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Westerly Griffon

Brief details

Builder

Westerly Marine, Hampshire

The Westerly Griffon was Ed Dubois' more modern, better-performing replacement for the older Westerly Centaur design. Although in most respects a better boat than the Centaur/Pembroke predecessor, rising prices of boat building in England meant that far fewer Griffons were built and sold than the older Laurent Giles designed models.

LOA

26' 0"

Sail area

432 sq ft main and genoa

LWL

21' 7 "

Rig

Sloop

Beam

9' 3 "

Cabins

2

Draught

4' 9 " fin, 3' 3" twin keel, or 3' 3 " to 5' 6 " lifting keel

Berths

5/6

Displacement

6,000 lbs

Engine

Usually Bukh or Volvo diesels

Ballast

2,717 lbs

BHP

10 - 20

Keel type

Twin bilge keels with transom-hung rudder

The Griffon was the first design that Westerly commissioned from Ed Dubois, and was intended to replace the long-running and incredibly successful Centaur. Griffons were built from 1979 to 1989, with three models - Mk I, Mk II and Club variants. The Mk II had more wooden trim and interior lockers than the Mk I. The later Club version reverted to a simpler interior in the interests of cutting costs to be competitive with other (mostly French) manufacturers offerings - these later Westerly's were always moderately expensive yachts for their size, the price reflecting the build quality.

A number of early Griffons had keel attachment problems, with a number of boats being recalled to the factory for reinforcement. Apart from these long-past problems, the hulls are very strongly built. Although fin-keel versions were sold, more Griffons were twin-keelers. There were also a very few lift-keel boats built.

The saloon has a quarterberth and a settee berth to port, with the galley and one more settee berth to starboard. The saloon table in some yachts folds down from a stowed position against the main bulkhead, as in the photos below. Other have a freestanding saloon table assembly.

The heads compartment, with hanging locker opposite, separates saloon and forecabin, which has a vee-berth.