Westerly 22 1963

Westerly Marine Construction started life in 1963, building a 22ft fibreglass gunter rigged sailing cruiser, and grew rapidly to become Britain’s biggest boatbuilder by a large margin. By the time the company closed its doors almost 40 years later, the range stretched up to almost 50ft and more than 70 models had been built under the Westerly name.

Westerly was founded by Denys Rayner, a former naval officer who’d been a keen amateur yacht designer before World War II. In the late 1950s he designed the Westcoaster, a compact shallow draught plywood 20-footer with an easily handled rig and surprisingly roomy accommodation by the standards of its time. Rayner quickly realised the potential for growth as well as the opportunities offered by fibreglass construction.

The Westerly 22 is a distinctive boat that offered good internal space in an open-plan layout, plus twin keels with shallow draught, and an easily handled gunter rig. Over the next four years almost 800 boats based on the same hull were built. These include the Nomad, which had a larger coachroof, more interior space, including a separate heads, and an inboard engine. There were also two stretched versions – the Westerly 25 and the Windrush.