Westerly · Sailing yacht

Westerly Centaur

The Westerly Centaur is a 7.9 m (26 ft) twin-keel cruiser drawn by Laurent Giles & Partners (design 0576, 1968) and built by Westerly Marine Construction in Waterlooville, Hampshire, from its launch at the London Boat Show of 1969 until 1980, when the Griffon took its place; with 2,444 boats it is, in the words of the Westerly Owners’ Association (WOA), Britain’s best-selling cruising yacht. Most are masthead sloops with a lifting tiller and layout A, B or C (six, five or four berths); from 1974 to 1977 Westerly also offered a ketch with bowsprit and wheel steering, and the same design was built as the fin-keeled Pembroke and the centre-cockpit Chieftain. The engine depends on the year: in 1968 a Volvo Penta MD1 or MD2, a Watermota petrol engine or an outboard bracket were extras, from 1971 the 25 hp MD2B was the recommended engine, and from 1977 the price lists name the 23 hp MD11C as standard with the 13 hp MD7A as the alternative; many boats have been re-engined since, so read the engine plate before ordering parts. Westerly no longer exists: the owners’ association keeps the builder’s brochures, price lists and handbook in its public wiki and runs a technical library and helpline for members, and the Laurent Giles Archive supplies copies of the original drawings.

Manuals & documents

Westerly Marine Construction no longer exists and publishes nothing. The brochures, price lists and handbook are scans kept in the public wiki of the Westerly Owners’ Association, which also runs a technical library and a helpline for its members; the original drawings come from the Laurent Giles Archive. We host no manuals or drawings.

Marked “unofficial copy”: the maker publishes no manual for this model any more, so the link goes to a third-party copy. Prefer the maker’s or a dealer’s version if you can get one.

Equipment & its manuals

Standard equipment as the builder’s documents list it. Boats were ordered with options and refitted since — check what is actually aboard.

