Seahawk B/K - blue water cruiser?

TheArchers

TheArchers

Member
Joined
19 Jan 2007
Messages
37
Location
Bangor, NI
Visit site
Hi,

We are considering buying a Westerly Seahawk (possibly B/K). This is our first boat and having spoken to many boat owners we are keen to buy something which we will hopefully never have to change, no matter where our cruising life takes us.

Initially our cruising ground will be Ireland/UK/Northern France but we would have every intention (after sufficent experience) to cross the Atlantic and that may lead us onto even further sailing grounds.

The question is, do you consider a bilge keeler to be a 'blue water' cruiser? I know many B/K's have completed Ocean passages and even circumnavigations, but were these people taking more of a risk than if they had gone in a fin keel? (or long keel).

Big decision - we just want to get it right:-) So thanks in advance for any info/opinions.
 
You will get a few people answering this, claiming that their long keel/fin keel/lifting keel hull is the ONLY way to go.

However I know the Seahawk boats fairly well, and for my money they are built substantially and strongly and I would have very few qualms about making an Atlantic crossing in a well maintained and equiped one. In bilge or fin keeled versions they are never going to win races, but there is loads of room and storage, and they don't sail that badly. In fact they sail so well that the average person will struggle to tell if its a fin or bilge keeler without looking underneath.
 
Chay Blyth and John Ridgeway both attempted the original Golden Globe singlehanded round the world race in bilge keeled Westerly 30s. They failed but bilge keels, per se are not unsuitable for long offshore or ocean passages.

The real question is why would you want to? There is plenty of water out there so why not use it and have a deep, single keel which will be faster and more efficient and slam less?

The waters you plan to cruise in all have deep water anchorages so you will not be restricted by draught, except, possibly, if you go on to the Bahamas.

If this really is to be your first and only boat, and if you really plan long distance voyaging, go for a deep fin.
 
Not sure about Ridgeway but Chay Blyths boat was a Kingfisher 30. i think that Blyths laxck of experience(then) probably contributed more to his failure than the boat design or keel type.

Loads of bilge keeled boats have succesfully crossed Oceans.they do have the advantage of being able sit on their own keels without any other support on a beach where there is sufficient rise and fall of tide.

(Last paragraph aimed at the original poster not you james /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

You wont get a definitive answer on this but I think its fair to say that most people would chose a deep fin keel for crossing oceans.
 
its not so much is a bilge keeler a blue water cruiser. i would say it is not ideal for blue water cruising so why bother
the compromise you will make in other ways will not be compensated for by the few times you may wish to dry out.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If this really is to be your first and only boat, and if you really plan long distance voyaging, go for a deep fin.

[/ QUOTE ] Depends how deep you mean by deep. If you don't want to exclude yourself from many anchorages in the Carib/Bahamas, then a maximum of 1.8 m or so is probably a good plan.

[ QUOTE ]
its not so much is a bilge keeler a blue water cruiser. i would say it is not ideal for blue water cruising so why bother
the compromise you will make in other ways will not be compensated for by the few times you may wish to dry out.


[/ QUOTE ] But if this is the boat that they can afford, why not? And Westerly Seahawks don't slam very much if at all - they are far to big and fat for such behaviour.

If you have a choice of a fin or a bilge version and all other things are equal, then the fin might be preferred for ocean work. Otherwise, who cares. And I reiterate, the sailing performance of the Seahawk Bilge keel version isn't bad!
 
TheArchers said: "we are keen to buy something which we will hopefully never have to change, no matter where our cruising life takes us."

Wow! You would be unique in the annals of yachting history as far as I know if that happens! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As this is your first boat, whatever you finally choose, you will continue to learn and adjust and that means changing boats at some stage! Just my humble opinion and it may be that there are people out there who have stuck with their first ever boat, despite having gone blue water.

My other tenpunceworth is...... long keel for what you are thinking of doing! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Ooh, that feels better now that I've said it! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
As others have said, the single keel version will sail better. You should choose a boat that can take the ground, in the sense that a grounding won't damage the boat. Also avoid extreme draft to allow yourself greater access to available anchorages, and to enjoy the US Intracoastal Waterway, for instance. Less than 6' is good, 5' is better.
I worry about bilge keels, and winged keels for that matter, in areas where you might encounter shallow water combined with limited tidal range, such as the Bahamas. It is advantageous to be able to reduce draft by heeling the boat to get yourself afloat again even if you went aground on a high tide. Some bilge keel and wing keel boats can be forced down by the bow to achieve a reduction in draft, but on many there is no way to achieve this.
If you can stick to one boat all your sailing life you will be doing well - I'm on my seventh!
 
Hello, here is my two penn'orth

my wife and I have a 1976 36' Westerly Solway, which is the twin keel ketch rig version of the Conway, the boat which the Seahawk replaced in the Westerly range. Prior to this we had a Westerly 33 also twin keel.
Both the above were designed by Laurent Giles and Ptnrs and the Seahawk by Ed Dubois. Neither would design cranky boats.

We actually look at this from a slightly different perspective, if you can get a well designed twin keel cruising boat with all her advantages what is the point of a deep fin?
We haven't crossed oceans but in typical north sea gale conditions both behave impeccably and I would defy anybody to tell the difference in keels. Of course if you go to windward for days on end then the fin will be better but if you plan to do that don't buy a Seahawk at all, or better still get some therapy!
On all other points of sailing there is hardly any difference.
IMHO In terms of strength and durabilty the Westerly range are in the top ten of production boats suitable for blue water crusing and the older models are now very affordable.
 
nothing wrong with a bilge keeler, my first long cruise, 2 yrs was in a westerly 25 bkeel to the med with a wife and 3 year old. my present boat is a nic 32 mk x1, after the last one a roberts 44, before that a rival 32.
with these i can/could not eaily dry out for maintenance, so costly lift outs, draft restrictions with anchorages etc, i think go ahead, i have done a fair bit of atlantic sailing and would have no problem with a bilge keeler, the difference in performance you will never notice.
 
Big thanks to all of you for your varying opinions, it's all really useful info and has given us a lot to think about. I think it's going to have to come down to a good old fashioned list of pro's and con's for us to be able to make a decision:-)

Someone also pointed out to us that a B/K will be more difficult to sell, which is now a more serious consideration since it's the general opinion that we'll have more than one yacht in our lifetime.

Thanks again,
The Archers
 
[ QUOTE ]

Someone also pointed out to us that a B/K will be more difficult to sell, which is now a more serious consideration since it's the general opinion that we'll have more than one yacht in our lifetime.

Thanks again,
The Archers

[/ QUOTE ]
Its unlikely that if the bilge keeler you buy is a Westerly that you will have any problem selling it.

The market for second hand Westerly's in reasonable condition and priced properly is as healthy as ever. The Westerly Owners web site here has a large number of Westerly's available for sale. Many boats that come up for sale sell within days or weeks of appearing, just read the testimonials on the site from owners who have sold in record time.
 
Prior to buying our Moody 346 we thought about the Seahawk and its sister the Falcon, which is aft cockpit. We stayed on board the Falcon about 5 minutes, having taken an instant dislike to the aft cabin and heads.

Sticking to the Seahawk, the centre cockpit is exceptionally high (even compared to the Moody). This seems to be because the design was a modification of the Falcon rather than created from scratch. It doesnt seem to be very successful judging by the very small numbers of them around.

By comparison, there were well over 300 Moody 346's built, which reflects their better all round performance, accommodation and comfort.

Not that I'm biased, of course. (see my footer /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top