Looking to buy a W 32 and thought I'd hand a question out to you old
salty's who may have known a W 32 or two in your day. Are there any
MAJOR differences in the westsail 32 kits and the factory finished
boats? I know the hulls are the same. And the deck layouts are
similar, based on how the "kit" buyers modified their own deck. I've
noticed the factory W 32's are more expensive due to a greater
attention to detail, i.e. interior casework, and craftsmanship. But,
are there any structural differences in the two? Deck to hull
connection? Or did the kits come with deck already attached to hull?
Any comments, facts or opinions would be helpful. And I don't need to
be redirected to the westsail webpage. I'm just trying to pick at the
R.B.C. demographic for answers. Thanks y'all.
Rob Minton

This carefully crafted troll reflects one with a willingness to work
well enough to criticize his own abilities to assemble a kit, or the
skill of the one who assembled the one you may be considering.

I think I looked at one about 20 or so years ago.

The entire interior was covered in destroyer gray matt paint, even the
cushions.

Wonder how that came to be?

My wife hated it, so we continued shopping. It'd probably have been the
best boat I never owned. It was at anchor in Saint John, NB. We saw the
interior first, so weren't really looking at the gear. Ah well! It was
fitted for walt water. We never started the engine.

When you modify the boat to rig and sail as you want, it may resemble a
factory option layout you might like.

Sailors fix things that don't lead quite right, and whittle away at the
interiors, too.

To sail is to demand efficiency from your craft, and price is always
foremost. Who cares about looks? Who cares about getting the first
wench to enjoy it, too?

So many things determine the purchase of a boat.
It might be a good way to get away.

Any doubt about hull deck joins may be cleared up with a little glass
and goo. What are you going to do, shoulder giant waves at full speed?
Or, do you hope to outspeed lighter weight boats near home?

One expects that if you are a customer, you will decide whether you
want two trucks or one from the factory to your assembly facility. You
can likely get a sailaway hull, with little inside, beside the basic
plastic moulded bracing. With a cooler, campstove and sleeping bag, you
could camp out on the sailbags while you install the galley and gas
gague, etc.

Did you want the head installed? Engine? Do you want a job at the
factory to help? Will you stay to finish six boats for other people,
get some exprience and steal some production secrets while earning half
of your boat?

I thought large kits were negotiable.

For an engine, I think I once saw an out board motor fixed to a well
bottom plate with fittings for cooling and bilge pumping. Nice things
about that could be azipod steering and take it to the shop
maintenance. Only you know if you need to break ice in a greenland
hurricane headwind, or if you need only slide gently to and fro at the
marina, weekends. A nice quiet little genny in a lazarette could also
power a trolling motor, hot water and A/C.

Terry K

Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats. (It got to
be bit much to handle after we eased into our 70's, so we've since replaced
it with a Lord Nelson Victory Tug--the powerboat counterpart to the
Westsail: slow, fat, heavy, comfortable, seaworthy as hell.) We did a lot
of looking before we bought CAPER, both at factory boats and kit boats. We
saw some kit boats that were FAR superior to the factory boats, having been
built by meticulous craftsmen for their own use, not by hired help at the
factory. There is NO structural difference; the kits started with fully
formed hulls, decks, and cabin tops, and often the engine installed. The
"builders" simply finished the interiors--which was no small job, of course.
Some of the kits boats look like they were finished with a jack knife and
others, as I suggested, were elegant. About 3/4 of the Westies sailing to
day were kit boats, but I don't think you can say they are better or worse
than the factory boats, not in any categorical way. It all depends on the
particular boat, and far more important than the origin of the boat is what
has happened to it since. Some have been well maintained, some have been
trashed. But do go ahead with your Westsail love affair. Go look at any
boat that comes on the market, and don't worry about its origin. You'll
fine one to suit. Ours, as a matter of fact, had been fairly well
neglected, but that put it in reach financially. So over the years we put
her right, and sold it for a decent profit. (Show me a 30-year-old Cal,
Catalina, or just about any other production boat that holds it value so
well.) Once you find one, I'd recommend strongly you get hold of Bud Taplin
at World Cruiser, Inc., and have him do the survey for you. He knows the
boats like no one else, literally, in the world, and his fee for the survey
is typically lower than you can find locally. (If you contact Bud, say
hello for me, btw.)

