Accommodation

Three steps down takes you into the forward, main cabin with its slightly offset V-berth. Effectively, it’s a double bunk to starboard, with a single bench to port.

Iroko panelling on the inside of the flared bow contrasts effectively with the maple joinery and the pale carpeting on the bulkheads, ceilings and floors. The main cabin is flitted with three bronze (openings) portholes.

A hatch in the for’d bulkhead gives access to the chain locker. There’s good storage under the mattresses, and more in the hanging wardrobe with its roll-up louver door. The main cabin’s en suite is to starboard. Clean, simple and spacious, it carries a pull out shower from the hand basin (with a hot/cold mixer) and an electric toilet.

The Windhawk’s second cabin is midships under the galley/saloon floor – and entry is by descending a simple ladder. This cabin represents the major departure from the original Tortuga design which featured only a double cabin and a double-bed/saloon settee.

The new design offers sleeping for four – two fore-and-aft single bunks and one double, thwartships bunk between them. There’s not much headroom, but it’s spacious and comfortable. Ideal for an adult couple or a den for the kids.

Performance

A full-length keel (containing nearly a ton of concrete) and the 3.85m beam make the Windhawk a very stable platform.

It’s an easy running displacement hull, and with the 90 hp Caterpillar (driving a 29” diameter, four-blade prop) turning over at 1800rpm, we cruised at nine knots. The hull has been contra-faired (forward of the aperture) to maximize the props efficiently.

Hydraulic steering (Seastar) is very light (and the boat remains relatively level in even tight turns), and the bow thrusters helps with manoeuvring into tight berths. As indicated, a major feature of the boat is quietness – the result of good engine room insulating and the exhaust tucked under the swim platform.

For me, the boat is an obvious candidate for chartering. She’s responsive, easy to use and uncomplicated. She’s also equipped with heating (a diesel-fuelling heater) and, with insulated sides, remains warm and snug. That should encourage a longer boating season – even in the Marlborough Sounds.

Barnett calls the Windhawk ‘a small ship for all seasons’ – and it’s difficult to disagree. She’s a gem.