ItemModelManual / pageNote
EngineVolvo Penta MD1 · MD1B1,2,3,4,5,61968 brochure and price lists: 7 hp single-cylinder MD1 as an extra (the standard price included no engine); 1971 brochure and December 1974 price list: 10 hp MD1B as the alternative to the MD2B, with a creditVolvo Penta instruction book MD1B, MD2B, MD3B (scan)The Westerly handbook specifies a 45 Ah battery for the MD1B.
EngineVolvo Penta MD23,1,21968 brochure and price lists: two-cylinder diesel as an extra, 15 hp in the brochure and the September list, 16.5 hp in the December list, with a 12 V battery, remote controls, a stern-gland greasing system and a 10-gallon fuel tankVolvo Penta MD2B Parts & service pageOur MD2B page lists the MD2’s own instruction book and leaflet; its part numbers are confirmed for the MD2B only.
EngineWatermota Seawolf (petrol)3,1,2,51968 price lists: marinised four-cylinder Ford petrol engine as an extra, 27 hp in September and 32 hp in December, with battery, remote controls and greasing system; the brochure of December 1975 still names a 25 hp four-cylinder Watermota as an alternative—
Outboard9½ hp on a transom bracket3,1,21968 brochure and price lists: sliding bracket on the transom for a 9½ hp outboard, instead of an inboard engine—
EngineVolvo Penta MD2B 25 hp4,5,7,6,8Recommended engine in the 1971 brochure; standard in the December 1974 price list and the brochure of December 1975: flexibly mounted, with alternator, reverse gear, electric start, instrument panel, water-cooled exhaust with silencer, remote controls and stern-gland greasing systemVolvo Penta MD2B Parts & service pageCooled directly by sea water, as the WOA buying guide points out; the Westerly handbook specifies a 52 Ah battery. The association’s wiki names the MD2B and the MD11C as the most common Centaur engines.
EngineVolvo Penta MD11C 23 hp9,10,11,12,13,8Standard in the price lists of February 1977 to September 1980 and recommended in the brochure of December 1977, installed like the MD2B, with a three-blade propellerVolvo Penta MD11C Parts & service page
EngineVolvo Penta MD7A 13 hp13,9,10,12,14Alternative to the MD11C in the 1977 brochure and the price lists of 1977 to 1980, against a credit (£250 in 1977 and 1978, £281 in 1980); standard engine, with a two-blade propeller, of the fin-keeled Pembroke, and of the Centaur in the Dutch dealer’s list of January 1979Volvo Penta MD7A Parts & service page
Propeller3-blade fixed5,9,10,11,12,15Three-blade propeller with the MD2B (December 1974) and the MD11C (1977 to 1980); the Pembroke’s MD7A drove a two-blade propeller—It sits on a taper with a key and a castellated nut with split pin; the WOA wiki shows how to pull it with a three-legged puller.
Shaft & stern gearStern tube · remote greaser2,5,12,6,15,16,7The price lists of 1968 to 1980 include a greasing system with the engine; the Westerly handbook describes a white-metal inboard bearing on a short rubber hose with a packed stuffing box, greased from a nipple behind the engine cover in the saloon—Outside, the cutless bearing sits in a removable bronze housing screwed onto the stern tube and held by two bolts and two grub screws; the WOA wiki explains the change (reseal with Sikaflex 291). Some owners have since fitted a flexible coupling or a lip seal.
Fuel system10 gal (45 l) tank2,4,5,13,12,8,710-gallon tank in the December 1968 list (with the MD2) and in every brochure and price list from 1971 to 1980; the brochures quote a range of about 250 miles with the MD2B and about 100 miles with the MD11C—The WOA buying guide expects the original mild-steel tank to be near the end of its life: it comes out through the cockpit-sole hatch only with the engine removed or moved well forward, so replace it with a stainless tank when re-engining and fit a bulkhead fuel filter with sight glass.
WinchesGibb 585 · Gibb 577 (sheets)1,2,17,5,9,11,12,181968: Gibb 585 bottom-handle sheet winches, Gibb 587 at extra cost; 1971 kit and December 1974: Gibb 577; a main halyard winch is standard from 1974 (top-action in 1979 and 1980) and a jib halyard winch was an extra (Gibb 573 top-action in 1974); later lists name no makerServicing the single-speed Gibb sheet winches of a Centaur (Westerly wiki)
Mast & riggingAlloy, gold-anodised (silver from 1979)1,2,4,13,10,11,12,7Gold-anodised mast and boom from 1968 to 1977, silver-anodised in the lists of September 1979 and 1980; reefing by rolling the mainsail round the boom through the mast (gear-driven in 1968); 5 mm 1 × 19 stainless standing rigging with swaged ends and stainless rigging screws (Gibb in 1968); ketch: 4 mm rigging on the mizzen and a main mast reduced to 32 ft 6 in overall height—The mast is stepped on deck (the 1968 list offers a jib halyard winch on its tabernacle) above a compression strut; the WOA buying guide says to check the strut for bending and the balsa-cored deck at the mast foot for sagging.
