The Sailing Ship That Turned 40 in a Shipyard — and Came Out Better for It
Windstar's Wind Star marked its 40th birthday inside a drydock in Cádiz, Spain. After four decades of sailing, the iconic tall ship is back on the Mediterranean with a yacht-inspired makeover and a fresh summer season ahead.
The Sailing Ship That Turned 40 in a Shipyard — and Came Out Better for It
Most ships spend their birthdays at sea. The Wind Star spent its 40th in a drydock in Cádiz, Spain — and honestly, that might be exactly right.
On April 4, 2026, Windstar Cruises marked four decades since the Wind Star first entered service in 1986. The 148-passenger sailing ship was not on a Mediterranean cruise at the time. It was sitting in the Navantia shipyard on the Spanish Atlantic coast, in the middle of a major modernization project. The company celebrated with an on-site ceremony, a custom birthday cake prepared by the ship’s executive chef, and a photoshoot with the vessel’s crew.
According to Cruise Industry News, the Wind Star returned to service on April 7 — three days after the birthday — and set off on a 10-night inaugural Mediterranean cruise sailing between Málaga and Barcelona.
The coincidence of a milestone birthday spent in refit is more poetic than it first appears. The Wind Star is not the same ship it was in 1986. That is the whole point.
What Windstar Is Actually Doing to the Wind Star
The renovation is part of Windstar’s “Setting Sails” initiative, a multi-phase modernization program aimed at all three of the line’s sailing vessels. The Wind Star completed Phase 1 work in late 2023. The Cádiz drydock delivered Phase 2.
The changes are concentrated in the spaces where guests spend most of their time. Staterooms are being refreshed with updated finishes and furnishings. The Amphora restaurant and the Veranda — two of the ship’s signature dining venues — are being redesigned with what Windstar is calling a “yacht-inspired” aesthetic. The intent is to move the interiors away from the warm, slightly dated nautical look that characterized the original 1986 design and toward something cleaner, brighter, and more aligned with the aesthetic expectations of today’s luxury traveler.
This matters because the Wind Star operates in a fiercely competitive small-ship luxury segment. The guests who book a 148-passenger sailing voyage could, alternatively, spend their money on a Scenic eclipse expedition, an Explora Journeys sailing, or any number of river cruise experiences. Physical product condition is not everything, but it is not nothing either. A ship that looks tired on the inside undermines even the most spectacular setting outside.
The Case for a 40-Year-Old Sailing Ship
Here is the thing about the Wind Star that a renovation can freshen but not manufacture: the sails.
The ship carries four towering masts with enough canvas to qualify as a genuine sailing vessel. When conditions allow — and in the Mediterranean in summer, they often do — the Wind Star actually sails. Not in the motor-with-sails-up sense. The ship can make real progress under wind power alone, cutting its engines and letting the rig do the work. Guests who have been on the Wind Star in a good breeze will tell you there is nothing quite like watching those masts fill from the pool deck while the ship heels gently and the engine noise disappears.
No amount of new-build megaship engineering replicates that. It is something the Wind Star has always had, and something that becomes more valuable, not less, as the cruise industry fills up with ever-larger steel structures optimized for entertainment capacity.
For 40 years, that has been the core proposition: a genuine sailing experience at a scale where the crew knows your name by day two.
The 2026 Mediterranean Season
After returning to service on April 7, the Wind Star kicks off its summer season with seven-night Greek Islands and Turkey itineraries departing from Piraeus beginning in May. The routing takes advantage of the Aegean’s notorious summer winds — the meltemi — which makes the Wind Star’s sailing capability more relevant than it would be in the calmer western Mediterranean.
In November, the ship repositions to the Caribbean for a winter season that includes Panama Canal passages and Central American coastlines.
The full program is available through Windstar’s website and travel advisors.
Why 40 Years Is Worth Paying Attention To
The cruise industry tends to celebrate the new. New ships, new private islands, new categories of onboard entertainment. The launch of a vessel that can carry 7,000 guests generates far more coverage than the quiet birthday of a sailing ship with 148 berths.
But the Wind Star’s longevity is itself a statement about what a specific segment of travelers actually wants. Windstar has kept this ship sailing for four decades because there has always been a market for it — a market that values intimacy over spectacle, movement over anchoring, and a ship you can walk end-to-end in five minutes over one that requires a map to navigate.
The birthday in the shipyard is just the latest chapter. The Wind Star goes back to sea this month with freshened interiors, the same four masts it has always had, and 40 years of institutional knowledge about what a small sailing ship can offer that nothing else in the industry can.
That is not a bad position to be in at 40.