The pre-purchase survey of this 1987 Westerly Fulmar 32 recently took place in Gosport, Hampshire, with the vessel ashore for the majority of the survey. The boat yard wouldn’t allow me to run the engine whilst the boat was in her cradle, so once the boat had been lifted into the water, I returned on a second occasion to run the engine. With the vessel afloat, this provided me with the opportunity to assess the condition of the engine whilst it was running in gear and under load, something which can’t be done with the vessel ashore.
Pre-purchase Survey of a Westerly Fulmar
The Westerly Fulmar 32 was designed by Ed Dubois and was launched in 1980 to replace the 31’ Westerlys that were designed by Laurent Giles, such as the Berwick, Longbow, Pentland and Renown. Strictly matched Fulmars were raced between 1985 and 1987 in the prestigious Royal Lymington Cup match racing series, but they were also very popular with sea schools and for family cruising.
The accomodation of the Fulmar was claimed to be a 7-berth, but the port side quarter berth is more like an extra-wide single berth, therefore the boat is more suited to a maximum of six persons.
The Fulmar was built in respectable numbers for over ten years, until 1992 when it was extended & modified to include a small bathing platform (usually called a sugar scoop), becoming the Fulmar 33. In total, 435 of the 32’ Fulmars were built and 18 of the 33’ Fulmar.
Pre-purchase Survey of a Westerly Fulmar
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