SailsTerylene main + No. 1 jib1,2,4,9,12Standard in every list: mainsail and No. 1 jib, together 294 sq ft (27.3 m²) in 1968; No. 2 and No. 3 jibs, two genoas, a light-weather genoa (from 1977) and a spinnaker with pole were extras—
SteeringLifting tiller · spade rudder8,2,5,9,12,19,20,7Lifting tiller on a balanced spade rudder in every list (Laurent Giles’s press release of 1969); the ketch of 1974 to 1977 had wheel steering with an emergency tiller—Stainless rudder stock in a two-part stainless tube with top-hat bushes of UHMW polyethylene; the WOA wiki has Trafalgar’s original bush drawings (set 2, Centaur and Pembroke). A bent stock and worn bushes are typical after hard groundings.
ToiletMarine WC2,17,4,9,12,7,6Marine WC in an enclosed heads to port in every list, maker not named; supplied as a kit with the 1971 home-completion version—Only the toilet has Blakes bronze seacocks, says the WOA buying guide, and they want stripping and greasing every year; the other skin fittings have gate valves, which seize more readily.
Stove2 burners, gimballed1,2,17,5,9,121968: two-burner alcohol stove in gimbals, or at extra cost a two-burner gas stove with grill; from the 1971 kit to 1980: two-burner Gaz cooker in gimbals with fiddle, the version with grill still an extra—
Gas systemCamping Gaz5,9,12,7Gaz cooker with bottle in the December 1974 list, ‘using Gaz’ in 1980; a bottle and reducing valve came with the grill-stove option—Most Centaurs had no vented gas locker; the WOA buying guide recommends replacing old hoses and fitting a locker or moving the bottle on deck.
Water pumpWhale Tiptoe (galley)2,5,12,7The price lists include a stainless water tank with a pump at the galley sink; the WOA buying guide names the original pump as a Whale Tiptoe—A leaking pump can let the tank run into the boat; the guide says Whale’s later model fits with three new holes.
Bilge pumpWhale Gusher 101,2,17,5,12,7Extra in 1968 and part of the 1971 kit; ‘bilge pump’ is standard in the lists of 1974 to 1980 without a maker; the WOA buying guide places the original Whale pump in the stern locker—It can only be worked with the locker open, which no longer meets current rules; the guide suggests moving it.
Anchor15 lb · 15 fathoms ¼″ chain1,2,5,10,12,14,211968: 15 lb Meon anchor and 15 fathoms of chain; 1974 to 1980: 15 lb anchor, 15 fathoms (27 m) of ¼″ chain, bow roller, chain pipe and anchor stowage at the pulpit; the Dutch dealer’s 1979 list gives a 6.8 kg anchor with 27.4 m of chain—No list includes a windlass; the WOA wiki shows how a Quick Genius electric windlass was fitted to a Centaur.
InstrumentsExtras only1,2,5,10,12Extras in the lists: Sestrel Minor compass, Seafarer echo sounder (on a swinging bracket from 1974), Walker Knotmaster log and Sumlog; in 1980 a Plastimo Contest bulkhead compass—
Lights12 V1,2,5,10,12,61968: interior and navigation lights an extra; from 1974: two lights in the saloon, one each in the heads and forecabin, navigation, steaming and stern lights (the navigation lights on the pulpit from 1978) and a central fuse and switch panel—The Westerly handbook lists the 12 V bulbs of the time: 10 W festoon in the cabin lights, 6 or 5 W SBC in the Lucas navigation and masthead lights, and glass fuses of 22 × 5 mm, 5 A (10 A where needed).
Batteries1 × 12 V (second optional)2,5,9,12,6One battery with the engine in every list; a second battery with changeover switch was an extra from 1974 to 1980—The Westerly handbook gives 52 Ah for the MD2B and 45 Ah for the MD1B, and warns never to turn the changeover switch with the engine running, as this can damage the alternator.
Hatches & portsForehatch · alloy-framed windows2,5,9,11,12,7Metal-framed windows and two opening ports (heads and hanging locker) in every list; a Perspex forehatch instead of the standard one, two opening ports in the forecabin and 9″ Ventilite vents were extras; Perspex main hatch standard in 1979 and 1980—The WOA buying guide expects tired seals on the original forward-opening forehatch, the ports and the windows, and blocked drain holes in the main hatch runners.
Deck coveringNon-slip paint · teak · Treadmaster4,5,10,11,12,7Non-slip deck paint from the 1971 brochure on; teak cockpit sole in 1978 and 1979, Treadmaster on the cockpit seats in 1979 and on seats and sole in 1980—According to the WOA buying guide the slatted cockpit seats often leak at their bolts, and many owners have replaced the slats with Treadmaster.

