More of this Feature • Part 1: West Bay 58 • Part 2: West Bay 58 continued • West Bay 58 Specs • West Bay 58 Deck Plan • West Bay 58 Photo Gallery
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The only place you’ll feel exposed aboard the 58 is the flying bridge, and that’s by design, since the boat will no doubt be run from the lower station in deteriorated conditions. The helm is actually abaft midship, which puts a lot of boat in front of you. The cockpit overhang obscures most of the transom area, but that’s not unusual in this type of boat. The layout is simple: a centerline helm and single seat (a second helm chair is optional) with twin L-shape lounges aft to provide seating for eight. A stairway to the saloon lies to starboard, and there’s room for a wetbar with icemaker/refrigerator to port. The after third of the bridge deck is available for tender stowage (up to a 14-footer mounted athwartships), including a pad for an optional Nick Jackson davit.

Unlike many pilothouse boats, the 58’s lower station is the preferred operational venue. Well forward and well off the water, it has superb sightlines through the five-panel windshield (the three center ones have large wipers) and out large windows on either side. Visibility aft is almost as good, thanks to the open saloon/galley layout; only the extreme aft port quarter is obscured. There’s plenty of room for electronics. Our boat had the factory-installed package that includes a center-mounted OceanPC monitor flanked by a Furuno color depthsounder and radar monitor. There is no built-in helm seat, but there is a big chart area to port with a gooseneck lamp, chart drawers, and plenty of workspace.

Aft, the galley lies to port across from a large L-shape dinette. It’s U-shape and offers all the normal accoutrements and appliances, with one oddity: The dishwasher is on the forward side, facing the pilothouse, so you must walk around the forward leg to place the dishes in it.

At 12 feet by 12 feet and with more than seven-foot headroom, the saloon is big, but ours felt even bigger. That’s because new owners, who were about to take delivery of our test boat from Venwest Yachts of Seattle, West Bay’s Pacific Northwest distributor, had removed all the furniture so they could decorate it. About all that was left was the optional retractable television in an American cherry (like all the wood aboard) cabinet located forward and to starboard. It also contained the rest of the entertainment equipment. From the saloon, double doors lead out to the cockpit. Not only are they more solid than your typical sliding door, they have integral screens that roll out to either side when you don’t need them.

Below, everything forward of midship is accommodations. Our three-stateroom plan featured a large master amidships with centerline queen bed, a starboard side devoted to cherry built-ins, and an en suite head along the port side. Also en suite: a washer-dryer. Forward and to port is a midstateroom with bunks, then fully forward, a VIP that shares a starboard head with the other stateroom. At the foot of the pilothouse stairs, that head can also function as a day head.

Given the flat conditions on test day, there’s little I can say about the 58’s performance, other than she planes quickly for a 58,000-pound yacht and executes turns smartly. The Howard Apollonio-designed hull is available with or without propeller pockets; they save but four inches of draft (5'7" versus 6'1"), which is why most 58s–ours included–don’t have them.

This being a semicustom yacht, her standard equipment is purposely limited to give each owner wide latitude in customization. The list of options is long, and unlike most builders, West Bay offers entertainment equipment (18 items) and electronics (28 items) as groups. This makes it harder to compare prices (they’re also available individually), but ensures that you’re buying systems, not just components.

Our well-equipped 58 carried a price of less than $1.4 million, which considering her quality, construction, and seaworthiness, is an attractive figure. That, combined with West Bay’s limited production capacity, should ensure that each 58 maintains its value over the long haul.

Yet another form of security.

West Bay SonShip Phone: (604) 946-6226. Fax: (604) 946-8722. www.west-bay.com.

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