Gulfstar 47 Sailmaster Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Lineage

Lazzara was a figure with deep roots in fiberglass production sailing yachts, having worked at Columbia Yachts in the 1960s before founding Irwin Yachts and later starting Gulfstar in 1970. The Sailmaster 47 was among the first models to reflect Gulfstar's late-1970s move into better materials and craftsmanship, sitting alongside the Gulfstar 50 and Gulfstar 60 in that upgraded generation. Unlike many motorsailers of the period that read as powerboats with a mast stuck aboard, the Sailmaster 47 was one of the few that carried decent sailing characteristics while keeping a cruiser's profile.

Performance and Ratios

The numbers behind the boat tell a moderate, ballast-steady story. With a displacement-to-length ratio of 255.7 the design sits in the moderate category, while a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 13.1 is on the low end of the scale — more a reflection of her motorsailer brief than a racer's agenda. A ballast ratio of 27.6 percent is slightly below average, yet a ballast-to-displacement figure of 2.5 is fairly high, giving her a reassuringly weighted feel for offshore passage work. Writing in Cruising World, one reviewer noted her powerful Perkins diesel pushes her at 8 knots or more when the breeze fades.

Rig and Handling

Buyers could choose between a sloop and a ketch configuration. The sloop carried a single mast with a mainsail and a genoa or jib on the forestay, while the ketch set a mainsail on the mainmast and a mizzen on the mizzenmast, again with a genoa or jib forward. The large cockpit came with wheel steering, engine controls, instruments, and seating for six, a layout that supports companionable helming without feeling oversized for a couple.

Accommodations

One of the Sailmaster 47's defining moves was her raised salon, an early example of that format, which opened panoramic views from the main cabin and lifted headroom through the interior. The standard arrangement held three staterooms: a forward cabin and an aft cabin, each with an ensuite head and shower, plus an amidships stateroom with upper and lower berths, for six berths in total. The alternative layout traded the third stateroom for a larger salon with a U-shaped dinette and settee, raising capacity to eight berths. Both forward and aft staterooms were fitted with queen-sized beds, drawers and lockers beneath, hanging lockers, shelves, cabinets, and vanity tables; the amidships cabin made do with upper and lower singles and similar storage. A spacious galley with ample counter and stowage space, a navigation station with a large chart table, and a wraparound settee around a big table completed the social core, while a swim platform with ladder and transom door eased water access.

The Verdict

The Gulfstar Sailmaster 47 is a limited-production motorsailer that aged well against the genre's usual compromises, offering real sailing ability, a pioneering raised-salon interior, and a robust diesel backbone in a short, well-defined build window.

Pros