Westerly Centaur - Any suggestions

[Baggywrinkle]

I can attest that when I got my first boat, a Vega, I had to work fairly hard to not be embarrassed by a Centaur which was being helmed by a much more experienced skipper.

Our summer holidays were in company with a Cantaur up the West Coast of Scotland in the late 70s,early 80s. my dads boat was a Vega (I was around 8 or 9 at the time)... can't say I remember ever leaving them conclusively in our wake. Under engine the roles were reversed.

@KentishPirate

Looks like a sorted boat, the keels have been done, engine looks good, boat looks really tidy apart from the headlining.

The roller furling needs to be tried on a test sail before commiting, and get an estimate for the headlining to use as a bargaining tool. Also check the state of the sails .. another bargaining point.

If everything checks out on the survey, then IMO looks like a great little boat and a lower offer than asking is perfectly normal.

Don't underestimate the value of a well looked after boat, a bill of 2K can come from anywhere at any time .... BOAT does stand for Break Out Another Thousand for good reason.

 

[Sea Change]

Our summer holidays were in company with a Cantaur up the West Coast of Scotland in the late 70s,early 80s. my dads boat was a Vega (I was around 8 or 9 at the time)... can't say I remember ever leaving them conclusively in our wake. Under engine the roles were reversed.

@KentishPirate

Looks like a sorted boat, the keels have been done, engine looks good, boat looks really tidy apart from the headlining.

The roller furling needs to be tried on a test sail before commiting, and get an estimate for the headlining to use as a bargaining tool. Also check the state of the sails .. another bargaining point.

If everything checks out on the survey, then IMO looks like a great little boat and a lower offer than asking is perfectly normal.

Don't underestimate the value of a well looked after boat, a bill of 2K can come from anywhere at any time .... BOAT does stand for Break Out Another Thousand for good reason.

If the OP needs to be persuaded, then add up the cost of the engine and standing rig... easily more than the asking price of the boat.

 

[Davy_S]

We used to sail from skipool creek to the IOM in company with a centaur, we had the Vega, cant say the centaur ever beat us, we had the old combi drive with a feathering prop, the centaur seemed pretty roomy inside and always felt safe, if i were the OP i would buy it, if only for the newish engine, plus it seems to have been looked after, i am sure he will enjoy it.

 

[doug748]

Old PN handicaps - Westerly Centaur 1231 - Hunter Horizon 1133 so Centaur might be 10 minutes behind on a 2 hour race
Vivacity 20 - 1305 - Another 7 minutes behind so not that far

Yes, they are fine club racers at their level, in a breeze you could win. Trumpeting about speed in sailing boats is a schoolboy affectation, they are all slow and those that do travel the fastest are often so compromised as to be pretty much useless for much else.

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[fredrussell]

…Trumpeting about speed in sailing boats is a schoolboy affectation, they are all slow and those that do travel the fastest are often so compromised as to be pretty much useless for much else…

.

it’s a good point. Should the OP find himself trundling along at 5 knots on a sunny day in his new boat, I very much doubt he’ll be thinking “hmm, if only I could do 7”. Just being out there is the thing.

 

[Supertramp]

When you have been aboard a Centaur off Rattray Head, Duncansby Head or Cape Wrath in F5-7 you appreciate the design and construction. You may not get there fast but you will get there. The Centaur is the least rolly monohull downwind I've ever sailed. And when you arrive you have more space inside than many 26 footers.

Plenty of owner information on how to fix and modify things. As already said, a sound engine, rig and sails are a must. The old roller reefing booms were not great - slab is a much better bet. The very early Centaurs had the aft lowers attached above the middle of the cabin window. This caused a lot of flexing and window leaks, modified on later models. The lee rigging would rattle and go slack in fresh winds.

The one you are looking at is a later model - shroud attachs forward of the window.