Specifications

Years built1969 to 1980: first shown at the London Boat Show of 1969; the last price list is dated September 1980, and the Griffon took its place that year8,12
Hulls built2444 according to the Westerly Owners’ Association’s data (its history page: over 2400 in eleven years)8,22
DesignerLaurent Giles & Partners: design no. 0576 of 1968, believed to be the last small-boat design Jack Laurent Giles worked on; shape and position of the keels set by tank tests23,24,4,8
BuilderWesterly Marine Construction Ltd, Waterlooville (Hampshire, England): Hambledon Road in the 1968 brochure, Aysgarth Road from the price lists of 1968 on; in 1971 also sold as a kit for home completion3,1,2,17
VersionsSloop; ketch with bowsprit, mizzen and wheel steering from the December 1974 price list to the brochure of December 1977 (the WOA wiki estimates fewer than 20); interior layouts A, B and C; the fin-keeled Pembroke and the centre-cockpit Chieftain come from the same design5,9,13,8,10,25,26,23
Length overall7.9 m (26 ft 0 in); 8.0 m in the brochures of 1968 and 1969; ketch 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) including the bowsprit13,3,27,8
Waterline length6.5 m (21 ft 4 in); 6.6 m in the brochures of 1968 to 197113,3,4,8
Beam2.6 m (8 ft 5 in); 2.62 m in the 1968 brochure13,3,8
Draft0.9 m (3 ft 0 in); 0.92 m in the 1968 brochure13,3,8
Displacement3039 kg (6700 lb) in the brochures of 1975 and 1977 and in the owners’ association’s data; designed scale weight 2800 kg (6150 lb) in 1969 and 1971 and 2180 kg (4800 lb) in the first brochure of 1968; Thames Measurement 6.65 tons (6 tons in 1969)5,13,8,27,4,3
Ballast1270 kg (2800 lb) of cast iron in the two keels; 1002 kg (2180 lb) in the first brochure of 196827,4,13,8,23,3
KeelTwin bilge keels of aerofoil section, positioned after tank tests and bolted on with studs (Whitworth threads up to about 1975, metric from 1978); balanced spade rudder without skeg8,4,28,7
Sail area27.3 m² (294 sq ft) mainsail and No. 1 jib (1968); ketch: mainsail 10.2 m², mizzen 3.45 m² and No. 1 jib 16.1 m²3,1,2,5,13
Mainsail15.0 m² (161 sq ft); ketch 10.2 m² (108 sq ft)27,4,13,8
GenoaNo. 1 genoa 22.3 m² (240 sq ft) in 1969 and 1971, 20.8 m² (223 sq ft) from 1974; No. 2 genoa 16.9 m² (180 to 182 sq ft); jibs: No. 1 12.4 m² (133 sq ft), No. 2 7.5 m² (80 sq ft), No. 3 4.2 m² (45 sq ft); ketch genoa 22.0 m² (236 sq ft)27,4,5,13,8
Light-air sailsSpinnaker of 580 sq ft in the December 1968 list (52 m² in the Dutch dealer’s list of 1979), leech 31 ft 9 in from 1974 (32 ft 9 in in 1980); light-weather genoa from 19772,14,5,9,12
EngineNo engine in the 1968 base price; Volvo Penta MD2B of 25 hp recommended from 1971 and standard in December 1974; Volvo Penta MD11C of 23 hp standard in the price lists of February 1977 to September 19801,2,4,5,9,12
Engine options1968: Volvo Penta MD1 (7 hp) or MD2 (15 to 16.5 hp), Watermota Seawolf petrol (27 to 32 hp) or a 9½ hp outboard on a transom bracket; 1971 to 1975: MD1B (10 hp) instead of the MD2B, or a 25 hp Watermota; 1977 to 1980: MD7A (13 hp) instead of the MD11C; the Dutch dealer Doornbos made the MD7A standard in 19793,1,2,4,5,9,12,14
Fuel tank45 l (10 imperial gallons)2,4,13,12,8
Water tank15 gallons (68 l; 67 l in the owners’ association’s data) of stainless steel, with pump, built in under the forecabin berth; the two 1968 price lists print 30 gallons5,9,12,8,29,1,2
CabinsForecabin with two berths, enclosed heads to port with hanging locker opposite, saloon with galley; in layout C the galley is aft to starboard4,13
BerthsLayout A: 6 (the dinette table lowers to a double); B: 5 (L-shaped dinette, double conversion at extra cost); C: 4 (settee berth and aft galley, Laurent Giles drawing of May 1973); in September 1980 only layout B was offered4,13,23,12
Headroom6 ft (1.83 m), in the saloon and right forward4,13
HullHand-laid glassfibre: at least 10 oz/sq ft of mat in the topsides and up to 22 oz of mat and rovings over the keel stubs; balsa-sandwich foredeck; hull-deck joint through-bolted and glassed over; Lloyd’s moulding certificate for every boat4,13,12
SuccessorWesterly Griffon (1980)8

