Westerly Corsair v Conway

Becky

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I know it is quite early in the evening, but I am really cold having just returned from painting the keels, so I am in the study getting warmed up. Can anybody help me with the following query. How does the Westerly Corsair compare sailing-wise with the Westerly Conway. I looked at a Conway yesterday, and for my proposed cross-Atlantic trip next year (and cruise the Caribbean), it seemed to be ideal; deep keel, 6 foot draft, narrowish beam so there is less distance to fall, loads of storage, heavy and strongly built. The only knowledge I have of the Corsair is that she is another heavy long-distance cruiser, and does seem to be popular with 'live-aboards'. I read James Jermain's second look article in last July's (I think) YM and he seemed to be as impressed as he ever is with an older boat. But, Conways are getting up to 25 years old, which could be a bad thing. And I haven't read anything about their sailing ability. David Hardy at Trafagar did say that the Laurence Giles designs were good straight-running sailers, and I shouldn't bother about going to windward. But when I come back and possibly moor up in Chi marina, every bit of sailing iseither upwindor down. What do you folk think. And what other boats of this type should I consider?

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Chris_Robb

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No contest - Conway is a good sea keeping boat designed before volume was the beeZ kneez. Look at any photo of a Corsair and look at the high central and shallow cockpit. No for me IMHO of course.
look at picture <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F23578>http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F23578</A> I can still see the guys knees - so wouldn't care to be in that cockpit in raging storm.

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Robin

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Conways sail quite well upwind, ketches not as closewinded as sloops or either type as close as cruiser racers, but adequate nonetheless and capable of doing it in really dirty weather. Engines mostly Mercedes 42hp or Volvo 36hp as originals. Lots have done RTW trips.

Corsairs come in MK1 & MK2 form, slightly different stern cabin layouts, each has their favourites. For me the keel depth is a bit shallow so I would suspect some leeway in a blow upwind but they would be quicker than the Conway in light winds I suspect. Engines were the horrible Volvo 2003 seies, mostly 28hp, a few with the 2003T turbo 43p. The engine power at least with the standard 2 bladed prop is not enough to bash straight into any wind/sea and maintain 6kts, rumour has it this is improved with Brunton 3 bladed self pitching/feathering props. The Ocean Ranger 38 is a Corsair with an added stern scoop.



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Twister_Ken

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Other Boats

Rivals, Rustler 36, Tradewind 35 or 39, Swan (smaller & older S&S designs), Nich 35, 38, 39 or 40, Wauquiez Gladiateur, Vancouver 34, 34P or 36.

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Try to make contact with "Jonic" @ Scuttlebutt who departed the UK about 18 months ago with his new wife in a Corsair. Now in the States but he occasionally posts here.

There is a very cheap looking Corsair for sale in the southern United States (see YBW.com), why not get a cheap head start in your voyaging?

What is your total refit budget? How many years will you be away? What is the crew size? Do you intend to have the experience and then sell up quickly on return to the UK? Is you crew agile enough to cope with a high sided center cockpit design and a deep descent into the saloon?

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Becky

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Re: Other Boats

Thank you guys for the information. The list from Twister Ken includes some I hadn't considered. I have seen a quite good Conway, which is something my friend and I could live on. As to how long away, and budget, it still depends, on whether we both contribute, or just me, and when I am finally dragged from my work. Richard teaches yachtmaster courses in London and will stop at some time. But, we would have some time to prepare a yacht if we bought soonish, so could go for something older and I could do an 'Ellen MacArthur' rebuild, much as I have done on Solitaire. (Just got the central heating working after two months hard (for me anyway) work, and the boat will be ready for the season or for selling). My friend Richard loves improving boats, no matter how new, so when he bought a Westerly Oceanranger with only 35 hours on the engine clock, albeit that the boat was ten years old, he spent loads improving things. So buying newish would not necessarily be a saving. And I feel confident in the older heavy seaworthy boats. They may not be able to out-run bad weather, but at least they can ride it out. I also feel safer in a centre cockpit. I looked at a Westerly Kestrel (35 feet, stern cockpit) and felt very exposed at the stern; rather than being supported by the hull bouyancy, I felt included in it.
Thank you again for your suggestions; just telephoned about another sloop-rigged Conway which also could be a possibility. Another point; we both like Westerly's. I lke Moody's too, but they are a lot more money.
Regards Becky

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pvb

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Oi!!!

