Willard 36 Aft Pilothouse?

[LowNSlow77]

I keep looking at this poor sad Willard and can't help but think it would be great if someone had the ability to bring it back from the sorry state it is in right now. Can't someone buy it and fix it up so it doesn't end up being abused any further?

1966 Willard 36 Aft Pilot House Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

I assume it is not one of the Vega 36 Pilothouse models and wonder what it started life as.

 

[DavidM]

That boat probably has zero or negative value as it sits. I would expect that EVERY system needs to be replaced. The interior needs to be gutted and redone from scratch.

That will cost much, much more than buying an equivalent functioning trawler. After finishing with this work you couldn't possibly sell it for what it cost to fix, even if you did all of the work yourself. If a yard did the work it would be astronomical.

Taking a chain saw to it is the only thing to do IMO.

David

 

[Nomad Willy]

I disagree Dave. You’re looking at it as if it were a GB or similar. And only if the hull dosn’t need stripping or similar.
Would you give $5K for the hull? Of course. Especially because it’s a FD trawler and the best hull ever. But that’s just my opinion.

This is probably not a boat to “repair”. Better to build a new boat using the old hull. But if some old hippie got ahold of her and low bucked her back (even w that cabin) that would work too.

She’s such an outstanding boat and so few left I’m fairly confident she’ll have a future.

 

[LowNSlow77]

Especially because it’s a FD trawler and the best hull ever. But that’s just my opinion.

Do you know which model this likely started as? It does not look like the original aft pilothouse Vega, but I am not familiar enough with Willard to identify the original model.

 

[Northern Spy]

I'll venture a guess that it is the one and only version of the Willard 36 motorsailer. Maybe the sailboat, but don't see remnants of chainplates. So motorsailer.

I base my decision on the remnants of the bow pulpit and bobstay plate you can clearly see.

 

[fryedaze]

I say we ship it to down under and let Hendo 78 have his way with her.

 

[Pack Mule]

Did Willard offer kit-boats like westsail did with just a hull or hull and deck? If the hull was decent and it had a poured lead or concrete ballast that was intact and I was 30 years younger I would jump on it for the challenge. I would cut the deck and deck house off and start over . That 36 is a great hull .

 

[Nomad Willy]

It was probably a sedan ... more of them were made.
But the deck drop amidships suggests a pilothouse.

Marty,
Willard sold numerous boats as just the hull. My wifi won’t let me see many pics so I’ve got little to go on. We need Brooksie.

fryedaze,
I thought of that too.

Spy,
Don’t recall any 36’ sailboats. Just the 30.

Just checked WBO. Willard boat owners on yahoo groups.
There were 29 sedans built, 6 PH models and 5 sailboats & one motorsailer.
Here is a link to WBO.
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/WillardBoatOwners/info
The site is down for maint so check back later if interested.

 

[LowNSlow77]

I was looking at pictures of a 36 Vega Pilothouse and looking at them side to side it is close but not quite. Still love the lines. If I was never pressed for time I think one of the Willard Pilothouse would be hard to resist.

 

[AusCan]

It is a bit unusual.
The advert says its a 1966 hull. According to this chart, there were five 36 foot motorsailers built in 1962-63 and a 40 footer built in 1977.

The 40 ft aft PH was built in 1966-69 but the one pic show portholes in the hull.

The gunwales on this one have a curve which is different from all of them.

It may be a bare hull that was sold to someone who never finished their project.

 

[BDidier]

$5k mystery Willard

We have the 1963 Willard 36' motorsailer, Spartan. We have the original yard checklist for Spartan and it refers to Spartan as 5-36, delivered in 1963 in Costa Mesa. Most anecdotal information would suggest Spartan might be the last of the series.

Underneath the aggressive changes there are a few things that make me think this started as a factory motorsailer. And what's '63 or '66 that's a lot of years ago. We have an engraved plastic factory build plate that could be original that calls it 5-36. 1963.

These are some of the things I recognize as common to our boat and this hull.

The bow sprit roots and bobstay fitting match, there are chainplates showing with turnbuckles in a view from the bow. The bronze chainplates on Spartan are internal, only some large bolt heads show on hull surface. There is a mizzen mast step and chain plates for an mizzen mast showing in the view of the yellowed plastic "windows". The cast aluminum step is very similar in appearance and location on the hull to Spartan's.

The engine room, layout and shelves to the side are typical to the motorsailer and are not like any other Willard model. The true aft pilot house model has an engine in a box half in the main cabin. The aft pilothouse model also has portlights in the hull into the main, midships cabin.

The front of the trunk house shape is the same as ours with forward facing windows built over.

The 3' wide companionway to the main salon still exists and the ladder under that shown looking aft in one shot matches.

At the head shots looking forward you can see the structure to support the original deck stepped main mast.

There are some shots of something that looks like a wide Vee Berth arrangement. That is the aft cabin, that is the least touched space internally.

The head to starboard has almost identical arrangement to our original layout. TP holder, lift counter top to right and the open cabinet work above the small round sink are the same

I think it's the boat once called Renaissance. There are 14 photos of that boat on the Willard Yahoo group. The reworked superstructure, fore deck, salon window rework are fairly recognizable. In the lineup of Willard boats in the Yacht World entry the motorsailer aerial view is the same boat, before the additions.

It would be interesting to know how the 1966 date was attached to her. Unfortunately there were no hull numbers molded in and no one at Willard now has the corporate memory intact enough to assist.

Tough to see in this condition, but those hulls are hell for stout and a hopeless romantic could do worse. If it is 1963, the concrete interior ballast is weighted with lead not steel or iron, and that is huge.

 

[BDidier]

LowNSlow77 This is one of the five factory motor sailors built through 1963, the 1966 date is not correct. My response at end of thread lays out some of the key evidence. there are a few other clues too. This is actually the boat that's shown in the aerial photo as the motor sailor example in the Willard type examples.

 

[BDidier]

It is a bit unusual.
The advert says its a 1966 hull. According to this chart, there were five 36 foot motorsailers built in 1962-63 and a 40 footer built in 1977.

The 40 ft aft PH was built in 1966-69 but the one pic show portholes in the hull.

The gunwales on this one have a curve which is different from all of them.

It may be a bare hull that was sold to someone who never finished their project.

Auscan, this is actually the motor sailor shown in the aerial photo as the example of the type. She'd fallen on rough times. Positive ID is possible via the Willard Yahoo group photo files that show both the aerial view and the conversion of the superstructure with sailing rig intact.