MSY Wind Surf is a five-mast staysailschooner that is one of the largest sailing cruise ships in the world, with two electric propulsion motors powered by four diesel electric generating sets also. She can carry up to 342 passengers, in a total of 150 ocean-view staterooms, 18 ocean-view suites and 2 deluxe bridge suites, with a crew of 210. Wind Surf had been owned and operated by Club Med under the name Club Med 1, and was later transferred to Windstar Cruises.
On a 10 day itinerary that began on December 18, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020, 48 crew members and 51 passengers of the 342-passenger ship tested positive for covid and were taken off the ship for quarantine in Barbados; later many other passengers tested positive and were unable to return home until they tested negative.
La Fayette was launched in 1989 at the Société Nouvelle des Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre, France, renamed Club Med 1 on 14 January 1990. Her sister ship Club Med 2 was launched in 1992 in the same shipyard. Club Med 1 made her maiden voyage in 1990, and sailed for Club Med for eight years.
In 1998, Club Med 1 was sold to Windstar Cruises and renamed Wind Surf. The ship was based on Windstar Cruises’ smaller 5,350-ton, 148-passenger Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Song motor sailing yachts. All were also built by Société Nouvelle des Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre, France. In 2013, she was featured in the season 7, episode 3, of a Discovery TV series, called Mighty Ships.
[caption id="attachment_162391" align="aligncenter" width="485"] John Jacob Astor by Gilbert Stuart[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Astor family is a family known for its prominence in business, society, and politics in the United State...
