Westerly Longbow 31 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the used market for a Westerly Longbow 31 means looking at the aft-cockpit, fin-keel sloop that Laurent Giles drew on a 31-foot hull later reused for centre-cockpit ketches. Built from 1971 to 1980 with about 260 completed, the Longbow is the most common layout of a thousand-plus sister hulls and remains a practical blue-water cruiser with a roomy interior for its size.
Layouts on the Used Market
The boat you will find is overwhelmingly the aft-cockpit sloop with a conventional forecabin of vee-berths, a separate heads between forecabin and saloon, and a saloon whose removable table drops to a double. A settee berth opposite and twin quarterberths aft give up to seven berths, with a slide-out chart table over one quarterberth. Some owners have reworked the aft end with a permanent chart table behind the galley and a divider in the long port settee, turning that into a proper sea berth. Early boats show more GRP and laminate interior trim; later ones carry more wooden joinery, a useful tell when judging condition and age.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
On the brokerage circuit these Longbows commonly carry solar panels, hot water, radar, a chartplotter, and a life raft as baseline cruising kit. For a buyer the meaningful clusters are power and energy — solar paired with hot water speaks to a boat set up for extended anchoring — and navigation and safety, where radar, chartplotter, and life raft together indicate a vessel equipped for passage-making rather than day sailing. Beyond those, judge each boat on the condition of its Volvo Penta MD2B and the original 23 bhp installation rather than on gadget count.
What to Inspect
The one documented fleet-wide weakness is the headlining: all Westerlys of this period show drooping headlinings unless the panels have been replaced or refastened with trim battens. Check the overhead carefully and ask whether the work was done. Otherwise the hull was built to Lloyds specifications with rigorously monitored processes, and the iron fin keel and half-skeg rudder should be examined for grounding scars and steering play as on any fin-keel cruiser of the era.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These boats turn up most often in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ireland. For a buyer the short list is: confirm the headlining is secured or budget the battens; verify the MD2B starts cold and the engine compartment is as accessible as claimed; prefer a later wooden-joinery interior if warmth matters; and treat solar, hot water, radar, chartplotter, and life raft as the expected cruising fit. A sound Longbow is a roomy, monitored-build small offshore boat at a practical ownership level.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Westerly Longbow 31. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 2 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 25 | 3 | $12,169 | — |
| Apr 26 | 2 | $23,311 | +91.6% |
Where they're listed
Westerly Longbow 31 listings appear across 3 countries. Germany has the most listings with 2 (40.0%), followed by United Kingdom and Ireland.
Country view
5 listings · 3 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | $23,311 | 2 | 0 | 40.0% |
| United Kingdom | $10,164 | 2 | 0 | 40.0% |
| Ireland | $22,728 | 1 | 0 | 20.0% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
6 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadler 32 | 31.5' | $ 22,146 | 55 | 11 |
| Moody 31 Mk I | 30.75' | $ 27,187 | 28 | 3 |
| Westerly Berwick 31 | 31' | $ 12,917 | 21 | 4 |
| Creswell Marine 36 | 36' | $ 39,431 | 19 | 1 |
| Rustler 31 | 31.42' | $ 17,676 | 14 | 0 |
| Westerly Longbow 31You are here | — | $ 22,728 | 5 | 0 |