My Vindo 40, Pia II

My family has owned a Vindo 40, built 1975, since 1988. For 13 summers we have sailed her in different waters around Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany. We are very fond of her.

A quotation from the Swedish magazine Båtnytt: "Vindo 40 is one of those solid boats from Orust which seam to lastforever. It is due to the unusual high quality from the start. She is a quite heavy boat with a thick hull and heavy interior fittings with a lot of wood. Vindo 40 is 31 feet long. 40 stands for the area of sails, not the length.

Her weight is 5,5 tons with all equipment, but with her genoa set she goes at a fair pace anyway. There are not many modern boats, which can overtake me when I have a little wind in my sails (25 years old sails).

I have never sailed other kinds of Vindos, but I think most of them has less capacity under sail than the 40 has. It wouldn't surprice me, if the 40 is the best sailboat Vindo has built. When you go against the wind she hold her course steady as a rock, course and she keeps her speed very nicely due to her weight and her long keel. She has a tendency to turn against the the wind, particularly if you use a too small foresail. She performs very badly with just her main sail set, but on the other hand it's OK to just use the foresail.

You will be very busy, when you sail her with the wind in high waves. She wriggles a lot due to her lean stern and her long keel, so you must avoid sailing with the wind from the aft in open waters.

Carl Andersson the constructor said: “The lean stem and stern will give her a smooth run through the water.” He was right but as a result of this the cockpit is rather small and uncomfortable. The wheel is to small to give you the possibility to sit on the edgings of the cockpit, so you have to stretch your neck a great deal to see anything over the cabin roof.

The greatest drawback of the Vindo 40 is all the work you have to do in the springtime to keep the mahogany in order. Sooner or later you will get moisture in the joints in spite of all your efforts to sand and varnish it, and it’s very expensive and laborious to fix it. The boat has many weak spots, where the moisture can get in.

When you get inside a Vindo 40 you feel that have the nicest boat in world. No fiberglass in sight only mahogany looking as a piece of expensive furniture.

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Updated 2003-12-14