Can anyone help me with the interior headroom of a westsail 42 and 43. I would love to look into purchasing a westsail 42 very soon but I'm concerned about my 6'3" height. It will be a cruising live aboad for me. I'm in a leg cast and will not be able to look for myself for about 6 weeks. I do not want to set my Hope's on a westsail only to be disappointed by say a 6' salon height. As others have mentioned across the web, boats need to have accurate headroom displayed on listings. It would just make thing so much easier for us tall guys.

  George

Hi George,

Saw your post and I took some measurements while working on our W42 today. I am doing a pretty much complete re fit. :

Engine, shaft, propeller, all tangs, chain plates, standing and running rigging, mast, travelers, rudder, pedestal, bowsprit, port holes, adding numerous extra ports, interior cabin sides, cut out deck on foredeck / reinforce and install large hatch, electrical , complete fuel and water tank removal and removal of all stringers and bulkheads in that area, redesign layout to accommodate tanks that can go through companionway and glass in new stringers and bulkheads.  In redesigning ours, I cut the furniture in areas that will allow the tanks to be removed w/o totally taking out all the furniture, hopefully the furniture and deck sole will be able to be installed and removable for possible future replacement / serviceability ( not in my life time ) . On and on :)

Here are the Measurements:

Height at companionway - 6' 3 1/2 "

Height at step-down leading to main salon  / small area before cabin top steps down- 6' 9".

Height in salon area after cabin steps down - 6'.

Height  in passageway leading to aft cabin  -  5'. 

Height in aft cabin / stateroom - 5' 11" 

Height in engine room - 4' 10".

Oh, whatever vessel you look at, take a very close look at fuel and water tanks. If they have not been replaced, they will probably will have to be replaces in the near future. This is a huge project. On our W42, the main tanks were sitting on the bottom of the upper bilge which is NOT a good way to go !! There were 1 1/2 " hole in them when removed and inspected.

Hope this helps. Of course heights may / will differ with each individual vessel's layout.

If I can help in any way, let me know. 

Best regards,

George

S/V Cadence W42

Yes, the best is to find a boat with a recent refit and one will have to pay for it as we talked about.

Looking back, I wish that I had done that. But on the positive side, I will know this boat inside and out, and know what is in there and condition :) The former owner was not upfront about the condition of the boat and issues that I had asked him about and the surveyor was not of any added value.  The boat yard gave me an estimate of 85K to replace the tanks which was totally ludicrous !!!! They wanted to cut off the cabin top, take out the furniture, tank and replace the tanks and re glass the cabin top. !! They did not want to listen that there where other options like cutting up the tanks, taking them up through the companionway and bringing new smaller ones down the same way. That was years ago. And today the yard rates have gotten really high....

I thought that I could have done a project each year as time went on while sailing the boat. But, as I worked on the boat, one issue lead into another and so on.  And with other obligations, here I am. Luckily I am capable of doing most of the work on the boat and am still in good health.  And of course, always learning.

As we talked about on any boat, take a good look at the fuel and water tanks, and preferably make sure that they have inspection ports for each baffled section for inspection and cleaning. And that they have adequate ventilation around them to help prevent corrosion, etc.  On a prospective boat see if the owner / seller would be open to having the tanks pressure tested. 

Also, I recommend looking at the prospective boat several times, seeing something new each time. On the first visit, one can get excited and miss certain details good or bad.  

Westsail sailboats are stout seaworthy boats as are many others.

Good luck in your search and endeavors . 

Best Regards,

George