If you think you can see the guy's knees, it's probably because he's got his foot up on the cockpit seats. The Corsair has quite a nice deep cockpit. Trust me - I was the first owner of the boat in the pic you linked to.

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Apetts

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There were 4 versions of the Conway hull ie Conway, Galway, Solway and Medway some had aft cockpits and bilge keels and some were ketches. I owned a bilge keel Galway for some years and it was a fantastic boat. It sailed well and even beat to windward at a respectable speed and angle though you would not win races. I was caught out in the Irish sea in winds over 50knots for an number of hours, the seas were large and broke over the hull occasionally but the boat handled the situation very well and gave the crew confidence. The boats were also substantially built. Whilst on a mooring off Fleetwood awaiting the gate opening I was hit by a 60ft trawler that had lost power and drifted down onto me on a 5kn tide. The anchor, stowed on the bow roller, was the first point of contact, it ended up with its shaft severelybent, the bow rollers bent to 45 degrees and the pulpit followed. To my delight two planks were dislodged from the trawler. Examination of the Galway hull showed there was absolutely no damage to the fiberglass and when the fittings were removed the deck at the front, also undamaged, was found to be nearly one inch thick fibreglass. They don't build them like that anymore!!
I think these boats were built before they invented fibreglass technology, so they put plenty of it in place.
Altogether an excellent boat.

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Chris_Robb

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Hand slapped

OK - but in comparative terms, the design is still somewhat towards the larger volume end to be a true Bluewater boat is it not - please do slap me down again if necessary!!!!!

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pvb

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No, you\'re right...

The Corsair is fairly voluminous, and faced with the same decision today, my choice wouldn't be the Corsair. Having said that, it's a pretty sturdy boat, and a number of Corsairs have travelled the oceans quite happily, including my old one.

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Storyline

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(Disclaimer - Conway owner !)

Agree with Chris Robb, the Conway is a better choice over a Corsair. The centre cockpit on the Conway is a lot lower and as such feels (and looks) a lot more secure in a big sea. She is a powerful boat and they are currently fantastic value for money and I am always amazed that people prefer to pay more for a lightweight plastic fantastic. All I can think of is that they have not been caught out in a blow with big seas !

Seriously though, I know older traditional styled narrow beam boats are not fashionable these days but they really are great. I think the longish fin keel is the perfect compromise between a sea kindly long keel and a high performance narrow fin. If you look at the underwater profile you will see what I mean.

The only downsides are the higher maintenance costs associated with an older boat and that the loadings with a large rig and heavish hull are quite large and you may want to think of upsizing winches etc.
 

Storyline

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This thread is 10 years old - the OP gave up sailing and hasn't been on the forum for 2 years...

Haha, never miss the opportunity to wax lyrical about the qualities of a Conway :) anyway, they are even cheaper now !

(For some reason the thread came up on the first page on a search on the word 'conway' - haven't been on the forum for a while so I thought I would check if there had been any recent threads)
 

l'escargot

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Haha, never miss the opportunity to wax lyrical about the qualities of a Conway :) anyway, they are even cheaper now !

(For some reason the thread came up on the first page on a search on the word 'conway' - haven't been on the forum for a while so I thought I would check if there had been any recent threads)
You're on a loser with me - I've got an Oceanranger... ;)
 

Bradj

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Don't conway's have a problem with the mast compression, on a survey I saw the surveyor seemed to indicate that, interested if that's is a problem, would think that would be expensive.
 

Kelpie

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Don't conway's have a problem with the mast compression, on a survey I saw the surveyor seemed to indicate that, interested if that's is a problem, would think that would be expensive.

Many, if not most, boats of that era with deck stepped masts can suffer from compression under the mast foot. Not rocket science to remedy, but your best source of information for the specifics would be the Westerly Owners Association.
 

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