Are there any kind Westerly owners in the SW?

[floatything]

I've started 'virtual shopping' for a Westerly - my next boat up from an Express Pirate. Based on the sailing I think I am likely to do, I've been looking at the 25' Windrush and the Tiger, as well as a Centaur. I appreciate that the Windrush is an ugly bugg*r but I find myself strangely drawn to it (says something about me I suppose).

Might there be any proud owners of a Westerley who might offer me their experiences of their boat - or even let me look over one so I can assess whether I'm going down the right track?

Chris Floatything

 

[VicS]

You cant go wrong with a decent Centaur. i expect Tiger owners will tell you the Tiger was better though.

The Windrush is not only ugly but very dated. The W 25 is basically the same hull but has a nicer looking lid.

A here are pics of a Windrush that is in desperate need of some (major) work and a W25 nearing the end of a refurbishment

The Westerly OA have a Yahoo Discussion Group and a forum open to all. Links from the
WOA website

 

[Searush]

There is an owner's group for all the early Westerlies (Denys Rayner designed). Clicky bit I had a W25 for years (first boat) and loved it. The Windrush has better internal accom, but the W25 is so pretty to look at & good to sail short handed we were never that drawn to the Windrush.

When the kids go too big for the W25 we jumped up to a Pentland, which we still have (kids now being supplemented by grandkids!)

 

[p51]

westerley windrush

Ownedd one in late 1970s at Thorpe Bay and was moored out on the sands.Bought it from a barrister who kept it at Lymington. I was a poor sailer and brought no glory to the boat or the club .
Boat was solid and the bilge keels took a pounding with the tide. The speed was a little pedestrian, the barrister said they had had it in a gale several times and found that if they closed the hatch and sat under bare poles they felt as safe as houses. My experience with the diesel was miserable and was pretty well useless.Succeeded in distinguising myself several times by being late on arrival and generally hated it.Very awkward get forward in an kind of sea and the safets way was through the cabin and out the hatch. There was a second wrush in the club...this guy was a sailer and a practical mechanic...he changed the shape of the rudder to remove the pounding he got on tide changes. I do think the problems were self inflicted but I loathed and detested the vessel.
Sorry but I did say I was a useless kind of a person, If you have one you prbably love it. It was called Dancing Djhasa,gray and lonely.Sold it in 1980-1981 and it went to somewhere on the east coat.

 

[davey]

Westerly Windrush engine

Ownedd one in late 1970s at Thorpe Bay and was moored out on the sands.Bought it from a barrister who kept it at Lymington. I was a poor sailer and brought no glory to the boat or the club .
Boat was solid and the bilge keels took a pounding with the tide. The speed was a little pedestrian, the barrister said they had had it in a gale several times and found that if they closed the hatch and sat under bare poles they felt as safe as houses. My experience with the diesel was miserable and was pretty well useless.Succeeded in distinguising myself several times by being late on arrival and generally hated it.Very awkward get forward in an kind of sea and the safets way was through the cabin and out the hatch. There was a second wrush in the club...this guy was a sailer and a practical mechanic...he changed the shape of the rudder to remove the pounding he got on tide changes. I do think the problems were self inflicted but I loathed and detested the vessel.
Sorry but I did say I was a useless kind of a person, If you have one you prbably love it. It was called Dancing Djhasa,gray and lonely.Sold it in 1980-1981 and it went to somewhere on the east coat.

I have bought a very dilapidated Windrush as a "project boat". She was supposed to have a 10HP Petter diesel engine but it turned out to be a Petter Mini-6! I was expecting a Petter AV1 or a PH1, duh! With only about 2 BHP per ton the Mini-6 won't be powerful enough. Can you remember what engine you had? What I'm particularly interested in is how the boat handles engine weight. Using the excellent Vicprop calculator it would appear that about 15BHP is needed to reach the hull speed of about 7 knots. Possible engines might be the Kubota Z600 or the Mercedes OM636. The Merc would be the best engine provided that the boat can handle the weight as IMHO this boat is really a motor-sailer.

 

[Searush]

I have bought a very dilapidated Windrush as a "project boat". She was supposed to have a 10HP Petter diesel engine but it turned out to be a Petter Mini-6! I was expecting a Petter AV1 or a PH1, duh! With only about 2 BHP per ton the Mini-6 won't be powerful enough. Can you remember what engine you had? What I'm particularly interested in is how the boat handles engine weight. Using the excellent Vicprop calculator it would appear that about 15BHP is needed to reach the hull speed of about 7 knots. Possible engines might be the Kubota Z600 or the Mercedes OM636. The Merc would be the best engine provided that the boat can handle the weight as IMHO this boat is really a motor-sailer.

6hp should be plenty.

7knts out of a Windrush? it will be squatting really bad by then & you will be using an awfull lot of fuel. I had a 9.9 Johnson o/b on my W25 (o/b are much less efficient than i/b so about equivalent to a 6-7hp i/b) and I could get it squatting with a huge wash but I don't think I ever managed 7kts. 6.5 would be tops IIRC & 4-5 a good steady cruising speed. A mini Petter will do that.

I chartered a later W21 (Laurent Giles design) and that would do a good 6kts with a miniPetter 6hp. Don't spend money hanging stuff unless you KNOW it won't do the job, defer that expenditure til next season & I'll bet you'll decide to keep the Petter, they are very good engines.

 

[Tranona]

OM 636 could not be a more unsuitable engine for the boat. Far too big and heavy - and way out of date.

If you are considering a new engine then the Kubota 16 (either a Beta or Nanni) would be more than enough, and a 14 OK. However, these cost more than the boat is worth so if you are looking used then anything under 20hp Volvo, Yanmar, Bukh being the obvious ones. However finding a good used engine is not easy as people generally only replace them when they are past it.