Macwester Malin [1977]

Searching for a large bilge-keel motorsailer like a Westerly Pentland, Berwick, or Renown, but just can’t find a find a good one?

Me neither. Personally, I found the earlier Westerlys to be predominantly ugly and usually pretty tired. There really isn’t much in the way of choice if you’re looking for a 30ft+ bilge-keel / twin-keel / triple-keel yacht, with a budget of less than £30k. We ended-up choosing a Macwester Malin …the best example we could track down.

The Macwester Malin was the replacement for the Macwester Wight Mk II. There were a number of Macwester Wights and Malins for sale in the UK, but we had to go to the Netherlands to find a good ‘un. She’s a 32ft, 6-berth, GRP, bilge-keel yacht with a centre cockpit and aft cabin. The twin-keel arrangement is ideally suited to the East Coast of the UK, as it allows the yacht to stand upright [level] in drying harbours, and gives easy access for hull maintenance, as well as being much easier to store ashore than a fin or long keel.

Our Malin has a particularly practical and efficient layout spread across five living spaces. Four of these spaces run the full length of the boat and are useable no matter the weather outside.

1) Well-proportioned v-cabin in bow [sleeps 2]
2) Main cabin with galley, heads, and eating area [sleeps 2]
3) Fully-enclosed canopy covering cockpit with seating for 6 & wheel steering
4) Good-sized aft cabin [sleeps 2]
5) Deck space at bow and stern for fishing and dangling

If you want to see more, take a look at the living spaces diagram that I created here

Take note that not all Macwester Malins have been as well maintained as ours. Typically the others that we viewed [along with Wights] had smokey old BMC engines, coupled with well-used fixtures & fittings. Our boat has been upgraded with replacements & additions such as a new engine, and a bow thruster …and therefore is in very good condition. She’s heavily built with good quality materials – for example, the hull has been extensively, professionally reconditioned. She feels solid like a baby ship, where most small yachts feel like more like floating caravans.

As a more substantial yacht, she comes into her own when the wind picks-up a bit, just as lighter yachts become twitchy. This means that if you’re unfortunate enough to be caught out, you should be better placed than you would be in a lighter boat of the same size. Additionally, as a motorsailer, her new Lombardini diesel engine has enough grunt to remain useful in adverse weather conditions.

I plan to update this text and add pictures after we’ve made further improvements over the season.