Contact email: kevinkoestler@outlook.com​
 
Overview

The Westsail 32 goes down in history as the boat that launched a thousand dreams. She's generally credited for starting the cruising boom of the 1970s which brought "the cruising life" out of the fringes and into the mainstream.
 
Designed by Bill Crealock as a heavy displacement double ender for long distance cruising, this boat is the epitome of seaworthiness; built strong and heavy with huge interior volume.
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The Westsail 32, "Westsail the world" was the advertising mantra, oozing adventure in far away places. So successful was the marketing campaign that by June of 1973 Time Magazine featured a four page spread on "the cruising life" including a large image of a Westsail 32 in a suitably exotic location. It caught the imagination of the American public. The boat sold in incredible numbers, and along the way set in stone the shape and style of American bluewater cruising boats for nearly two decades.
 
In total 830 boats were produced by Westsail. To keep up with demand around 400 of these boats were sold as hull and deck kits; requiring interior finishing by their respective purchasers. Kits were sold in various stages of completion; Hull and Deck, Sail-Away, and a complete boat. With kits, owners could add any option they felt they wanted including ballast, bulkheads, rigging, etc. (THIS WESTSAIL, HULL #:252 IS A KIT THAT WAS COMPLETED WITH PLENTY OF BEAUTIFUL TEAK.)
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Construction

The hull is heavily built from hand-laid fiberglass in 12 layers with polyester resin resulting in a hull that ranges from 3/4 inch near the topsides to 1 1/8 inches at the turn of the bilge. The 3/4" bulkheads are marine plywood and tabbed to the hull with fiberglass.
Ballast varied between boats, but always with at least 7,000 pounds. Some had 2,000 pounds of lead and 5,000 pounds of steel punchings. From 1974, cast lead was used in the keel cavity in three sections. One can easily tell the lead ballast because the keel sump is much deeper under the engine pan.
The deck and cabin trunk is fiberglass cored with two layers of half inch plywood, with an extra two inch plywood base to reinforce below the mast step. 
 
The Westsail 32 has a reputation for getting cruisers where they want to go, though not very quickly. According to most owners this is falsely deserved. I have sailed this boat in 25 to 30 knot winds, through 15 foot seas and she handles effortlessly. Motion through the water is incredibly comfortable and sailing is a confident and secure experience.
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Look for a boat that has 35 hp or more, the original 25hp Volvo MD2B is often reported as insufficient for a distance motoring into adverse weather.
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(THIS WESTSAIL HAS A WESTERBEKE 38b4 DIESEL ENGINE)