LittleSister
Well-Known Member
And then there's the Westerly (IIRC) Chieftain, a Centaur with a fin keel - the best/worst* of both worlds. (*Delete according to taste.
)
The good and bad things about a Centaur are......
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
And then there's the Westerly (IIRC) Chieftain, a Centaur with a fin keel - the best/worst* of both worlds. (*Delete according to taste.
)
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
or even worse - have to look on the web to see what a Quba jacket is
http://lhco.co.uk/Quba-Ladies-X10-T...I-0xaj8JydmV_KkqVIxJarlBL0dypCBipgxoCstDw_wcB
Norman_E
Well-Known Member
I have never sailed one, but from their popularity both new and secondhand it is clear that they must have introduced a lot of people to the pleasures of cruising sailing. That alone must stand as a great achievement and plus point for the design.
prv
Well-Known Member
At this rate Dylan's going to have to credit you as a co-author :encouragement:
Pete
alahol2
Well-Known Member
I always thought of the Centaur as relatively expensive, especially on the second hand market.
They weren't really my type of boat, but were always out of my price range anyway when looking at that sort of size.
James_Calvert
Well-Known Member
And then there's the Westerly (IIRC) Chieftain, a Centaur with a fin keel - the best/worst* of both worlds. (*Delete according to taste.
Fin keeled Centaur is a Pembroke.
Chieftain is twin keeled Centaur with aft cabin.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
or put lots of people off perhaps. I am sure lots of kids can remember thoroughly horrible weekends on Dad's boat
of course they will not be posting anything on here because all their holidays are now spent climbing mountains in the lake district or at Club Med
Iliade
Well-Known Member
I endlessly read that Centaurs are slow compared to other boats that size. Mostly that is because they are compared with said buoy-bashers when they are out in a nice F3-4 or so.
I maintain that the Centaur is actually faster, because F5 is needed to get them to lift their skirts, and nothing much short of F9 would make them have to stay in port and wait for a weather window. Hence I am often at journey's end when the can opener's crew are still in the bar and that, to me, is faster...
More than once we have embarked from France while the marina was full of 40' boats complaining that they couldn't continue on their journey because of the strong winds. Hey ho.
Oh, and the kids love sailing in the stronger winds when they can sit on the foredeck and get soaked, though SWMBO is less enamoured by a good swell.
I maintain that the Centaur is actually faster, because F5 is needed to get them to lift their skirts, and nothing much short of F9 would make them have to stay in port and wait for a weather window. Hence I am often at journey's end when the can opener's crew are still in the bar and that, to me, is faster...
More than once we have embarked from France while the marina was full of 40' boats complaining that they couldn't continue on their journey because of the strong winds. Hey ho.
Oh, and the kids love sailing in the stronger winds when they can sit on the foredeck and get soaked, though SWMBO is less enamoured by a good swell.
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aquaplane
Well-Known Member
I really like my Centaur and will probably regret selling her after inheriting Mum's Espace.
Chiron is a late (1979) B layout so the earlier leaky windows sorted and the rudder has a skeg.
I agree with the pros, don't want to re-hash those.
Except, they are not slow, they may not be a race boat but they aren't as bad as you would think if you listened to most folk.
Cons:
Cockpit locker isn't large or easy to get things in, not impossible access though.
Evolution of the deep cockpit more towards a modern shallow one would have meant that the drains could go out of the transom without seacocks, instead of the daft arrangement where seacocks must be left open when leaving the boat.
Hanging a Danforth off the Pulpit may have been a good option in 1979. Stowing a different anchor is not easy. A self launcher for a modern anchor, or even a CQR, is a good mod.
A proper anchor locker on the foredeck would save a lot of hassle stowing chain, it's a 2 man job or 3 or 4 trips below to get the chain stowed if alone.
None of the 3 layouts has a settee both sides, only one lounging seat. I lounge to Port by the companionway with my legs on the bottom step, but have to slouch to get my head under the side deck.
I'm 5'7", I need to stoop to see out of the saloon windows when stood and I'm a bit low to see out when sat.
But it's only a 26' boat so it's not going to be as comfortable as a 35'-45' live aboard is it? If only there was a 31' or a 36' version to go for if you have a bit more dosh!
Looks, are about right IMHO. The slab sided high freeboard of the Leisure 27/29 would give more space but I like the lower freeboard and looks of the Centaur.
Chiron is a late (1979) B layout so the earlier leaky windows sorted and the rudder has a skeg.
I agree with the pros, don't want to re-hash those.
Except, they are not slow, they may not be a race boat but they aren't as bad as you would think if you listened to most folk.
Cons:
Cockpit locker isn't large or easy to get things in, not impossible access though.
Evolution of the deep cockpit more towards a modern shallow one would have meant that the drains could go out of the transom without seacocks, instead of the daft arrangement where seacocks must be left open when leaving the boat.
Hanging a Danforth off the Pulpit may have been a good option in 1979. Stowing a different anchor is not easy. A self launcher for a modern anchor, or even a CQR, is a good mod.
A proper anchor locker on the foredeck would save a lot of hassle stowing chain, it's a 2 man job or 3 or 4 trips below to get the chain stowed if alone.
