Westerly Yachts
Westerly yachts are a very common yacht in most British marinas and boat yards. Over the decades, Westerly in its various incarnations dominated the UK leisure yachting industry employing some of the best designers of the day.
Westerly Yacht History
The company made many sailing yachts during the mid-1960s, 1970s and 1980s before it ceased trading in the late 1990s. Although the company went through turbulent times, Westerly yachts are renowned for their well-built and rugged construction and were one of Europe’s leading production builder of fibreglass composite sailboats.
In 1963 Commander Denys Rayner, a popular yacht designer designed ‘The Westerly’ – a 22ft yacht at the request of Hilary Scott who wished to set up a new company. Commander Rayner became the managing director of the new company and Scott became one of its non-executive directors.
The company was founded in March 1963 and started production in a clean modern factory unit on a new estate in Waterlooville, 7 miles inland from Portsmouth.
Over the next fifteen years they won several acclaimed Queens Awards for Export in 1969, 1970 and 1977. By the 1990, Edwin Paul took over as MD of Westerly Yachts Limited and the parent company changed its name from Centreway Industries plc to Westerly plc. At the end of 1990, due to the recession, the parent company ran into financial trouble.
The company became Westerly Group Limited in the year 1993 and the yachts were presented as three ranges of Westerly, “the Oceans, the Regattas, and the Victorias”.
In 1995, Westerly Group was acquired by Tony Davies Bowman Group, the parent company of rival Bowman and Starlight Yachts. But in 1998, Bowman hit financial problems and as a result, the Westerly Group Limited was sold to Marigot Group. In the year 2000, the plant and machinery were sold to US Hunter, who had just started up in the UK as Legend.
Westerly yachts are easily identifiable as they are a timeless classic and are amazing cruisers with high standards of craftsmanship, performance and style.
Westerly Sailboat Range & Popular Models
The Westerly Yachts Range consists of three main models:
- Westerly Ocean
- Westerly Regatta
- Westerly Victoria
Popular Westerly models include
- Oceanquest 33
- Oceanlord 41
- Regatta 370
- Regatta 260
- Regatta 330
- Griffon 26 yacht
- Fulmar 32
- Merlin 29 Yacht
- Tempest 31
- Tiger 25
- Storm Cruiser 33
- Typhoon 37
- Victoria 34
Drag reducing Propellers for Westerly Sailboats
Darglow have supplied drag reducing props for many of the models in the Westerly range. We keep an expanding database of technical information on many of our installations along with feedback from our customers.
Check our full list of Westerly boats we have supplied propellers to here.
Rope Cutters for Westerly Yachts
We have supplied rope cutters for various boats in the Westerly yacht range. We keep an expanding database of technical information on many of our installations along with feedback from our customers.
Check our full list of Westerly boats we have supplied rope cutters for here.
Westerly Owners website
Given the popularity of Westerly yachts over the years there is a strong network of owners and loyal followers. The Westerly Owners Association is the largest yacht owner’s association in the UK with over 2700 members.
https://westerly-owners.co.uk/
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