Windy

Windy (Windy Scandinavia AB) is a Scandinavian builder founded in 1966 by Hugo Vold, originally on the Norwegian coast. Production today runs from facilities in Västervik on the east coast of Sweden and in Ostróda and Słupsk in Poland, with more than 170 people across the yards turning out hulls from 26 to 77 feet across two product lines: the Sport Series and the SR Series Chase Boats and Yacht Tenders.

The build that put Windy on the superyacht-tender map is the SR52 Blackbird, a 16.10m chase boat co-designed with Dubois Naval Architects and naval architect Hans Jørgen Johnsen. It debuted at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2010 and was rated best chase boat in the world by Superyacht Magazine in 2015. Over 130 hulls have been built. The flagship today is the SLR/SR60, an 18.18m chase platform designed in collaboration with Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design, running triple Volvo Penta IPS units to 43 knots with a range of 850 nautical miles at 25 knots.

We'd put Windy alongside the stronger Italian open-boat builders on hull stiffness and seakeeping, and ahead of most on design pedigree - the SR series has drawn collaborations with Dubois, McKeon, Espen Øino, and Studio Liaigre. The construction method across the SR range is vacuum-injection moulding with a Divinycell foam core: the result is a lighter, stiffer hull than a hand-laid equivalent, carried through into every walkaround deck and below-decks fit-out. If your programme needs a chase platform that can cover open passages and present credibly alongside a 60m-plus mothership, the SR52 or SLR/SR60 are the builds we ask Windy for.