With the delivery of its new industrial facility in the port of Canet-en-Roussillon last March, WINDELO is now established for the long term in the French region of Occitania. The Windelo team is currently building the first Adventure 50 eco-friendly catamaran, which has already been sold.
After a year of construction works at the boatyard, the Windelo team has now settled into its new 1600 sq. m production facility. Setting up the facility in the Occitania region was a strategic choice. It enables Windelo to benefit from all the expertise and infrastructures on offer at the port of Canet-en-Roussillon. The 4000 sq. m quayside plot is the first development phase for the boatyard. “The diversity of professionals and facilities in the area make it a hub of excellence for every aspect of the catamaran business. Following the evolution of the project, we could gradually expand our facilities to 10,800 sq. m,” says Gautier Kauffmann, Operations Manager at Windelo.
An Industrial Facility Designed for Building Environmentally Friendly Catamarans
“Our production facility is tailored to our industrial process. It was designed to accommodate new developments in our boat range, and satisfy increases in demand. It houses all the services needed to build and market our boats, including a design office, marketing, sales, and administrative departments, and component manufacturing, assembly and fitting workshops,” adds Gautier Kauffmann.
The Windelo boatyard is divided into distinct zones. The structure of boats is made from an eco-friendly basalt fibre and PET composite in a cutting-edge infusion facility. Once trimmed in the building designed for that purpose, different elements are assembled in the main workshop where three boats can be built at the same time.
The production facility also includes joinery where all the furniture and components for fitting out the boats are made.
A mezzanine at the back of the workshop provides direct access to the sterns of the boats under construction. This facilitates fitting out the catamarans’ decks and interiors. Various elements can thus be prepared and finished on the mezzanine before being fitted to the boats.
The storage rooms are split between the ground floor and the raised deck to optimize the space for boat building.
This first development phase for the yard will enable to build about ten catamarans every year, with the number of employees steadily increasing to approximately fifty. Once the project has been rolled out completely, the boatyard will enable Windelo to triple production over the next few years.
