W33/Discus bilge keels.

[Fulmar433]

Griffons went on later than 1981. Looks like 1989 from the website. It was a design issue on the early Griffons, not the whole range. I believe the cost of putting the defective Griffons right contributed to Westerly's collapse.

[GTom12]

It seems sailboatdata.com is at fault then. anybody knows the year, when Westerly started to reinforce the hulls?

[steve parry]

Hi,

Not so sure some of the points on the Forum for this subject are quite true, I agree with Jolly Roger ..A lot if bar-sroom talk!!! The only advice I can give you is ring Trafalgar Yachts and speak to two ex-westerly employees who know most things about Westerly Yachts and were around when they were still being built.

Get the truth from the "horses mouth" springs to mind!

Regards

Steve Parry - WALKABOUT

[bobevans]

I'm not sure if this will help, but my previous boat - a Westerly 33 - had a severe leak due to a bilge keel which was moving around. I had both keels reinforced by a boatyard in Gosport - can't remember which one. This followed a grounding (intentional) in a Brittany harbour, but the yard that did the repair said that the keel bonding to the hull was very flimsy. I'm now on my 4th Westerly ( Corsair) and I must say this was the only serious construction problem that I have encountered in over 30 years of owning Westerlys

[GTom12]

Was it economical to repair? I hear 6-7k£ figures for a hull reinforcement.

[GTom12]

Found an interesting example, should this be the dreaded keel joint weakening?

[dj7613]

I have a 72 Discus. No keel leaks and no evidence of any additional strengthening. The sealant at the keel hull joint needs redoing from time to time otherwise can get rust marks but these are not sufficient evidence to diagnose a joint problem. I would look for cracks in the stub inside and or out side.

Pagent2.jpg

Pagent1.jpg

Pictures are of a Pagent that had come adrift and been swept sideways onto a slipway. My local fibre glass shop (east kent) thought this was repairable.
Not much evidence of transverse strengthening. Fibre glass is amazingly strong.

[dj7613]

Pagent1.jpg (108.01 KiB) Viewed 1695 times

[dj7613]

Pagent2.jpg (80.33 KiB) Viewed 1688 times

[GTom12]

Pagent2.jpg

That one definitely look serious...

Indeed, I expect the re-bedding work to be done at some stage, after all 30+years on drying moorings is quite a challenge for these boats.