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Review of Gulfstar 43


Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Gulfstar 43 is a large sailboat designed in the early eighties. The Gulfstar 43 is built by the American yard Gulfstar Inc.

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Hull

The hull is made of fibreglass. Generally, a hull made of fibreglass requires only a minimum of maintenance during the sailing season.


Keel

Full keel

The Gulfstar 43 is equipped with a long keel. A full keel provide a better directional stability than a similar boat with a fin keel; on the other hand, better directional stability means also that the boat is more difficult to handle in a harbour with less space.

The boat can enter most marinas as the draft is just about 1.52 - 1.62 meter (4.99 - 5.29 ft) dependent on the load.


Engine

The boat may be equipped with an inboard Perkins diesel engine


Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 7.7 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.


Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Gulfstar 43 is 36%.

Low High 34% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 34% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) just below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Gulfstar 43 is 273 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 34% 0 50 100
34% of all similar sailboat designs are categorized as heavier. A heavy displacement combined with smaller water plane area has lower acceleration and is more comfortable.


SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)

What is SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio)?

The SA/D for Gulfstar 43 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 14.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.8.

Low High 4% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 4% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 73% 0 50 100
The Gulfstar 43 has more rig than 73% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is slightly overrigged.


Maintenance

Rig

Dimensions of sail.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

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If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.



Guiding dimensions of running rig
UsageLengthDiameter
Mainsail halyard 30.5 m(100.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard30.5 m(100.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker halyard30.5 m(100.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Jib sheet 13.1 m(43.0 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Genoa sheet13.1 m(43.0 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Mainsheet 32.8 m(107.5 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Spinnaker sheet28.8 m(94.6 feet)16 mm(5/8 inch)
Cunningham4.9 m(16.1 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Kickingstrap9.8 m(32.2 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Clew-outhaul9.8 m(32.2 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)

Boat owner's ideas

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

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Finally

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References