Gulfstar Yachts for Sale

Gulfstar built in the Tampa Bay area of Florida from 1970 until 1990 and covered an enormous amount of ground: sailboats from 36 to 63 feet and power from 36 to 72. The first boats were cheap, beamy and built to a price, with hulls that could go out of the shed as either a sailboat or a trawler. From 1974 the yard also built private label boats for the charter fleets, CSY, The Moorings and Bahamas Yachting Services among them, and from 1977 it added motor yachts. In the mid 1970s Lazzara reorganised, brought in Ted Hood for several models and moved upmarket, and the early to mid 1980s are generally treated as the good years. Sailboat production stopped in 1987 and Viking bought the assets in 1990.

That history is the whole used buying argument, because a Gulfstar from 1972 and a Gulfstar from 1984 are not the same product. Early boats used Formica interiors and iron set in a concrete slurry for ballast, and decks went together without proper sealing or backing plates under the hardware, which is still biting owners today. By 1975 the yard had gone to lead ballast and teak joinery, and by 1978 the workmanship was much improved. One flaw runs across the middle years: to stretch resin during the oil embargo Lazzara pushed the glass to resin ratio up, and boats from that period into the mid 1980s are known for blistering. There is no factory and no warranty behind any of them now, so budget for a full bottom inspection, lift the deck hardware, and check the ballast. See also [Viking](/viking-yachts-for-sale/) and [Lazzara](/lazzara-yachts-for-sale/).