[BMLipiec]

We owned a Westsail 32 (S/V Adagio) for 4 years. I believe their reputation of being slow is vastly overstated, and repeated so often that it is just accepted as fact.

No doubt, she is not a gazelle in light air due to her heavy displacement and full keel. However, her bowsprit and boomkin allowed her to carry as much canvas as many 38 and 40 footers, giving her a respectable SA/D ratio of 15 (similar to our PSC 34). We did a lot of light air sailing in southern CA and she was always fun to sail. But, she really came into her own when the wind increased. While others were tucking in a reef, Adagio was comfortably slicing through the waves. Moreover, she was built like a tank and we always felt safe in any kind of weather conditions.

The Westsail shares many of the offshore attributes of the Pacific Seacraft line, like sturdy construction, raised bulwarks, protected rudder, cutter rig, canoe stern, good storage and tankage, proven pedigree, etc. In fact, after moving to the east coast we looked for another one, but could not find one in decent shape.

They are not the best weekend boats, but for those inclined, they have made numerous ocean crossings and circumnavigations.