Westsail 32 wins it all!!!

[Bubba the Pirate]

http://sailish.com/index.php/2017/10/18/bill-stange-and-the-wetsnail-32/

All hail, Hula!!!!
There's one award ceremony I'd love to have attended. :-)

[Norman]

Todd, that is an impressive crew and vessel!  The conditions seem to have been just right for the "Wetsnail" and skilled sailing, triumph!  The trick to winning is to sail your vessel as she likes to be sailed, and they obviously knew her well.  There is great satisfaction in achieving that, and they were justly proud.

WoodY and Ralay's Westsail is the first one that I have been on, and I was very impressed with their vessel in every way.  A real solid boat, roomy, and well laid out.  As heavy as they are, though, you cannot readily swing up to take a wave before it gets tall and steep when beating to windward, so you are going to smash through them, which is wet going.

I have an old aviation hand held GPS with an interesting feature.  Speed made good toward waypoint.  With the destination waypoint set, you pinch for a few minutes, then drop off for a few minutes, and see which produces the highest speed made good.  Speed through the water means little, but speed toward the destination is everything if you need to be there.  It also tells you exactly how much you are paying for dropping off for a dryer ride, which may be more important than how soon you reach the destination if the water is cold enough.

When you get your Westsail in the water, learning how to get the best speed or the best comfort will take a while, but the two can be equally important.  If you are solo, beating yourself up to get there a couple of hours sooner can be a looser.  I am sure that you have been there driving trucks in bad weather.  You have a big tough boat, and if you do not push here hard, she will give a comfortable ride.

I sailed on a 30 foot Beneteau, positioning it to the race location, then crewing the race, and bringing it home.  Racing, pounding to windward was tough, but to and from the races, we eased off a bit, and the motion was much more pleasant.

The race of Hula was fast and short, so the crew can stay on top of everything, and drive her to the peak of her capability.  Don't feel bad if you go much slower when cruising.  She is built for cruising!

Norman

[Bubba the Pirate]

Also, Hula is most likely a factory finished boat. The 'Wetsnail' reputation is most due to the kit boats. Back in the day, you could buy just the hull and deck. Many of the owner finished boats weren't rigged as carefully to spec or were affected by the weight distribution of interior and tankage.

The design is based on a Colin Archer pilot cutter, no slouch in general. When all positives are aligned, these boats sail quite well in the right hands; as you rightly pointed out.

I can't wait to report back on her sailing. I was on a W42 and hit 9 1/2 knots without much sail up and without a really well tuned-up rig, etc. Thats about a 30,000 lb displacement hull. ;-)

[Frank]

Collin Archer??
Thought it was Atkins....updated by Crealock?

Dont matter really.....

A superior offshore design that will rock in the right winds!

[Bubba the Pirate]

According to what I've read Atkins based his design on an Archer pilot cutter. It was originally made by a company called Kenner and was flush deck. Westsail bought the molds/design and had Crealock update to include a coach house etc -- what we know as a W32.

I read it on the internet; it must be true. :-)

[CharlieJ]

Crealock also had a boat called the Dreadnaught 32. There's one in the marina, moored right next to a W32. almost a dead ringer

[Bubba the Pirate]

I like all those 'fat-bottomed girls.'

They make my sailing world go round ...
         .... OK ... sorry.   

But I was singing it over here.  :-)