Sailing yachts
West Solent One Design W11
(REF: 32683)£45000
Full specification
Wooden Ships Comments on this West Solent One Design W11
Launched in 1925 by Berthon of Lymington, she was the 11th yacht of the class to be built. Having spent much of her life on the east coast of England, she was found in the late 1980’s in a poor state and rebuilt extensively by acclaimed shipwrights Fabian Bush and Jamie Clay between 1990 -2001.
After this refit she was raced successfully around Essex and Suffolk until being sold back to the Solent in 2018. There had been plans for her to race around the Solent as part of a charter fleet, but this did not materialise and the boat became a little neglected. Purchased by the current professional boat builder owners in 2024, she has had a thorough and professional grade refit over the last 6 months and is now looking superb and is ready for her next owners to put to sea.
The class was designed by H. Jacobs and H.G. May of Berthons as a cost effective cruiser racer for the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. At the time a new W class could be bought for £600, a similar 6 meter yacht would have cost £1500 so they were well received. A total of 32 boats were built for the UK market, 5 built and shipped to Argentina and one built under licence in Bombay. The design was adopted by the Royal Burnham Yacht Club where it was known as the Royal Burnham Restricted Class.
The WSOD, also known as the W class, has seen a huge resurgence in recent years with a number of original boats given professional rebuilds, as well as one or two new examples being built. They are superb boats with exceptionally beautiful lines and have proven to be excellent classic regatta boats that only need a small crew and are still very competitive.
This is a very cost effective boat with which to take part in the big classic regattas and race amongst the finest classic yachts in the world while possibly having even more fun than those owners.
Length on Deck 34’6”
Beam 7’6”
Draft 5’
Thames Tonnage 6TM
Sail Area 500sqft
Refit Work 1990 – 2001
Centreline structure
– Lead ballast keel removed
– Defects in wooden keel attended to, and re bedded and refastened with new bronze l” keelbolts; – Deadwoods fore and aft were removed and renewed
– Iron floors removed and replaced with wooden floors
– All new floors bolted with new bronze bolts through the keel
– Damaged planking in way of the floors was repaired and replaced as necessary
– Stern post renewed along with the rudder trunking
– Horn timber repaired and reinforced
– A longer mast step introduced to spread the mast load beyond the join of keel and stem apron
– Any necessary repairs to stem and apron made
Framing
– Of rock elm; the frames and fastening were mostly sound
– Defects in sawn frames repaired and all the planking refastened with silicon bronze screws
– Intermediate steamed frames repaired and refastened; particularly at the bottom of the bilge no
– Garboards removed to expose the housings in the keel and all defects made good
Planking
– Repaired as necessary throughout
– Large seams were splined; most seams were re caulked in traditional fashion
Hull Stiffening
– A structural teak bulkhead and new oak hanging knees fitted in way of the mast
– A teak structural bulkhead fitted at the fore end of the cockpit, also new oak hanging knees
– The beam shelf reinforced with a shelf clamp over 1/3rd of its length each side about the mast
– Repairs or replacement of remaining hull structure carried out where necessary including:
– Knees, apron, breast hook, stringers, transom, etc
Other
– New chain plates for the main rigging made from 316 grade stainless steel
– Deck beams and carlings replaced throughout; Douglas fir – or laminated iroko in way of mast
– A ¾ inch marine grade plywood sub deck fitted and glass / epoxy sheathed
– A new iroko and oak rudder and ash tiller made and fitted with bronze fittings
– A new oak Samson post made and fitted
– Re-painted/varnished inside and out
2025 Refit Work
-Hull sanded, faired and filled before repainting
-All bright work stripped to bare wood and revarnished
-Cabin and cockpit sanded and painted
-Deck repainted
-Mast – new foot scarfed in, stripped to bare wood and revarnished
-Lots of new halyards and lines
-Winches serviced
-All mast furniture replaced
-All new wooden blocks
-New fenders
-New mooring lines
Construction
Hull
Carvel planked in red pine fastened with bronze screws to Canadian Rock Elm frames. Garboard and no.2 plank in iroko.
Intermediate steamed oak timbers fastened with copper rivets.
External lead ballast keel fastened with 1” bronze bolts.
Laminated iroko floors throughout the mid ships area of the hull. Bronze strap floors in the extreme ends, all with new fastenings.
New deadwoods, stern post and repaired horn timbers and stem.
Mast step extended and stiffened to cure the usual problem with this design.
Decks and Cockpit
Marine plywood deck of ¾” sheathed externally in epoxy glass cloth.
Varnished teak covering boards with a small teak toe rail set inboard in a very elegant fashion.
Varnished teak king plank.
Superstructure
Original varnished teak sliding companion hatch and skylight with a varnished teak forehatch.
Rig
Fractional Bermudan sloop rig on a keel stepped varnished spruce mast.
Varnished spruce boom.
Spars stripped and re-varnished recently, all mast furniture new and properly bedded.
Varnished spruce spinnaker pole.
Standing and Running Rigging
Stainless Steel standing rigging of unknown age.
Internal stainless steel chain plates fitted to spread the load of the rigging on the hull. Large wooden blocks mounted on the inside of the hull are through bolted with the chain plates and spread the rig loads further down the hull planking.
All recent running rigging and lines.
Running backstays on Highfield levers.
Original bronze deck fittings and turning blocks.
All varnished wooden blocks for the rig including new Davey mainsheet blocks.
Sails
Racing mainsail by Quantam Sails – 2015.
Racing genoa by Quantam Sails – 2015.
Spinnaker in good condition.
Cruising genoa in good condition.
Jib in good condition.
Winches
2 x Willmex bronze self tailing cockpit sheet winches.
2 x Willmex non-self tailing cockpit sheet winches.
1 x Willmex non-self tailing boom mounted reefing winch.
Accommodation
Simple interior layout for a boat that has been primarily used for racing in recent years.
Berths
3 berths including a double up forward and a single settee berth.
General Description
Single step down from the cockpit into the cabin.
Single settee berth on the starboard side with sanded pine sole boards.
Port side is a galley area with a stainless sink set into a work top. Forward of the galley area is an open space that could be built into a small settee if required.
Teak butterfly skylight over the cabin.
Bulkhead at the forward enf of the saloon in varnished T&G teak separates off the forepeak. Chart desk mounted against the bulkhead.
Forepeak given over to a large double V-berth.
Equipment
Steering compass
Echo sounder
Masthead light
Auto electric bilge pump
Manual bilge pump
Overall winter cover
Boom tent
Cockpit cover
25lb CQR anchor + 20m chain
Mooring lines
Fenders
12 volt battery
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Disclaimer:
These particulars have been prepared in good faith from information provided by the Vendors and are intended as a guide, Wooden Ships cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. The Purchaser should instruct his agent or surveyor to validate all details as necessary and satisfy himself with the condition of the vessel and its equipment.
