Westsail 32 - Opinions Needed !

[Fenchurch9]

This is the aluminum bowsprit. The eyelets are to string webbing through. I had to take all the hardware off. I am varnishing the teak. You can see it is rather wide at the bow. Its not as elegant as the stainless bowsprit Bud sells but its very very beefy.

[Bambolera]

Originally Posted by Fenchurch9

This is the aluminum bowsprit. The eyelets are to string webbing through.

Thanks for posting the picture. I like the design. Are all the eyes individually welded? Someone put a lot of effort into building that bowsprit. What diameter was used for the tubing? It looks like 2".

The part that has me puzzled is the connection at the end. At some point, there needs to be a stainless steel fitting to take the load of the bobstay and forstay wires . The picture isn't too clear. How are the aluminum tubes attached to the stainless?

Do you also have wisker stays? With this design, I wouldn't think they'd be necessary (Bud's design doesn't have them). Bud doesn't have the center tube either, which makes it possible to stow modern anchors.

It does look strong, though. I don't suppose you know the weight?

[storyinframes]

I logged 176 NM in a 24 hour period from noon to noon run while crossing caribbean sea - haiti to cartagena. Winds were about 20+kn beam.

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[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by 1946

Oh.. my God, that was very long time ago, indeed, I used build the Westsail 33 Yachts and loved it every minute. Unlike the US made W32, my mold was in one piece, and it was built under certifications by Marine and Harbours and approved for LCT and there for It could be chartered. The haul was overbuilt and since nearly everyone wanted a cabin on deck, I designed a dog house and that was a real hot seller. The original rudder was a pain in the rear, poor steering, huge radius and hard to fit it. Redesigned the ruder, no tiller anymore, and most of the Yachts were fitted with and automatic steering, inside and outside. All the engineering, spars, plumbing, electrics, and whatnot was done by myself. Manage to build 34 completed Yachts and over 70+ hauls and decks, mostly exported to Brazil. I had to close the factory due to many factors, the price of resin/ glass went up to the roof, poor management, but the real undoing was all the Yachts were built fully surveyed thus getting the LCT (local coast trading) this dint attract any sales tax and a saving of A$ 3,000.00 for the customer. Loved it, and advised my customer to have the Yacht built to LCT certifications and with the saving they could buy the engine. All went for, it was all legal. On customer (mr xxxxxxxx) dubbed me in with the OZ tax sharks, and I had it, had to pay a huge amount of tax, not worth at the time, close down went fishing. By the way, the engines were in fact Italian MV, rebranded BMW, I got a nice deal from the imported and took the lot.

Till today, my older daughter surfing the net found this site and messaged my on Skype. Now live in China and have a totally different business nothing to do with Yachts. Curiously, a few weeks ago went to a dinner at the local Yacht Club with some Chinese blue water dreamers, I mentioned years ago being in this business of building Yacht’s , one guy, actually owns a company making stink boats for export , hearing this, he just would not stop talking about making Yachts in China. I mentioned to him Chinese folks wouldn’t know which way the wind blows and making Yacht in China perhaps is not a good idea. Bugger me, he just wouldn’t relent and offered a substantial amount for the plans and drawings, moreover, if I supervise the construction a nice pay packed without dipping my fingers in resin. I am thinking, just perhaps I could revive the Westsail 33 in China. Like I mention before, having my own business takes most of my time, but the biggest problem in China, if I were to go ahead, you can’t trust this guys doing the right thing, there are not lazy , just corrupt to the core, and lying buggers, means I have to be there more or less all day long checking , checking and more checking. The other problem and perhaps you guys can tell, is there any real call for the Westsail 33, and ultimately getting over of the xenophobic attitude by the western world , that made in China, is …….?

Lastly, if one of you guys wants to change the rudder I would be glad to send to the full drawing and how to do it..!

Take care

Ps: what LCT No is your haul..? R/H on the locker (opposite the toilet)

More and more boats are being built in your neck of the woods these days. But you are correct, you would have to be there all the time to ensure the quality of the build, I recently left a company that sold quite a bit of machinery to China, mostly because the Chinese manufacturers didn't trust buying Chinese equipment.
One of the contracts had a stipulation from the Chinese buyer that absolutely no Chinese parts were to be used in the construction of the production line.
Overcoming the reputation of current Chinese built junk could be a problem. However, if you could get the boats some press coverage and have one of the more popular cruising magazines to look them over you might be able to overcome that issue. Lets see, you could market it as a blast from the past? If the cost were right and quality acceptable you might have a chance for success. It might also be a good opportunity to design out some of the shortcomings of the original design. They were stout boats with a good reputation, there just may be a market for them.
I own a Cheoy Lee and will say that the model I have was well built but I've seen some that had build quality issues, seems to have depended on what day it was built.

[mitiempo]

I hadn't heard of the Westsail 33 before but google found one for sale. Here's the link: Used Westsail 33' for Sale | Yachts For Sale | Yachthub

[bigdog5]

There is a Westsail tied up near our MS and I have been admiring it for some time.Not common here in NZ and I was wondering how they have stood up osmosis wise?Thanks Dave


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[Cheechako]

Ive not heard of blister problems with Westsail's in general. 2 friends have had them over the years.

[lifeofreilly57]

Only had one late 70's model and it had no blistering issues, but I can't speak for the rest.