Westerly Centaur 1969
When the time came to update the original Westerly range, following the untimely death of founder Denys Rayner in 1967, the company turned to Laurent Giles. This turned out to be a stunningly successful partnership that heralded a further stage of rapid expansion for Westerly. During a production run of more than a decade, 2,620 boats using this hull were sold, including 97 fin keel Pembrokes and 79 aft cabin Chieftans. No British built yacht has ever been built in larger numbers.
The Centaur broke new ground in the UK with its generous beam – a feature Laurent Giles took from American boats of the era. At 2.6m (8ft 5in) this was a 15% increase on that of the earlier Westerly 25. While the tall coachroof looked ugly, the big windows make for a wonderfully bright interior.
These features combined with higher freeboard and longer waterline to create much more interior space – all three Centaur layout options offer standing headroom, a separate forecabin, separate heads compartment and a decent galley. The topsides flare in the bow – called a knuckle at the time, but these days it could almost be referred to as a chine – increased space in the forecabin, while also providing a drier ride.
Despite the extra accommodation space, this was also a boat that sailed much better than its predecessor. In particular the aerofoil shaped twin keels were deeper and slightly toed-in at the front, creating much greater hydrodynamic efficiency than earlier bilge keel designs.
Both smaller and larger variants followed the launch of the Centaur, with the 23ft Pageant (more than 500 built) launched the following year, and a 31ft range that started production in 1972. The latter, named Longbow, Berwick, Pentland and Renown, was available in four variants, covering aft or centre cockpit, and twin or fin keels. In total more than 1,000 were sold, including a number with ketch rigs.