Designed in 1967/68 the Westerly Centaur is thought to be the last design that Jack Laurent Giles contributed to before his death later that year, and he didn’t survive to see the construction of what was probably the most important development in production yacht design and certainly the most prolific.

The Centaur was officially launched at the London Boat Show 1969, and was an immediate success worldwide. She was the first of Giles projects with the renowned British builder Westerly Marine Construction, conceived as a more modern and roomier replacement for the existing Westerly 25 which was designed in house by the builder. Altogether 2444 were built. The unexpected success hit a note and the design was shortly to be joined by the smaller Pageant design number 0591, and larger Longbow/Berwick designs 0603.

We believe that Centaur was the first mass-production yacht to have had the design tank-tested before a prototype was built, and this, plus Laurent Giles’s racing pedigree and earlier experience with bilge keel designs, was probably the reason for the Centaur’s good performance under sail.

If you currently own a Westerly Centaur please do contact us