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Review of Gulfstar 41


Gulfstar 41
Gulfstar 41 anno 1973.

Basic specs.

sail specifications
The Gulfstar 41 is a large sailboat designed by the American maritime architect bureau Lazzara in the early seventies. A few hundred boats have been produced. The Gulfstar 41 is built by the American yard Gulfstar Inc.

Looking for a new boat? Find a Gulfstar 41 or similar boat for sale

Hull

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


Interior

The boat is equipped with 200.0 liter fresh water capacity.


Rig

The Gulfstar 41 is equipped with a masthead rig. The advantage of a masthead rig is its simplicity and the fact that a given sail area - compared with a fractional rig - can be carried lower and thus with less heeling moment.


Keel

Full keel

The Gulfstar 41 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 even shallow marinas as the draft is just about 1.49 - 1.59 meter (4.89 - 5.19 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.


Engine

Gulfstar 41 may be equipped with an inboard Perkins 4.108 diesel engine at 50 hp (37 kW). Calculated max speed is about 6.4 knots

The fuel tank has a capacity of 170.0 liters (44 US gallons, 37 imperial gallons).


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.

Stability and Safety

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Gulfstar 41 is 1.71, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.


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.


Immersion rate

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Gulfstar 41 is about 246 kg/cm, alternatively 1381 lbs/inch.
Meaning: if you load 246 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1381 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.


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.

Motion Comfort Ratio

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

The Motion Comfort Ratio for Gulfstar 41 is 34.8.

Low High 73% 0 50 100
Comparing this ratio with similar sailboats show that it is more comfortable than 73% of all similar sailboat designs. This comfort value is just above average.


L/B (Length Beam Ratio)

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

The l/b ratio for Gulfstar 41 is 3.42.

Wide Slim 62% 0 50 100
Compared with other similar sailboats it is slimmer than 62% of all other designs. It seems that the designer has chosen a slightly more speedy hull design.


Ballast Ratio

What is a Ballast Ratio?

The ballast ratio for Gulfstar 41 is 32%.

Low High 14% 0 50 100
This ballast ratio shows a righting moment that is higher than 14% of all similar sailboat designs. A righting moment (ability to resist heeling) significantly below average.


D/L (Displacement Length Ratio)

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

The DL-ratio for Gulfstar 41 is 273 which categorizes this boat among 'light crusers & offshore racers'.

Heavy Light 38% 0 50 100
38% 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 41 with ISO 8666 reference sail is 14.1, with a 135% genua the SA/D is 16.8.

Low High 12% 0 50 100
The SA/D ratio indicates that it is faster than 12% of all similar sailboat designs in light wind.


Over- / underrigged

Low High 90% 0 50 100
The Gulfstar 41 has more rig than 90% of all similar sailboats, which indicates that the boat is significantly overrigged.


Maintenance

Bottom Paint

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 39m2 (419 ft2).
Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

Note: If you use a paint roller you will need more paint than if you use a paintbrush.


Rig

Dimensions of sail for masthead rig.

mainsail specifications headsail specifications

Are your sails worn out? You might find your next sail here: Sails for Sale



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)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib/genoa halyard30.5 m(100.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Spinnaker halyard30.5 m(100.0 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Jib sheet 12.5 m(41.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Genoa sheet12.5 m(41.0 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Mainsheet 31.2 m(102.5 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Spinnaker sheet27.5 m(90.2 feet)14 mm(0.55 inch)
Cunningham4.9 m(16.1 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Kickingstrap9.8 m(32.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 inch)
Clew-outhaul9.8 m(32.2 feet)12 mm(1/2 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.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.



Finally

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Gulfstar 41 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us. Criticism helps us to improve.



References