Hope all this helps.

Dick Behan
M/V ANNIE
(formerly S/V CAPER)


wrote in message
ups.com...
Looking to buy a W 32 and thought I'd hand a question out to you old
salty's who may have known a W 32 or two in your day. Are there any
MAJOR differences in the westsail 32 kits and the factory finished
boats? I know the hulls are the same. And the deck layouts are
similar, based on how the "kit" buyers modified their own deck. I've
noticed the factory W 32's are more expensive due to a greater
attention to detail, i.e. interior casework, and craftsmanship. But,
are there any structural differences in the two? Deck to hull
connection? Or did the kits come with deck already attached to hull?
Any comments, facts or opinions would be helpful. And I don't need to
be redirected to the westsail webpage. I'm just trying to pick at the
R.B.C. demographic for answers. Thanks y'all.
Rob Minton

wrote:
Looking to buy a W 32 and thought I'd hand a question out to you old
salty's who may have known a W 32 or two in your day. Are there any
MAJOR differences in the westsail 32 kits and the factory finished
boats? I know the hulls are the same. And the deck layouts are
similar, based on how the "kit" buyers modified their own deck. I've
noticed the factory W 32's are more expensive due to a greater
attention to detail, i.e. interior casework, and craftsmanship. But,
are there any structural differences in the two? Deck to hull
connection? Or did the kits come with deck already attached to hull?
Any comments, facts or opinions would be helpful. And I don't need to
be redirected to the westsail webpage. I'm just trying to pick at the
R.B.C. demographic for answers. Thanks y'all.
Rob Minton

I built owned one. You can't compare because 'kits' came in everything
from a hull / deck unjoined to almost finished yachts. Also many 'kit'
owners hired pros to really custom the boat up while others tried it
themselves with different results.

Generally the resale on factory boats WAS higher, but today condition
and equipment should be king for pricing.

Barring a time capsule boat, any W32's today have had plenty of shakeout
time. A survey, even a casual one, will reveal all you need to know
about the desirability of the boat in question.

R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats.

Dick,

I was W32 hull #474. What were you?

-paul

Hi, Paul,

Pretty close. CAPER was #522
Your second post was interesting; I thought the kits were sold at about the
same stage of construction, i.e., all structural parts assembled. If some
folks DID do the hull/deck joint, there could be some shaky boats out there.
CAPER was a kit boat, and mostly well done, except for a couple of charming
quirks. The door in front of the electrical panel was not quite level, and
the butterfly hatch was a bit skewed. Just showed the guy who built the
boat was human. Other than those items, he did a first rate job of joinery.
She's back on the market now, and if you'd like to take a look, try this
link:


http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...neservicenter&

Most of the pictures are ones I gave the broker when we sold the boat. The
one on the title page actually shows me at the helm--but you need to look
closely!

Nice to hear from you. Where are you located?

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
. ..
R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats.

Dick,

I was W32 hull #474. What were you?

-paul

Hello Dick,

That is one gorgeous W32! I really like the white enamel you've done to
lighten up the interior. We did an enamel overhead, but also painted the
hull white then did slatting with spacing to give a lighter look.

How do the tan bark sails hold up in the long run? We all agreed that
they looked nice and went along with some song, but I figured they'd
deteriorate due to UV quickly. However, I don't have any long run
experience with them.

We were the first hull with a brown sheer stripe. Some guy ordered the
boat as a complete unit, backed out so we got ours partly built at a
steep discount due to Westsail applying his money to our boat.

Westsail would sell the boat or part in any stage you chose. There were
several standard kits: liveaboard, sailaway, hull and deck and so forth.
You could also buy any parts so you could buy a hull and deck unjoined
although I know of no one who did so. Also the company would sell you a
boat and then the standard parts to finish up. Most folks hired some or
all of the work out. Thus many 'kit' boats are finished to very high
standards. Westsail did employ a high grade of craftsmen, but they
didn't corner the market. For example, during our boat building, I was
in some demand as a finisher myself. I worked on Frank Sinatra and John
Wayne's yachts (not the same boat!).

Living in Balboa and then Dana Point, working on our boats, being a race
crew, working on stars' yachts - well that was one exciting time.

We were a huge boat building community in and around Costa Mesa then. I
guess we were one among maybe 50 W32's and 42's going up at the time
plus some other brands were also booming along.