Good to know

  • Westerly no longer exists. The Westerly Owners’ Association’s wiki is open to everyone and holds the Centaur’s brochures and price lists from 1968 to 1980, the builder’s handbook, a buying guide by a long-time owner and repair guides; members also get the technical article library, model profiles and Boatline, the association’s helpline of experienced owners. Copies of the original Laurent Giles drawings (lines, keels, rudder, rigging schedules, layouts) can be ordered from the Laurent Giles Archive.8,25,30,31,23
  • Check which engine you really have before ordering parts: the lists name a Volvo Penta MD1 or MD2 or a Watermota petrol engine in 1968, the MD2B (or MD1B) up to 1975 and the MD11C (or MD7A) from 1977, and many boats have been re-engined since. The original Volvos are cooled directly by sea water, and the WOA buying guide counts the original mild-steel fuel tank among the parts near the end of their life; changing it means moving the engine.2,5,9,12,7,8
  • Look for weeping keel studs and, inside, for cracks in the webs around the keel stubs: the widely splayed keels load their roots when the boat takes the ground hard. Tightening leaking nuts rarely cures them; sooner or later the keels need rebedding. The studs have Whitworth threads on boats built before about 1975 and metric ones (24, 20 and 14 mm, nuts 36, 25 and 17 mm across flats) from 1978; Westerly gave no torque, and the WOA wiki suggests roughly 150, 85 and 55 ft·lb.7,28
  • Lift the rudder by hand to check the top-hat bushes and sight down the stock for a bend; both suffer when the boat dries out on hard ground. The original bush drawings for the Centaur and Pembroke are on the WOA wiki, and the cutless bearing sits in a bronze housing that unscrews from the stern tube once the propeller is off.7,20,19,15
  • The stainless water tank is glassed in under the forecabin berth. After thirty-odd years pinhole leaks along the welds are common and show as fresh water under the saloon floor; rule out the pipes and the galley pump first, because getting the tank out means cutting open the top of the berth.29,7
  • To identify a boat, use the yard number on the plate in the hatchway rather than the sail number (Centaur sail numbers carry the prefix CR); later hulls also carry a Lloyd’s hull number ending in the year of moulding near the top of the stern, while early Centaurs seem to have none. Some Centaurs were finished by their owners from the 1971 kit, so their equipment can differ from the lists.32,8,17

Videos & how-tos

Links to YouTube, nothing embedded. The maker’s own channel comes first; the rest are channels we found clear and correct for this model.

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Sources

  1. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/9/9a/Centaur_pricelist_1968.pdf
  2. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/8/8a/Centaur_pricelist_dec_1968.PDF
  3. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/d/d2/Fldr_Centaur_3.pdf
  4. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/3/35/Centaur_brochure_1971_2.PDF
  5. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/e/ea/Centaur-pricelist-dec-1974.pdf
  6. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/c/cc/WesterlyManual.pdf
  7. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/f/f6/CENTAUR_PURCHASE_ADVICE.pdf
  8. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Centaur
  9. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/7/70/Centaur_pricelist_1977_1.PDF
  10. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/5/50/Centaur_pricelist_1978_1.PDF
  11. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/f/f1/Centaur_Pembroke_pricelist_sep_1979.PDF
  12. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/3/30/Centaur_pricelist_sep_1980.PDF
  13. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/b/bd/Centaur_brochure_1977_1.PDF
  14. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/f/f9/Prijslijst-1979-Centaur-Pembroke.pdf
  15. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Centaur_Cutless_Bearing_Removal_and_Replacement
  16. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Removing_the_Propeller_Shaft
  17. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/a/ae/Centaur_kit_1971.pdf
  18. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=How_to_service_a_simple_winch
  19. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Centaur_Rudder_bearings
  20. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Rudder_Bush_Drawings
  21. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Upgrading_to_an_Electric_Windlass
  22. westerly-owners.org/history-of-westerly-woa/
  23. laurentgilesarchive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/0576-Drawings-list-2016.pdf
  24. laurentgilesarchive.co.uk/2018/12/05/what-in-the-late-1960s-linked-moody-and-westerly-pro…
  25. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Westerly_Brochures
  26. laurentgilesarchive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/0576-Westerly-Centaur-front-page-1-1…
  27. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/7/78/Centaur_brochure_1969_2.PDF
  28. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Keel_bolts
  29. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Removing_a_Centaur_Water_Tank
  30. westerly-owners.org/technical-articles-library/
  31. westerly-owners.org/boatline/
  32. wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/index.php?title=Yard_Numbers,_Sail_Numbers,_and_Hull_Numbers

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