Best British-built cruisers around 32ft

Peter Poland shares his expertise on British-built second-hand yachts costing less than £30,000, which are comfortable and seaworthy

- Peter K Poland

You might think £30,000 sounds like a lot of money for a ‘starter boat’. But tracking down a comfortable and seaworthy yacht that’s over 30ft long, less than around 40 years old and capable of taking a crew on coastal cruising trips costing less than £30,000 on the second-hand market can be a challenging project.

It’s stating the obvious, but sailors who are happy with smaller yachts have far more to choose from. In the days before the ‘smallest’ new starter boat became a costly 30-plus footer, many builders used to offer popular ranges stretching from 20ft to 32ft. But if you are looking for something above the 30ft mark within a £30,000 budget, you will have to start delving into the realms of older yachts.

Groundbreaking cruiser

Those looking for smaller GRP starter boats – myself included – often settled on the ground-breaking 26ft Westerly Centaur. Between 1969 and the early 1980s, 2,444 were built; outselling any other British production cruiser.

To a large degree its success stemmed from the exceptional space, headroom and comfort that it offered in its day.

Three layout options were available and – more by luck than judgement – I bought the most popular. It had a twin berth forepeak, enclosed heads compartment, L-shaped saloon settee with drop-down table, linear galley to starboard and twin quarter berths aft.