Outskirts Press, INC.

Why a Westsail

To Pioneer the Oceans To Live aboard the Sea To Weather the Storm To Reward Yourself To Get to Know Your Family To Live a Different Kind of Life No Matter What you Earn To Join the Westsail Family Powerful words that brought a new type of cruising sailboat to market in the early 1970s. For years it had been understood that sailboats were more an emotional purchase than a rational one. Yet most companies advertised facts and specifications, presuming that sailboat buyers were knowledgeable enough to translate the specifications into which boat fulfilled their dreams. Westsail made no such presumption and became the first company to put the facts about their boats and the emotional appeal of sailing together in sweet harmony. Boy, did they make a success of the concept. Over 1100 cruising sailboats were delivered in less than ten years.

I was asked to try to remember how Westsail started, and what my involvement was in the grand scheme of things, so I will try to put it down in this book. Especially since it has been over forty years since those days.