Any Westerly Pageant Owners?

[Nunfa1]

Hi there, we are currently looking for our first boat. We have a choice at the moment of a Pearson Sprite 20ft or a Westerly Kendal.
The Sprite is local to us and we have viewed it twice already, it's not a bad boat but will need some work but so will any boat we buy at our price range. It won't provide many comforts for the family though.
The Westerly Kendal looks like it will provide a lot more comfort, it will also need a bit of work but it is over 300 miles away so we're unable to pop along and view it.

Having done some research, the Kendal is a fin keeled version of the Pageant, so are there Pageant owners on here that can tell me why I should buy one of those boats? Are they easy to sail for a beginner? Do they require any special maintenance? Could a family of 4 stay on board for a night or 2?

Many thanks for any info.

 

[capetown]

Yes, you should buy one, as ours will be on the market later this year
Some say a baby Centaur.
About 550 were made, the last 21 has a wooden interior (mine) the last 5 or so had the addition of silver anodised spars.
Later ones had two rectangular portholes on the forcabin.
We've been two up in 34kts with no issues.
four adults will be no problems for weekending/Bank hols or longer but they are 23ft so you have to be tidy.
We've had ours for about fourteen years and spent loads on her.

Before you make your mind up, try to go aboard as many classes as will fit your mooring and budget.

Good luck with your search.

 

[VicS]

The person I sailed with for many years had a a Pageant as his first "big boat" although I did not sail with him until he'd upgraded to a Berwick. He got around the CIs and nearby French coasts from the Solent but the Vire engine was I believe a bit of a handicap!.

Also tended to be stopped in its tracks by choppy seas I think.

I think he sailed with wife and 2 sons to some extent although he also had a "regular" crew, who I later took over from

There were 551 Pageants built but according to the WOA only 6 Kendals.

The Sprite I know nothing about but a Westerly will always be well known and relatively easy to sell again when the time comes.

Having a good modern inboard diesel engine fitted will be an important factor to take into account.

 

[Nunfa1]

Thanks Guys.
I'm leaning to the Kendal but I'm apprehensive about buying my first boat sight unseen. It's also going to cost more to transport it down here and get it in the water than the purchase price.
The fin keel maybe an issue as we will be keeping it on a tidal river mooring, would it fall over at low tide?

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'm leaning to the Kendal but I'm apprehensive about buying my first boat sight unseen. It's also going to cost more to transport it down here and get it in the water than the purchase price. The fin keel maybe an issue as we will be keeping it on a tidal river mooring, would it fall over at low tide?

I'm a great fan of smaller boats ((I spent 25 very happy years witha 21' Westerly) but these two factors make the Kendal sound like a terrible choice for you. Why are you considering the wrong sort of boat in the wrong place?

 

[pvb]

Thanks Guys.
I'm leaning to the Kendal but I'm apprehensive about buying my first boat sight unseen. It's also going to cost more to transport it down here and get it in the water than the purchase price.
The fin keel maybe an issue as we will be keeping it on a tidal river mooring, would it fall over at low tide?

If you have a very shallow mooring, a bilge keel Pageant would be better. In fact, in many ways a Pageant would be a wiser buy, as more people have heard of them so it'll be easier to resell one day. And there are loads of them around, so you most likely could find one which wouldn't involve high transport costs.

By the way, the Kendal you're looking at isn't the one in Windermere, is it? Frankly, it looks like a bottomless pit into which you'd be chucking money for years.

 

[Tranona]

Thanks Guys.
I'm leaning to the Kendal but I'm apprehensive about buying my first boat sight unseen. It's also going to cost more to transport it down here and get it in the water than the purchase price.
The fin keel maybe an issue as we will be keeping it on a tidal river mooring, would it fall over at low tide?

You don't say where "down here" is, but if it is in a popular boating area there will be no shortage of boats of the type and in the price range that you are looking at for sale locally.

Remember the initial purchase price is only the entry fee to a lifetime of expenditure which will dwarf your initial purchase cost. Rather than buy something that needs work buy the very best functioning boat you can find and use it. Don't get hung up on particular designs - most boats that have survived 30 or 40 years doing exactly what you want to do will be fine for a first boat. Spend a couple of years with it finding out what you like and don't like, then your next purchase will be well informed by your experience.

