October 2022 - River Crouch

30th June 2019 Over 50 friends and family turn up at Fambridge to celebrate the launch of Windrunner after her 6 year refit. The interior was part finished, but fully completed within from 2019 to 2021.

Early Hours off of Ramsgate September 2021

The E bay Deal

Designed by Dick Zaal in 1973 (Contest Yachts) and built for Teun Poorter of Ridderstraat 6, Alkmaar, Holland. She was one of 2 built. Windrunner spent 10 years in the ownership of Teun Poorter before he sold her to an Englishman who kept her on the Solent. At some stage she  was refitted by Southampton Yacht Services. She was then taken to Gibraltar and subsequently sold in 1991/2. She is thought to have been sailed to the Caribbean at around this time.

Teun Poorter had two build, he loved the lines of Windrunner so much, he had the second yacht built for his father. nobody knows the whereabouts of the second yacht. 

Windrunner was seized and confiscated for drug smuggling by HM Customs and Excise in Aug 1996 in Cornwall. HM Customs and Excise subsequently sold her to Nick Douch, Nick enjoyed her for many years until August 2014.

During the summer of 2014 Nick had decided to sell her. She had sat in a cradle outside the toilet block at Chichester Marina for five years. I think due to work commitments the urgent repairs were always put off.  She was basically rotting away from the inside. There were lots of holes in her hull. Anybody walking past could look inside her. There were some patches on the hull but rust kept growing. During Nick's ownership he had spent £1000's on electrics, rigging, sails, radar, heating and a hydraulic autohelm system. He carried out a few repairs to the hull with over plating a good short term fix. I am sure he was faced with the same dilemma I was to be soon to be faced with - Keep adding patches? Or strip out the interior and start again.

I wasn't expecting to buy Windrunner, I found her on E bay. She didn't get reserve and a few texts exchanged hands and the deal was done.

 

 But look at her now in 2019 and 2020. Some interior and exterior photos

 

 

Photo as of 25th June 2019 5 days before launching