I'm now in Albuquerque. BTW, I just returned from a sailing adventure. I
got the sailing bug again so bought a Tayana 42 in ME. Sailed to Newport
where I did a refit (neat port!) and then single handed the boat down
the east coast spending maybe a week offshore, then putting in, touring
around finally ending up in Palm Beach where I did the Gulf Stream /
islands routine for a while.

I'm now back home in NM. Where are you? Did you ever take your W32 far?

-paul

R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Paul,

Pretty close. CAPER was #522
Your second post was interesting; I thought the kits were sold at about the
same stage of construction, i.e., all structural parts assembled. If some
folks DID do the hull/deck joint, there could be some shaky boats out there.
CAPER was a kit boat, and mostly well done, except for a couple of charming
quirks. The door in front of the electrical panel was not quite level, and
the butterfly hatch was a bit skewed. Just showed the guy who built the
boat was human. Other than those items, he did a first rate job of joinery.
She's back on the market now, and if you'd like to take a look, try this
link:


http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...neservicenter&

Most of the pictures are ones I gave the broker when we sold the boat. The
one on the title page actually shows me at the helm--but you need to look
closely!

Nice to hear from you. Where are you located?

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
. ..
R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats.
Dick,

I was W32 hull #474. What were you?

-paul

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 06:00:04 -0800, minton.rob wrote:

Looking to buy a W 32 and thought I'd hand a question out to you old
salty's who may have known a W 32 or two in your day. Are there any MAJOR
differences in the westsail 32 kits and the factory finished boats? I
know the hulls are the same. And the deck layouts are similar, based on
how the "kit" buyers modified their own deck. I've noticed the factory W
32's are more expensive due to a greater attention to detail, i.e.
interior casework, and craftsmanship. But, are there any structural
differences in the two? Deck to hull connection? Or did the kits come
with deck already attached to hull? Any comments, facts or opinions would
be helpful. And I don't need to be redirected to the westsail webpage.
I'm just trying to pick at the R.B.C. demographic for answers. Thanks
y'all. Rob Minton

I don't think there are any major differences in how the boats were
*supposed* to go together, but of course the finished product depends
on who finished it. The only W32 I'm familiar with is gorgeous. I'd
put it up against a factory boat any day. But the owner is a smart,
creative engineer, detail-oriented, fastidious about maintenance, and
apparently a good carpenter. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples
that aren't so great.

Of course all these boats are old enough now that they're all individual
cases.

Matt O.

Hey, Paul,

Didn't mean to let the conversation drop, but did get distracted.

When you were building boats in southern CA did you ever run across a couple
of guys named Bosko Bailey and Patrick Cotten? They're friends of mine here
(Lopez Island in the San Juans of Washington state), and were part of that
scene. I think Bosko might have worked on some of the early flush-deck
Westsails--they were called something else before Snyder Vick bought the
molds, but I can't remember the name. Bosko and Patrick were building ferro
hulls of Patrick's design--notable for a high poop deck, they looked like
old pirate ships. Bosko's was called "Silverheels" and Patrick's larger one
was "Harmony." They sailed the boats to Tahiti and beyond, I guess, for a
couple of years.

No, I never did get offshore. I know now I started too late (about 63 at
the time), but learned the difference between dreams and fantasies, anyhow.
So we sold the W32 and bought a Lord Nelson Victory Tug a couple of years
ago. (72 now.) We took her to Alaska and back this past summer, and that
was a dream, indeed. Circumnavigating under sail was a fantasy, but a
beautiful one, and in the years we owned the Westsail there were lots of
memorable trips and experiences. Sailed once in 55 knots, double reefed
main, reefed stays'l, and furled yankee, and had a ball. Boom-end dipping
the waves.

We lived in Flagstaff for 17 years, so we appreciate the Southwest. But the
northwest was home, and we're here to stay. I can peek out our living room
window and see "Annie" on her mooring in the bay, and beyond that, on the
horizon, is Vancouver Island. Life is good.

Have to say, though, I peek at CAPER on the broker's website now and then
and wonder if I should buy her back....

Cheers,

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
...
Hello Dick,

That is one gorgeous W32! I really like the white enamel you've done to
lighten up the interior. We did an enamel overhead, but also painted the
hull white then did slatting with spacing to give a lighter look.

