Advice on Westerly Corsair, or similar.

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Catyans
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Advice on Westerly Corsair, or similar.

Post by Catyans »

Hello all!

I am looking to purchase my first love and so far this Westerly keeps catching my eye.

I plan to live aboard and my budget is up to maxmax just over 40k.

I know these boats are quite old now and see a lot of Bavarias, some from the 2000's year wise for this price but the interiors put me off so far.

Tech wise I am in the dark on how they point etc etc. All I know are these facts Re: the Corsair-

1. I like the interior space, size of the boat both practically (max I know for singlemanning) and breathing space (nice and roomy inside).

2. The facilities- double bed, multi heads, kitchen, fridge, cooker, shower, curved social saloon and dinette.

3. Price- a good few seem to be in my price range. But what are you getting for that?

As I say I can be swayed to others, this is just a guide. But would love to cruise her to the Med sometime so handling is also a factor.

Please feel free to ask or query anything relevant I may of missed, and look forward to hearing your advice.

Thank you!
Discus
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Post by Discus »

I doubt you will find any disappointed Corsair owners out there. Corsairs have been cruised far and wide and do make a good choice for a liveaboard. To answer your specifics, they are a cruising boat so don't expect a Corsair to be pointing much below 35 degrees upwind and at that point they will make a fair bit of leeway - but I don't think that is any worse than similar designs from that period. They are quite spacious, but are centre cockpit so the saloon will not be quite as big as on an aft cockpit boat. The standard engine was a Volvo 2003 28hp. There is nothing wrong with this engine and they go on for years but are a little underpowered for the displacement of the boat. If you fancy sailing in the med, you will be motoring a fair bit so worth considering. Known weaknesses on the Corsair were insufficient backing on the baby stay which caused some of the boats to develop a bulge in the foredeck. This isn't particularly difficult to sort out and other owners have come up with some decent modifications for this. Several Corsairs have lost there rigs due to premature failure of the shroud base fitting. This has been well documented and can be avoided by fitting a slightly cranked U bolt fitting for the shroud base which puts it in line with the direction of pull on the shroud.
This sounds a bit doom and gloom. It isn't. Corsairs can take you just about anywhere you want to go in comfort. They were well built and have stood the test of time. I have owned a Westerly so can vouch for the build quality and sea worthiness. Check a few out in the flesh. You will soon sniff out if they fit your criteria. Would definitely have one over a newer boat!

Rob :)
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Post by Jeff »

Hi Catayans. As said in PM, I think a Westerly is a good choice but I don't specifically know about the Corsair. Suspect Terry & Discus might know more?

But if you're planning a possible future cruise to somewhere distant - maybe don't worry too much about that for now. It's very possible you'll have moved on to a different boat by then anyway. Make things a little easier and cheaper for yourself and look for something which will do what you want for the next 2 or 3 years rather than longer. 3 years is a long time.

Look forward to hearing others' thoughts...
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Post by Jeff »

Blimey Rob how on earth do you know so much about so many boats!?!?
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Catyans
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Post by Catyans »

Thanks for the info.

Glad the Corsair has met my expectation so well. Found another quite similar too, Westerly Seahawk? Apart from layout I cant quite tell the difference, the size and dates of the models seems as though the Seahawk was the replacement model?

Jeff, you may be right though, perhaps I could save a few pennies meantime including berth fees with something more suited to one man and his dog.
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Post by Jeff »

Don't bank on it but potentially possibly if you bought something very cheap and cleaned it up you could make a small profit on the boat price.
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Catyans
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Post by Catyans »

Oh sorry, I meant a smaller boat till I wanted to upgrade in a few years to something like a Corsair as you mentioned.
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Post by Jeff »

Catyans wrote:Oh sorry, I meant a smaller boat till I wanted to upgrade in a few years to something like a Corsair as you mentioned.
Yeah me too. Get something smaller, for an excellent price, clean it up, live on it, and possibly sell it for more than you paid, in a couple of years time. Possible if you're lucky and careful and put in a few hours cleaning it up.
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Post by Discus »

Catyans wrote:Thanks for the info.

Glad the Corsair has met my expectation so well. Found another quite similar too, Westerly Seahawk? Apart from layout I cant quite tell the difference, the size and dates of the models seems as though the Seahawk was the replacement model?

Jeff, you may be right though, perhaps I could save a few pennies meantime including berth fees with something more suited to one man and his dog.
Seahawk is fairly similar but slightly smaller at 34ft and a single heads. It replaced the Discus (one of which was our previous boat). Very high centre cockpit :o but still a big boat in the flesh, even by today's standards.
Smaller boats are often ideal for one man plus canine - always check the amount of space you will need in reality and also the size of the bunks. Nothing worse than having to squeeze into a tiny odd shaped bunk on a boat too small. It can also be a cramp on your 'social agenda' :wink: .
Lots of choice out there and you can get afloat in something quite decent for under 10k.

Rob :D
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Post by Jeff »

What would you recommend for one man, a dog, and good romantic possibilities, for under £10k? (just planning ahead just in case Lunar and I get booted out ;))
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Post by Discus »

Rubber dinghy and some speedos :o - and some warm weather 8) . Luna looks like a hardy soul, she will cope well with anything!
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Post by Jeff »

I wasn't worried about my romantic entanglements with the dog to be honest. She's a bit of a leg humper, whatever the weather.
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Post by Discus »

Jeff wrote:I wasn't worried about my romantic entanglements with the dog to be honest. She's a bit of a leg humper, whatever the weather.
:o :o :o and Luna looks so innocent on all those vids!
Catyans
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Post by Catyans »

Hah!

The Corsairs and Seahawks I see are within my range, but will keep in mind a smaller boat could suit better and I could put the saved money to other uses. Maybe internet dating, haha.

But those two look so very nice for all my needs plus a bit of space for a bit more initially.

Thanks again, all a great help. I'll keep looking meantime.
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Post by Discus »

You should also look at the Westerly 33 ketch and the Westerly Discus. Both deep water cruisers with loads of space and will save you a fair few quid. Arguably a better hull and more suitable for single handing. Both absolutely bulletproof. Slight bias as our last boat was a Discus which was in short a suberb boat. Many of them now med based as people cruise them far and wide. Discus holds the record for the fibreglass hull sailed furthest north in the Arctic. Same boat completed a circumnavigation................via Cape Horn!!

Rob
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