None of the 3 layouts has a settee both sides, only one lounging seat. I lounge to Port by the companionway with my legs on the bottom step, but have to slouch to get my head under the side deck.
I'm 5'7", I need to stoop to see out of the saloon windows when stood and I'm a bit low to see out when sat.
But it's only a 26' boat so it's not going to be as comfortable as a 35'-45' live aboard is it? If only there was a 31' or a 36' version to go for if you have a bit more dosh!
Looks, are about right IMHO. The slab sided high freeboard of the Leisure 27/29 would give more space but I like the lower freeboard and looks of the Centaur.
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Have to agree with this. When I was looking at a family friendly bilge keel boat with a decent cockpit I thought the westerlys seemed pricey. Loved by many with good reason I'm sure but I went with a jaguar 27 in the end.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
No no no. Misery is Dad, Mum and two brothers for a fortnight on a........
......Hurley 22.
And this 'sails slowly' thing I don't get. OK each year we sail 200 miles to a selected cruising ground, and I get that for that delivery trip I'd rather do 7.5knots rather than 5.5knots. But in just about every other situation it doesn't matter, I've heard people say that you get the marina sooner - whoopie do, I'd rather be sailing; sure every bloke wants to overtake the other bloke and I tweak like others do but 5 knots is fast enough, even our marine infrastructure has evolved so that for almost all the populated coastline and for the whole of Cornwall to Norfolk there's a safe haven built about a days sail away at 5 knots. Sailing up the Deben, Ore, Alde, Butley rivers and creek I reduce sail to go even slower, those rivers are best enjoyed at 2 or 3 knots.
Then there's all the modern research that has discovered the effect on wellbeing of travelling at 5 miles an hour, one of the biggest boosts to happiness. Interesting that we describe sailing as relaxing and that 80% of yachts built have been designed to go at about that speed.
But then I'm biased, I've only ever tacked the CW toward an upwind objective once, gentlemen don't go to windward and we're close wind challenged
aquaplane
Well-Known Member
For similar reasons my parents bought a new Leisure 27 in 1979, and it looked and felt like a new boat.
When I was looking to buy Chiron their Leisure was for sale @ £18,000 when Centaurs were about £10,000, so the positions had reversed.
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Some of my finest childhood memories are of being holed up in a small boat (Caprice, Hirondelle) on a rainy day. The five of us and a dog lounging about just reading and chatting, hearing the drum of the rain and peering out hopefully through port or hatch. There is something so cozy about it.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
five and a dog in a Caprice - must have been a small dog
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
Eee that were nowt lad. We spent all summer, 7 of us and a bloody greet camel on a lilo in t' North Sea.
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Luxury. All 19 of us had a matchbox tied up on the outside of a raft of 10 on Poole Quay in't pouring rain. Kids would scrape limpets off quay wall for breakfast.
But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe you.
But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't believe you.
PatrickB02
Well-Known Member
Well, nobody has yet mentioned my pet beef about Centaurs, so here goes...
It might be just me but I can never find anywhere comfortable to sit on a Centaur. Both in the cabin and the cockpit, the seat backs are at 90 degrees to the seats, the same geometry as a church pew, and just about as comfortable..!
Now I must stress that I have never owned a Centaur or spent any long periods of time aboard one, so I am more than happy to bow to those who have - maybe there is a knack to it, or maybe I have an oddly shaped bum.
Is it just me..?
It might be just me but I can never find anywhere comfortable to sit on a Centaur. Both in the cabin and the cockpit, the seat backs are at 90 degrees to the seats, the same geometry as a church pew, and just about as comfortable..!
Now I must stress that I have never owned a Centaur or spent any long periods of time aboard one, so I am more than happy to bow to those who have - maybe there is a knack to it, or maybe I have an oddly shaped bum.
Is it just me..?
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
you make an excellent point
I can sit in Katie L - above decks or below, sans cushions for ages
But a centaur requires a modicum of nest building from its users
you might notice that most centaur owners have a fine selection of movable soft furnishings.
Cushions for inside the cabin and those hinged cockpit pads are required
http://www.cjmarine.co.uk/content/images/thumbs/0001184_striped_folding_handy_cushions_350.jpeg
It may well be that you were not fast enough to grab them
think through the scene again..... were you the only one without an arse or back protector?
I think the reason is that old LG thought that a sloping surface was a waste of good space
everything in a centaur from the deck on up is on the square side
I went to a boarding school where everything, including the beds, were hard and upright.
Maybe that was the market for centaurs - ex military and boarding school types
many of the early owners would have certainly served in the war or at least done national service.
Interesting idea there.
Incidentally, I kicked off a thread in cruising anarchy asking about the looks of a centaur -
few americans/Candians will ever have sailed one or even seen one sailing so they do not have the amount of baggage most of us have with Centaurs
A bloke from halifax said
"Its not gorgeous, but I find the look comfortable."
which is a pretty good summary of the look of the beast I thought
Fimacca
Well-Known Member
do they do them in blue ?
!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!
Fimacca
Well-Known Member
the jacket that is.
looked at centaurs, good and solid but just too 70's for me............
looked at centaurs, good and solid but just too 70's for me............
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