I bought Little Wing in March 2020 and quite a bit of work has been done in order to set her up so that she is a well-functioning vessel that can be single handed. She is ready to go coastal cruising and shy of a life raft; ocean sailing.
She was built in 1976 in Costa Mesa, California and at some stage made her way across the Pacific. These boats were designed and built to be incredibly strong and seaworthy. The hulls are a heavy-duty fiberglass up to 25mm thick below the waterline and the keel is integrated lead ballast. Little Wing has a stainless steel bowsprit and boomkin which eliminates this traditional weak point of timber spars being subjected to high forces whilst gradually decaying. The mast section is oversized and new stainless steel standing rigging has been installed in 2021.
There is lots of information about Westsails on the owners association page about their design (Colin Archer, Atkins, and Bill Crealock). Https://www. Westsail. Org/
Obviously, lots of maintenance, lots of bits and pieces and lots of small improvements over the years, but there have also been some bigger investments and improvements in order to restore Little Wing back to a bullet proof, ocean, passage maker. Some of the major works that were carried out, and some of the more valuable pieces of equipment that were installed are as follows:
1) Electrical
a) Review and rewire the majority of electrical installations. New VHF antennas
b) Installed USB charging ports, relocated instruments and re-wired, installed additional lighting to cabin.
c) Installed 2 new solar panels (2/130watt)
d) Installed new GME AIS Transponder (receive and transmit)
e) Fitted new electromagnetic log (currently playing up)
f) Fitted shower pump
g) New 2/270 Ah AGM house batteries (Early 2024)
h) New 40 amp Enerdrive AC to DC charger (approx. January 2024)
2) Engine
a) Fixed second fuel tank and re-installed
b) Re-route and installed new diesel hoses and new water hoses.
c) Injector pump seal replaced and injectors reconditioned.
d) Installed new PSS shaft seal
e) New cutlass bearing, have propellor shaft straightened and install new coupling
3) General
a) New Rocna anchor
b) installed custom made holding tank and marine toilet.
c) Re-paint heads and inside storage lockers
d) Install additional custom-made water tank
e) Fitted removable coaming boards
f) New Simrad autopilot
g) New primary self-tailing Anderson winches on new brackets and turning blocks
h) Resealed portholes
i) Repainted topsides (white part of hull) with two part polyurethane over epoxy undercoat.
j) Replaced 3 of the through hull fittings with Trudesign
4) Rigging
a) Replaced forward and aft masthead sheaves
b) Replaced all standing rigging - completed June 2021
c) Replaced starboard 3 chainplates. (port had been done by previous owner)
d) Replaced all tangs with new.
1. New Yankee by Doyle Sailmakers
2. New Asymmetric Spinnaker (used)
3. Fitted genoa track cars, four in total so two can be set for spinnaker.
4. Rebuilt dinette so that it can be converted to double bed. Table from Red Cedar.
5. New hatch cover (saloon hatch skylight)
6. New boom cover
Little Wing is the most beautiful boat to sail and spend time on. She is reliable, fun and safe. Her weight and full keel give her such a beautiful motion through the water and with her high bulwarks and clear side decks you can go for a stroll even if the wind picks up to gale force. She simply is amazing. Due to her bowsprit she has the sail plan of a 38 footer on a 32 foot hull. This results in her having quite a good turn of speed and reaching hull speed in surprisingly light conditions.
If you want to see Little Wing in action you can check out some videos I have posted on YouTube. The channel is called: LittleWing. Ws32
https://www. Youtube. Com/channel/UCeE6jPqoTGvKfL3cCnFK30w
Region
Queensland
Vessel Location
Brisbane Region Manly
Launch Year
1976
HIN
WSSK07231276
Rego
WU971Q
Rego Expiry
28/04/2025
Designer
William Crealock
Builder
Westsail Corp. USA
Length
32' - 9.75m
Beam
3.35m
Draft
1.52m
Displacement
8.5 tonne
Keel / Ballast
Lead
Hull Material
Fibreglass/GRP
Deck Material
Teak over glass
Engine Make
Perkins
Engine
4.108 approximately 50hp
Horsepower
50
Fuel Type
Diesel
Propulsion
3 blade fixed prop with PSS shaf seal
Fuel
Two tanks approximately 200 litres in total
Water
Two tanks above bilges of approximately 320 litre capacity
Accommodation
Beautifully finished with solid wood. A really nice fit out; nautical and cosy.
Berths
V berth, pilot berth, Saloon converts to double
Galley
U shaped galley
Refrigeration
Isotherm top loading fridge
Stove
Broadwater gimbaled gas stove. Two burner with oven.
Toilet
Marine Toilet and custom fitted holding tank (above waterline)
Dinghy
Walker Bay 2.4
Outboard
Suzuki outboard
Covers
Boom, hatches, clears
Ground Tackle
Rocna Anchor with approximately 75m of galvanized chain. Spare Delta anchor and heavy duty rope (length unknown)
Safety Gear
Epirb, Flares, V-sheet, Radios, AIS
Bilge Pumps
Electric on float switch and manual
Life Raft
None
Epirb
GME MT600G expiring June 2028
Life Jackets
3 inflatable and additional rigid life vests
Fire Protection
Several fire extinguishers
Electrics
GME AIS Transceiver, Icom IC-402 and Icom IC-402s VHF marine radios, Icom IC-M710 HF marine radio, JVC radio and speakers, Garmin ST60 depth sounder, Clipper Magnetic Log (currently playing up)
Electronics
Boat is set up to navigate with tablet. Bring your own tablet. Comes with Simrad tiller pilot. Boat is set up to steer with Flemming wind vane.
Aluminium mast and spars in good condition. Stainless Steel standing rigging (new 2021) All new stainless steel chain plates and tangs. Bowsprit and Boomkin are stainless steel.