Westerly Konsort 29 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Konsort’s hull is a solid laminate of chopped strand mat reinforced with rovings in high-stress areas, with a balsa-cored deck and a distinctive knuckle in the bow shared across the Westerly range. Keels—whether fin, twin, or the rare swing variant—bolt to shallow moulded stubs, and the yard issued every hull with a Lloyds construction certificate from its in-house surveyor. Most buyers chose the twin-keel form, with about 150 of the 704 built as fin-keelers. What sets the interior apart is the absence of moulded liners: all teak and teak-faced plywood is bonded directly to the outer hull, creating the feel of a hand-crafted yacht and a nicely woody cabin. Westerly’s trademark blue non-slip deck paint and a teak toerail rather than aluminium complete the traditional picture, and Konsorts are known for having relatively few structural weaknesses.

Rig and Handling

Above the coachroof sat a conventional masthead rig of modest proportions, with a boom long enough to carry the mainsheet to a traveller across the wide transom—easy to reach yet clear of the cockpit. The transom-hung rudder gives predictable steering, and testers found her light on the helm and beautifully balanced when sailed neither too high nor too deep, heeling no more than 15 degrees in between. Pushed hard upwind in 25 knots, the boat plugged along at 4 to 4.5 knots, tacking through roughly 90 degrees, though the babystay could interfere with the overlapping genoa and made short-tacking laborious. She is stiff and under-canvassed in light airs, yet able to carry full sail when others reef, and reaches in a breeze are her element, clocking 7 knots at times. The fin-keel version goes faster and makes less leeway than the twin, with a lower centre of gravity adding a little stiffness.

Accommodations

Because there is no aft cabin, the saloon sits further aft in the beamier part of the hull and is larger than on most boats of this size, with wide parallel settee berths and full standing headroom throughout. The forecabin is separated from the saloon by a heads to port and hanging locker to starboard. The deep cockpit, a product of that missing aft cabin, comfortably seats four and offers a secure perch for the helmsman on the flat-topped coaming. A large locker beneath the starboard seat and the stern-stowed gas bottle round out the weather deck, while the projecting engine box between chart table and galley doubles as scarce galley workspace. One criticism stands: the quarter berth and chart table to port share a seat as the berth head, so they cannot be used together.

Known Issues

Westerly used orthophthalic resins until the mid-1980s, and osmosis is quite common on these hulls. Chainplates fatigue and corrode where they pass through the deck but are simple to replace. The hull reinforcement distributing keel loads deserves inspection, especially on fin-keelers where depth beneath the floorboards on the centreline is lacking; early plywood sections were less robust than the foam-cored parts from 1981 onward, and grounded or poorly shored boats are most at risk. Keel bolts glassed in rather than gelled over warrant suspicion. The transom-hung rudder is easy to inspect yet vulnerable, with gudgeons and pintles joined by a rod that is not especially robust though simple to change. Deck gelcoat suffers UV star-crazing, and the “Westerly droop”—vinyl headliner parting from the deckhead—is the most common below-decks complaint.

Refits and Ownership

Owners fitting out a Konsort will find the direct-bonded woodwork forgiving of sympathetic refit, and the Lloyds certificate a useful historical anchor. The same hull later underpinned the Konsort Duo motor-sailer, proving the platform’s flexibility. Engines were mainly Bukh and Volvo diesels, with the Bukh 20 or Volvo 25hp typical in period. The boat remains sought after by those wanting something solid, roomy, forgiving, and easy to handle, and a well-kept example with the common upgrades keeps its price.

The Verdict

The Konsort is a voluminous, forgiving coastal cruiser that punches above its length in accommodation and manners, let down only by modest light-air pace and a handful of age-related faults that are well understood.

Pros