 

[dylanwinter]

Advice here from Dr Woy at the Institute of Boat Psychology - Oxford

Buy a boat that will not fall over when the tide goes out

it will be cheaper to keep

Buy a boat close to where you wish to sail it

transporting boats around on trucks is expensive

the financials are bollix when dealing with cheap boats

If you are at the low end of the market then engines are everything

you have to ask yourself a few simple questions

will the engine start reliably and run reliably?

if the engine goes pop how much will a replacement cost me?

so buy the boat you can afford now. Make sure that it is one that with a solid week of hard graft you can have ready for the water

play your cards right and by the middle of may you could be sailing your own boat

I love westerlies but look for a proper pageant

here in the UK we have 20 foot tides

boats that fall over when the tide goes out need a much higher level of management than ones that sit happily in the mud

Dr Woy

 

[Nunfa1]

Some excellent advice guys, thanks very much.
Looks like we rule out the Kendal.
I don't think the Sprite is ideal either. I'm not one to jump in so will keep looking.

 

[JumbleDuck]

By the way, the Kendal you're looking at isn't the one in Windermere, is it? Frankly, it looks like a bottomless pit into which you'd be chucking money for years.

This one: http://www.maiden-marine.co.uk/used-boat/?BoatID=5026058?

Apart from needing a damn good clean, she doesn't look too bad. From the picture of the forecabin, the headlining isn't lying on the bunks so it has probably been done already. A day to clean the outside and another on the inside and she'd buff up a treat. However, paying more than she costs to move her to a drying mooring does not seem like the world's greatest plan.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some excellent advice guys, thanks very much.
Looks like we rule out the Kendal.
I don't think the Sprite is ideal either. I'm not one to jump in so will keep looking.

There are a zillion 20 - 23' boats of that sort of age available everywhere for two fifths of stuff all. I'm sure you'll find something.

Here's a Boatshed search for sailling boats under £2,000. I'd go for the Achilles 24 with the unconventional gas locker myself.

http://www.boatshed.com/dosearch.php?bq={%22category%22:[%2273%22],%22raw_gbp_price%22:[%22..2000%22]}

 

[Tranona]

I'd go for the Achilles 24 with the unconventional gas locker myself.

Not really suitable for a family of 4 for a first boat, though - definitely an acquired taste compared with a Pageant.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Not really suitable for a family of 4 for a first boat, though - definitely an acquired taste compared with a Pageant.

What's so odd about it? I confess that I don't know much about Achilles 24s.

 

[dylanwinter]

What's so odd about it? I confess that I don't know much about Achilles 24s.

buggerall headroom and tiny cabin for a 24 footer

no separate heads so you have to be bowell buddies or pontoon limpets

so for a family boat the Pageant is better

although the Achilles is likely to sail better

D

 

[Tranona]

Dylan has it one. Great little boat for a masochistic hermit who likes good sailing on his own (or with a (small) like minded companion.

 

[Tam Lin]

Lots of good advice the most important of which is to buy a boat in good condition with a decent engine then go sailing! I bought a dilapidated Centaur, spent some money on her then the engine went pop. My total spend on her is about three times what she cost me! I will never get that back but should have a nice boat for my retirement. Oh yes, I missed the last two sailing seasons too!

One more thing, don't pay the asking price, it's a buyers' market out there!

 

[elton]

I bought a Pageant as a temporary replacement for the Centaur I lost. It's not as good as the Centaur in many respects, but the fact I still have it seven years later must say something.

There isn't enough room, whereas the Centaur always seemed to have sufficient. I tried sleeping in one of the aft bunks, but it was like being in a midget's coffin. There's almost standing room for my 6', which means I bang my head a lot. The Centaur was built like the proverbial brick outhouse, whereas the Pageant hull is almost transparent. I'm told the standing headroom means it suffers windage, whatever that is...... but still ... a nice boat.

The WOA web site is a useful resource http://www.westerly-owners.co.uk/westerlywiki/index.php?title=Pageant_23

 

[JumbleDuck]

buggerall headroom and tiny cabin for a 24 footer

no separate heads so you have to be bowell buddies or pontoon limpets

I am, as ever, greatly obliged.

Dylan has it one. Great little boat for a masochistic hermit who likes good sailing on his own (or with a (small) like minded companion.

 

[Tranona]

Exactly. Have you seen inside the grotto, although his has extra headroom. Still, he had a Corribee before, so luxury for him.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Exactly. Have you seen inside the grotto, although his has extra headroom. Still, he had a Corribee before, so luxury for him.

I saw the pictures. The impression I get is that he assiduously strips out any vestige of comfort before donning a horsehair combination suit and heading for the Arctic.