How do the tan bark sails hold up in the long run? We all agreed that they
looked nice and went along with some song, but I figured they'd
deteriorate due to UV quickly. However, I don't have any long run
experience with them.

We were the first hull with a brown sheer stripe. Some guy ordered the
boat as a complete unit, backed out so we got ours partly built at a steep
discount due to Westsail applying his money to our boat.

Westsail would sell the boat or part in any stage you chose. There were
several standard kits: liveaboard, sailaway, hull and deck and so forth.
You could also buy any parts so you could buy a hull and deck unjoined
although I know of no one who did so. Also the company would sell you a
boat and then the standard parts to finish up. Most folks hired some or
all of the work out. Thus many 'kit' boats are finished to very high
standards. Westsail did employ a high grade of craftsmen, but they didn't
corner the market. For example, during our boat building, I was in some
demand as a finisher myself. I worked on Frank Sinatra and John Wayne's
yachts (not the same boat!).

Living in Balboa and then Dana Point, working on our boats, being a race
crew, working on stars' yachts - well that was one exciting time.

We were a huge boat building community in and around Costa Mesa then. I
guess we were one among maybe 50 W32's and 42's going up at the time plus
some other brands were also booming along.

I'm now in Albuquerque. BTW, I just returned from a sailing adventure. I
got the sailing bug again so bought a Tayana 42 in ME. Sailed to Newport
where I did a refit (neat port!) and then single handed the boat down the
east coast spending maybe a week offshore, then putting in, touring around
finally ending up in Palm Beach where I did the Gulf Stream / islands
routine for a while.

I'm now back home in NM. Where are you? Did you ever take your W32 far?

-paul

R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Paul,

Pretty close. CAPER was #522
Your second post was interesting; I thought the kits were sold at about
the same stage of construction, i.e., all structural parts assembled. If
some folks DID do the hull/deck joint, there could be some shaky boats
out there. CAPER was a kit boat, and mostly well done, except for a
couple of charming quirks. The door in front of the electrical panel was
not quite level, and the butterfly hatch was a bit skewed. Just showed
the guy who built the boat was human. Other than those items, he did a
first rate job of joinery. She's back on the market now, and if you'd
like to take a look, try this link:


http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...neservicenter&

Most of the pictures are ones I gave the broker when we sold the boat.
The one on the title page actually shows me at the helm--but you need to
look closely!

Nice to hear from you. Where are you located?

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
. ..
R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats.
Dick,

I was W32 hull #474. What were you?

-paul

Dick,

I had one of those flush decks berthed next to me in Newport. They were
Kendalls.

As to those guys, well, we must have crossed paths sometime then, but we
weren't close enough that I can remember them now 30 years later (gulp).
It was truly a magic time and I'm glad I took time off from life to do
it. As it turns out, the time I took off I made up for very quickly when
it was over due to the contacts I'd made. I'm still in tight contact
with one person and loose with another couple who was there then.

I may have mentioned, but I bought a Tayana 42 just a little while back
and sailed it singlehanded all along the east coast from ME To Fl and
out to the islands. That was a handful especially docking in heavy
currents. The sailing was ok, but the docking and storms, well, that was
wearing.

I have several friends who've moved to Seattle lately. One is an avid
boatbuilder / boater. He just finished some project or another.

I think if I do it again, and I hope to, I will follow you down the
powerboat route. I did a delivery on a tug very like yours and enjoyed
the freedom of 'see it go there' the power gave me. Also landing the
boat with twin engines was so pleasant. Add the enormous room of the
boat's layout and I was easily sold.

I'm single now my wife of Westsail days having died. If I do remarry
someone who wishes to sail say, down to Fiji I'll be back on a sailboat,
but if it's me alone again and afloat, I'll probably be on a tug or a
trawler.

There is a third type of powerboat you can see on

http://www.setsail.com/dashew/do_PARADIGM.html

which I'd like a lot, but I'd need a smaller one. The one pictured has
twin 150 hp engines yet goes quite well. That combines economy with
speed. I have no interest at all in sport fishermen boats. I did some
crewing on those and will only go out on them again if paid.

-paul

R.W. Behan wrote:
Hey, Paul,

Didn't mean to let the conversation drop, but did get distracted.

