Wednesday, September 8, 2021

____________________ WESTERLY 22 TRANSFORMED ___________________

 I was so taken with this boat I have unscrupulously copied the photograph of it from Max's Blog here:

http://bursledonblog.blogspot.com/ 

The reason why (Along with the fact that I simply love the yawl rig) is because I am intrigued by the way a basic design ( The ubiquitous Westerly 22) can be  transformed simply by changing the rig. Changing from sloop to gaff yawl has introduced such a wodge of romance, balanced complexity and jauntiness into the mix that when I first saw this photograph on Max's Blog it became this weeks jaw dropping moment. In my opinion, adding an interesting and more complex rig to a small boat increases a boats gravitas and saltiness. This little boat looks eager and perky - ten out of ten to the skipper who was inspired to make the change.

4 comments:

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

Westerly 22's are lovely anyway - they always remind me of Dutch clogs, but yes, I thought it looked classic when I saw it on Max's blog... an interesting optical illusion though, as it looks like the boom wouldn't clear the mizzen when clearly it must...

Alden Smith said...

Yes, you are right there is something cloggy about the hull. I am sure the boom clears he mizzen - although we do live in strange times and there maybe skippers who refuse to do anything except sail on the port tack.

Steve-the-Wargamer said...

LOL... "gentlemen don't do starboard, sir"...

Alden Smith said...

Well the gentlemen will return to their London clubs with some interesting stories about what happens when one finds oneself on a collision course with another yacht approaching on starboard - smoking jackets, cucumber sandwiches, pimms, lad dee da and a strange fixation with port tack won't help - rum chap port tack in this situation.