Nick Burnham reviews the Windy 39 Camira

“It’s like a Porsche 911. It’s a very high-performance machine, but like the Porsche, it’s underscored by quality, practicality and most of all, the fact that you can use it every day.” Lawrence pauses for a moment and smiles, “but it would be a 911 Convertible.”

We’re aboard his Windy 39 Camira in Elizabeth Marina in St Helier, Jersey on a bright spring day. It’s a boat Windy launched in 2014, and with the benefit of a 40ft sportscruiser already in the range (the Windy 40 Maestro) taking care of family-friendly cruising duties, the company was free to create a more performance oriented long weekender.

“It’s pure Windy,” Ben Toogood, brand manager at Berthon and responsible for Windy sales, tells me in a conversation that bubbles with so much enthusiasm that he borders on evangelical.

“It’s one of the most exceptional boats Windy has ever made, it’s truly special. The Hans Jørgen Johnsen hull is incredible, with an extremely deep vee that carries right through (it’s 24 degrees at the transom). In a way the boat is slightly sold short by its sporty looks, people don’t expect it to be so capable offshore because it’s not a wheelhouse boat like a Botnia, but it is genuinely amazing.”

He’s right about the looks. With exterior design by Dubois Studio (Design Unlimited did the interior), the simple but powerful styling, uncluttered by even a radar arch, looks as fresh five years on as it did when the world first clapped eyes on it at the Düsseldorf Boat Show in January 2014.

Read our full used boat review of the Windy 39 Camira in the June 2019 edition of MBY.