GK 33

[youen]

Does anybody knows something about the Westerly GK 33?is she the same as the Ocean 33?only a few were building,Thanks for your help

 

[Tranona]

wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Ocean_33

 

[youen]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply?do you know if the hull is solid laminate or sandwhich ?

 

[jamie N]

This will be of no practical use to the OP as it's a picture from the cabin of my GK24, showing a sunrise through the hull. It's a reasonable illustration (I think) of how the hull was pared on the GK's, in order to save weight.

 

[vyv_cox]

This will be of no practical use to the OP as it's a picture from the cabin of my GK24, showing a sunrise through the hull. It's a reasonable illustration (I think) of how the hull was pared on the GK's, in order to save weight.

View attachment 197856

No photo but the GK29 was similarly very lightly built. Apparently the first boat made was dried against a wall. The keel came through the hull into the saloon! Mine was home finished during which substantial reinforcement was built in but subsequently a boatyard felt it necessary to add even more.

 

[jamie N]

No photo but the GK29 was similarly very lightly built. Apparently the first boat made was dried against a wall. The keel came through the hull into the saloon! Mine was home finished during which substantial reinforcement was built in but subsequently a boatyard felt it necessary to add even more.

Gosh! Mine's had reinforcing of the ribs in the keel area also which I'd always thought of as being a bit OTT, but no longer!

 

[Tranona]

Those early GKs were very different from the GK33/Ocean33 built in the late 90s

 

[Tranona]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply?do you know if the hull is solid laminate or sandwhich ?

The hull was built using the Scrimp method of vacuum infusion p2infohouse.org/ref/38/37030.htm It may well have had foam in the layup, but it would not be anything to be concerned about as the infusion method ensures a superior bond. Out of interest the moulds for the boat were sold to a company in Slovenia who built a small number using vacuum infused carbon fibre to further reduce weight.

 

[youen]

Did they had good results when racing?

 

[doug748]

Does anybody knows something about the Westerly GK 33?is she the same as the Ocean 33?only a few were building,Thanks for your help

The excellent "the Westerly Story" has a couple of pages on the Storm, Storm Cruiser, Regatta 330, Ocean 33 and GK33; which all, more or less ,share the same hull dimensions. This is contradicted in the text which describes the Ocean 33 as an: "all new Ed Dubois yacht"

However all these boats are grouped as a family with differences in rig, internal trim etc. The GK 33 is listed as manufactured between 1998 and 2000 when the company failed....

"The Ocean 33 was then used as the basis for the racing GK33. Scrimp moulding was used for the first time, a more powerful rig designed, a deep lead keel added, the deck layout improved and new window lines introduced. The internal layout remained essentially unchanged."

The internal fit out of these late Westerlies looks very impressive. As we know, a lead keel is an infallible indication that sailing performance, not cost cutting, is the priority in any design..


The Westerly Story


.

 

[PeterV]

I’ve seen many pictures of daylight showing through the hull laminate but it doesn’t mean it’s weak. If you can’t see through it from the inside it either means it’s been very badly laminated so that the glass is not wetted out or it means it’s got a core in it, which most older boats don’t have.
I have a GK 29. It’s flexible in places where there aren’t any stringers or bulkheads but every single bulkhead, stringer and part bulkhead is still securely bonded. If it’s lasted 46 years so far it’s probably plenty strong enough.