The Westsail story starts with the Kendall 32
Images courtesy of Jill Upchurch & Bruce Bird.
"Back in the dark ages ( the late 1960’s) , Larry Kendall and a group of 4 or 5 other boatbuilders wanted boats for themselves, but did not want to build wood hulls. They chose, instead, to pool their resources, make a mold, and build fiberglass hulls for themselves, each helping the others do the lamination, but paying for their own materials and a share in the cost of the molds. They picked the Atkins 32’ Thistle design, and had the naval architect Bill Crealock modify the lines slightly, and advise them on the design details.
The guys laminated their hulls, and started building, with flush decks. They were all lined up in a small yard in Costa Mesa, with an old house in front, used as an office, and a small garage, used for laminating and as a workshop. Other interested boatowners and builders would come by, and ask if they could get one of the hulls for themselves. Most of the guys only wanted a boat for themselves, but Larry was able to convince the rest to let him use the mold, and so the Kendall 32 was born. Larry also put a small ad in Yachting Magazine, and got a very big response. He was able to build about another 25 or so hulls, before the real world of trying to operate a business on a shoestring, and being a better boatbuilder than a businessman, caught up with him. The bank and the feds closed in on him, and he had to declare bankruptcy." Bud Taplin - from Westsail Corporation
"W32 #37 Misty was the first of the four Westsail 32's built as production boats. W#32 and W#33 were built as prototypes by Kendall for Westsail, and the sales were from orders that Kendall had for complete boats with a trunk cabin, instead of kits with flush decks." Bud Taplin via email.
Depending on how you count, 36 Kendall 32 were produced before the first official Westsail W32 #37 was built by Westsail.
Here is a list of the K32 original owners - from Bud Taplin.
Original Kendall owners that I got from some of the original records – Bud Taplin 1/10/2022.
K32 #1 Bill Sheehan – Sundance
K32 #2 Lon Woodrum – Jolly Tar
K32 #3 Woody Covington or Earl Ancell
K32 #4 Jim Doyle – Amigo
K32 #5 Bob Burns – Candace Star
K32 #6 John Kew
K32 #7 Roger Fowler - Scarab
K32 #8 Marcel Auger
K32 #9 Howard Conant
K32 #10 Bill Ruth
K32 #11 Jack Wilken - Hope
K32 #12 Jim Slatt
K32 #13 Mike Bectal
K32 #14
K32 #15 Bill Field
K32 #16 Jim Slatt
K32 #17 Dick Held – Fair Wind
K32 #18 Gene Soma - Senta To
K32 #19 E. R. Haberman
K32 #20 Jeff Douglas
K32 #21 Tom Mulcher - Kitrina
K32 #22 Glenn Reyonolds - Destiny
K32 #23 Unknown but maybe Jim Demko
K32 #24 Dick Jenness - Spray
K32 #25 Randy Palmer – East Orange
K32 #26 Greg Wood
K32 #27 Bill Beck - Tomorrow
K32 #28 Shirley Clark - Downbeat
K32 #29 John Golden – Irish Elm
K32 #30 Lew Knapik - Mischief
K32 #31 Jock Fugitt – Aquila
K32 #32 Dan MacMurphy – Mary Mac
K32 #33 James Johansson – Frida
Names but unknown hull number
Richard Gillett – Tenacity
Ramon Juncal
Hector Weise – La Independencia
David Francis