Wind Xplorer — engines optional. Oceans included.

The premise

The wider yacht industry has spent the past decade marketing sustainability without changing the physics. Solar panels on a 70-metre motor yacht do not meaningfully reduce its emissions. An “eco” badge does not make a diesel hull a wind-powered one. The Wind Xplorer range — through our WindVoyage joint venture with VPLP Design and Norse Shipyard — takes a different position. Wind first, engine second.

The engineering

• VPLP OceanWing® — rigid, articulated wing sails, automated trim. Developed by the same VPLP team behind multiple America’s Cup, Vendée Globe, and ocean-record campaigns.
• Photovoltaic deck surfaces — generation integrated into the superstructure, not bolted to it.
• Hydro-regenerative propulsion — under sail, the propellers spin and generate, charging the house and propulsion banks.
• Diesel-electric back-up — engines for harbour, slow-airs, and emergency. The vessels can complete most ocean passages without burning a litre.
• Expedition specification throughout: ice-strengthened option, helideck, dive ops, tender bay, accommodations for 10 to 14 guests and 14 to 20 crew.

Status

Active design phase on the 106-metre / 110-metre variant in France. Engineering progressing through detail-design with VPLP, naval architecture led from the WindVoyage office, Norse Shipyard contracted as build partner. The 80-metre variant is in preliminary engineering, available for owner customisation.

Where this is going

The Wind Xplorer programme is the answer to the question every UHNW yacht owner is now being asked — by their family, their guests, and increasingly their own conscience — about the emissions profile of the vessel they own. The answer cannot be marketing copy. It has to be physics.

An “eco” badge does not make a diesel hull a wind-powered one. Wind Xplorer is the proof of what the next generation of large yachts has to look like.

More

Full programme detail, owner customisation paths, and engineering documentation at windvoyage.com. White paper on request: The Wind Imperative — Why the Next Generation of Large Yacht Owners Must Include Wind Power by Paul Madden.