Westerly Jouster 21 swing keel on mud berth

[Dtr1p]

Hi,

I am looking to buy my first yacht and a Westerly Jouster 21 swing keel has come up for sale locally to me.
Before making the purchase I would like to double check with someone who has experience with this particular boat, that she will be okay long term on a drying out mud mooring. The mooring will be at Keyhaven in the Solent. The swing keel sits below the hull and doesn't retract into the hull itself.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[elenya]

Hi

I owned and sailed a Jouster, Brown hull called Selina-B, in my early days. Nice fun boat. I kept it in Oare creek on a drying mud mooring with no issues. Enjoy the sailing.

 

[Dtr1p]

Thanks for replying so quickly, That's great, just what I was hoping.

 

[Praxinoscope]

Never sailed a swing keel Jouster, but have sailed a friends fixed fin Jouster, and it was a great sail. The only reservation I had was the hull/deck joint seemed to leak a bit.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Never sailed a swing keel Jouster, but have sailed a friends fixed fin Jouster, and it was a great sail. The only reservation I had was the hull/deck joint seemed to leak a bit.

Oh yes indeed. They leak past the bolts holding the rubbing strip on. Fixable, though.

OP, although mine was fin keel, I don't think you'll have any problem. The moving bit is hinged inside a cast stub, so you shouldn't etthe issues that some lifting systems have with mud and stones jamming up a slot.

 

[Dtr1p]

Yeah I see that the keel sits underneath the hull and doesn't retract inside so hopefully won't get stones jamming it etc. I am also viewing an Invader 22 which has bilge keels on Sat which should give me an extra option. Not sure how the 2 boats compare with seaworthy wise.

 

[Tranona]

Very different boats. The Invader has more accommodation and less sailing performance. Depends on what you are looking for - there are just so many different boats of that size from that era and on the racer to caravan continuum the Jouster would be towards the racer end and the Invader firmly at the caravan end!

 

[JumbleDuck]

... on the racer to caravan continuum the Jouster would be towards the racer end and the Invader firmly at the caravan end!

For those that don't know, the Jouster was Westerly's first venture into racing boats and was intended for JOG, the Junior Offshore Group. It's basically a stripped down Warwick with a choice of deep fin-and-bulb (Westerly well ahead of the game there) or swing keel. The first ones were pretty spartan inside, used the rig from the 23' Cirrus and went like stink. Later ones had a more luxurious interior with a cut down rig and went well but more tractably.

I had #142 (out of 147 built) for many years and loved it.

 

[Mark-1]

Hi

I owned and sailed a Jouster, Brown hull called Selina-B, in my early days. Nice fun boat. I kept it in Oare creek on a drying mud mooring with no issues. Enjoy the sailing.

Presumably not very good on hard standing though? You're relying on the keel sinking into mud to keep it on an even keel?

I hanker to replace my slow and heavy bilge keeler with a light speedy lifting keel boat and hadn't, until today, spotted the significant advantages of a keel that doesn't fully retract into the hull. Reliability is the only thing putting me off a swing keeler. (Well that and inertia.)

 

[elenya]

Hi
On a hard seabed the swing keel jouster simply laid on its side to start with but eventually the keel dits own hole and she would sit upright (the mud berth had a jetty so boat set down in same place each time). They also sailed ok with keel swung up so could be used in shallow water.

 

[Mark-1]

Hi
On a hard seabed the swing keel jouster simply laid on its side to start with but eventually the keel dits own hole and she would sit upright (the mud berth had a jetty so boat set down in same place each time). They also sailed ok with keel swung up so could be used in shallow water.

Thanks elenya, I've been missing a trick, for a lot of years.

 

[HenryWC]

Hi, I have a 21 foot Westerley which I would consider selling. It is in the Solent. Did you manage to buy what you were looking for?