When you were building boats in southern CA did you ever run across a couple
of guys named Bosko Bailey and Patrick Cotten? They're friends of mine here
(Lopez Island in the San Juans of Washington state), and were part of that
scene. I think Bosko might have worked on some of the early flush-deck
Westsails--they were called something else before Snyder Vick bought the
molds, but I can't remember the name. Bosko and Patrick were building ferro
hulls of Patrick's design--notable for a high poop deck, they looked like
old pirate ships. Bosko's was called "Silverheels" and Patrick's larger one
was "Harmony." They sailed the boats to Tahiti and beyond, I guess, for a
couple of years.

No, I never did get offshore. I know now I started too late (about 63 at
the time), but learned the difference between dreams and fantasies, anyhow.
So we sold the W32 and bought a Lord Nelson Victory Tug a couple of years
ago. (72 now.) We took her to Alaska and back this past summer, and that
was a dream, indeed. Circumnavigating under sail was a fantasy, but a
beautiful one, and in the years we owned the Westsail there were lots of
memorable trips and experiences. Sailed once in 55 knots, double reefed
main, reefed stays'l, and furled yankee, and had a ball. Boom-end dipping
the waves.

We lived in Flagstaff for 17 years, so we appreciate the Southwest. But the
northwest was home, and we're here to stay. I can peek out our living room
window and see "Annie" on her mooring in the bay, and beyond that, on the
horizon, is Vancouver Island. Life is good.

Have to say, though, I peek at CAPER on the broker's website now and then
and wonder if I should buy her back....

Cheers,

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
...
Hello Dick,

That is one gorgeous W32! I really like the white enamel you've done to
lighten up the interior. We did an enamel overhead, but also painted the
hull white then did slatting with spacing to give a lighter look.

How do the tan bark sails hold up in the long run? We all agreed that they
looked nice and went along with some song, but I figured they'd
deteriorate due to UV quickly. However, I don't have any long run
experience with them.

We were the first hull with a brown sheer stripe. Some guy ordered the
boat as a complete unit, backed out so we got ours partly built at a steep
discount due to Westsail applying his money to our boat.

Westsail would sell the boat or part in any stage you chose. There were
several standard kits: liveaboard, sailaway, hull and deck and so forth.
You could also buy any parts so you could buy a hull and deck unjoined
although I know of no one who did so. Also the company would sell you a
boat and then the standard parts to finish up. Most folks hired some or
all of the work out. Thus many 'kit' boats are finished to very high
standards. Westsail did employ a high grade of craftsmen, but they didn't
corner the market. For example, during our boat building, I was in some
demand as a finisher myself. I worked on Frank Sinatra and John Wayne's
yachts (not the same boat!).

Living in Balboa and then Dana Point, working on our boats, being a race
crew, working on stars' yachts - well that was one exciting time.

We were a huge boat building community in and around Costa Mesa then. I
guess we were one among maybe 50 W32's and 42's going up at the time plus
some other brands were also booming along.

I'm now in Albuquerque. BTW, I just returned from a sailing adventure. I
got the sailing bug again so bought a Tayana 42 in ME. Sailed to Newport
where I did a refit (neat port!) and then single handed the boat down the
east coast spending maybe a week offshore, then putting in, touring around
finally ending up in Palm Beach where I did the Gulf Stream / islands
routine for a while.

I'm now back home in NM. Where are you? Did you ever take your W32 far?

-paul

R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Paul,

Pretty close. CAPER was #522
Your second post was interesting; I thought the kits were sold at about
the same stage of construction, i.e., all structural parts assembled. If
some folks DID do the hull/deck joint, there could be some shaky boats
out there. CAPER was a kit boat, and mostly well done, except for a
couple of charming quirks. The door in front of the electrical panel was
not quite level, and the butterfly hatch was a bit skewed. Just showed
the guy who built the boat was human. Other than those items, he did a
first rate job of joinery. She's back on the market now, and if you'd
like to take a look, try this link:


http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...neservicenter&

Most of the pictures are ones I gave the broker when we sold the boat.
The one on the title page actually shows me at the helm--but you need to
look closely!

Nice to hear from you. Where are you located?

Dick




"Paul Cassel" wrote in message
. ..
R.W. Behan wrote:
Hi, Rob,

We owned a W32 for nearly 10 years, and dearly love these boats.
Dick,

I was W32 hull #474. What were you?

-paul