Windstar sails not working?

Anyone been on the Windstar in the last couple weeks? The reviews from Dec. said the sails were not working for their entire cruise ?

That would be a real bummer ...

We were on the week before Christmas (16th to 23rd) and the sails worked just fine

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

We were on the week before Christmas (16th to 23rd) and the sails worked just fine

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

mmm. the review was from a December Christmas sailing and they said the large sail had been broken for 2 weeks?

Maybe not all sails were affected but the large one was not working - he inserted a picture.

All sails worked just fine on our cruise

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

I was on the same cruise as BBB Lover. I didn't notice any broken sails. This reviewer is a real whiner! "The back flag was frayed". Who cares? I never smelled "cat pee". That's really strange.

Those sails were brand new back in Dec. 2012 when I took the first sailing out of St-Martin after the ownership changeover (Wind Surf). The are in need of either being cleaned-up or changed. I just saw a post on FB showing Wind Surf in Barbados. Lots of soot on the sail.

But, this is real expensive. 69,000 sq. ft. of hand-crafted sails for all three ships.

The sails worked great 1/21-28/2017- beautiful picture taking from tenders back to ship

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The sails are dependent on:

1. wind conditions, and

2. Captain's interest in using them.

We've seem everything from the ship being totally under sail for hours at a time to "one sail put out for sailaway and then put right back in". I chatted with one captain who saw them as a necessary for marketing evil.

You are absolutely right. We were probably lucky because we had them up almost every night . Good picture taking. I found the Bridge tour very interesting and crew was terrific .

I was on the ship last week and the large aft sail was still broken.

I was on the ship last week and the large aft sail was still broken.

oh man, does that mean no "sailing" only by engine? For the entire week?

In our experience last week we had good wind and could have "sailed" but the captain chose to use the motor during all crossings. On most days the sails were unfurled less than 50%. I think he put the sails up only for show. Some passengers were unhappy that the sails were not used exclusively on the sail from St Lucia to Grenada since we motored to Grenada very quickly and just circled the island to burn time as this was supposed to be a sea day.

I didn't care as I knew from previous posters that the ship does not often "sail" but other passengers felt misled.

In our experience last week we had good wind and could have "sailed" but the captain chose to use the motor during all crossings. On most days the sails were unfurled less than 50%. I think he put the sails up only for show. Some passengers were unhappy that the sails were not used exclusively on the sail from St Lucia to Grenada since we motored to Grenada very quickly and just circled the island to burn time as this was supposed to be a sea day.

 

I didn't care as I knew from previous posters that the ship does not often "sail" but other passengers felt misled.

exactly... we would feel mislead also... at least "sail" for a portion of the time. otherwise why book the sailing experience?

I hope we get a bit of sailing on our week in March...

Maybe there is a technical reason they did not extend the sail.

They will not use the sail if the wind comes from the back or the front. Those ships will not tack. It has been done but are not made for this..

The ship can roll up to 8 degree. Very uncomfortable for many people who are not used to sail ship - you want happy guest. Anyway, past 8 degrees, the sails are retracted automatically Accidents do happen.

They could have used the sails between Barbados and St-Lucia or St-Lucia Grenada but it only add about 2-3 knts.

You can view wind direction on this site: https://www.windytv.com/?13.406,-60.790,8

They were out most of the time in 2014 when doing the same voyage.

You can read more about the design of the ship by reading the following book: https://www.amazon.com/Wind-Star-Building-Joseph-Novitski/dp/0025908308

I"m no sailor just repeating what I read.

We were under sail for 9 hours yesterday. For several of the hours there were 3 whales circling the boat. Wonderful day and wonderful cruise!

I just remember back in 2012, on the Wind Surf, along the coast off Montserrat, the Captain (Alan McCary) feathered the prop. and cruised along at a brisk 2-3 kts :p

I've never booked Windstar because the ships had sails. That's really not the reason that makes this cruiseline special. On our last cruise, I never paid any attention to the sails at all. I do know they were out and I never noticed a "broken one".

We are all different I love the sails and they are the reason we started cruising with WS. Coming out of beautiful harbors and ports under sail is the alure for us. We love WS and enjoyed the motor yachts but the sails are in our dreams. Happy Sailing.

We were under sail for 9 hours yesterday. For several of the hours there were 3 whales circling the boat. Wonderful day and wonderful cruise!

Oh no - we are also on the ship, but we missed this somehow. The sails are just fine by the way.

We were under sail for 9 hours yesterday. For several of the hours there were 3 whales circling the boat. Wonderful day and wonderful cruise!

Good to hear 😎😎

Awesome on the whales! Do you know what kind?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

They were Minke whales. Today we had a dolphin swim by while we were on the float off the back of the boat!

Very cool. Thanks for the report!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums