Westerly GK 29 Buyer's Guide
The Westerly GK 29 is a fibreglass sailboat built by the British yard Westerly Marine Construction Ltd, designed by Michael Pocock with Jack Laurent Giles as an IOR half tonner with a masthead rig. On the used market it presents as a compact six-berth racer-cruiser whose appeal lies in its half-ton pedigree and its wide-beam spaciousness rather than in offshore ambition.
Layouts on the Used Market
The GK 29 carries six berths together with a galley and a toilet facility, a layout that has held consistent across the class. The boat's length-to-beam ratio of 2.81 makes it more spacious than 79% of all other designs, so the interior reads larger than the 29-foot length suggests. Buyers should expect a weekender-style arrangement oriented to a small crew, not a volume-maximized cruiser.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the used market the GK 29 is commonly fitted with a spinnaker, an asymmetric spinnaker, an autopilot, a chartplotter, and a life raft. The builder's own records note the boat may be equipped with a Petter diesel engine at 6 hp (4 kW) or an engine at 12 hp (8 kW), so power plants vary between used Westerly GK 29s. The masthead rig's original running rigging used 10 mm (3/8 inch) sheets throughout — jib and genoa at 8.8 m, mainsheet at 22.1 m, spinnaker at 19.4 m — and owners fitting the commonly seen spinnaker or asymmetric will be working within those sheet lengths.
What to Inspect
The documented record for the GK 29 establishes no structural defect, but it does fix the boat's performance envelope in a way that matters to inspection. The capsize screening value is 2.17, a figure that indicates this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races, and the Motion Comfort Ratio is 18.5, more comfortable than only 27% of similar designs. A survey should confirm the hull is the specified fibreglass and that the ballast ratio of 43% — higher than 66% of similar sailboat designs — is intact, since a half-tonner's behavior depends on that weight split. Verify the engine variant present (6 hp Petter or 12 hp unit) and that the masthead rig's 10 mm sheet sizing matches the boat's stated configuration.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
The GK 29 is typically found in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Ireland. For a shopper, the takeaway is a coastal racer-cruiser with genuine space for six and a high ballast ratio, but bounded by its capsize and comfort numbers.
- Confirm fibreglass hull and 43% ballast ratio are uncompromised.
- Check which engine variant is fitted: 6 hp Petter diesel or 12 hp.
- Expect commonly fitted spinnaker, asymmetric, autopilot, chartplotter, life raft.
- Read the 2.17 capsize screening value as a coastal-use limit, not an offshore boat.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Westerly GK 29. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 5 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25 | 1 | $ 17,164 | — |
| Nov 25 | 1 | $ 18,197 | +6.0% |
| Apr 26 | 3 | $ 17,164 | -5.7% |
| May 26 | 1 | $ 10,109 | -41.1% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 11,157 | +10.4% |
Where they're listed
Westerly GK 29 listings appear across 3 countries. United Kingdom has the most listings with 4 (66.7%), followed by Belgium and Ireland.
Country view
6 listings · 3 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | $ 15,835 | 4 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Belgium | $ 17,164 | 1 | 0 | 16.7% |
| Ireland | $ 11,157 | 1 | 1 | 16.7% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
4 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadler 29 | 28.42' | $ 17,456 | 63 | 11 |
| Hallbery Rassy 29 | 29.2' | $ 43,483 | 59 | 16 |
| Beneteau First 29 | 29.67' | $ 21,500 | 33 | 5 |
| Westerly GK 29You are here | — | $ 15,319 | 6 | 2 |