Gulfstar Yachts was a large manufacturer of fiberglass sailboats and powerboats built in the Tampa Bay, Florida area from 1970 until 1990 when the Viking Yachts purchased the company's assets.[1] Vince Lazzara, one of pioneers of fiberglass sailboat construction, founded the company. Lazzara had previously been one of the founders of Columbia Yachts.[2] They produced both power from 36 to 72 feet and sailboats from 36 to 63.[3]
History edit
In 1970, Vince Lazzara emerged from a two-year non-compete clause, which had prevented his building fiberglass monohull power and sailboats. He had signed this clause when he sold his share in Columbia Yachts and had been biding his time by building houseboats. Immediately after the non-compete clause expired, Lazzara founded Gulfstar Yachts in the Tampa Bay area. He began building low-priced, low-quality, beamy boats. The hulls were even interchangeable as sailboats or trawlers, which minimized production costs. In the mid-1970s, Gulfstar was losing market share. Lazzara, not wanting to leave a legacy as a producer of poor quality yachts reorganized the company, contracted Ted Hood for a number of models and began to produce high-quality, performance yachts also updating and expanding its Sailmaster series. In 1984, Gulfstar began producing the Sailcruiser twin engine motorsailor series, producing yachts rivaling that of the best production yachts of the late 70s and mid 80s The early and mid 80's are now considered Gulfstar's 'Golden Era' of yacht production. By the mid-1980s, as sons Richard and Brad (powerboat fans) became more involved in Gulfstar, their production shifted towards powerboats and away from the performance sailboats. During the mid-1980s, Gulfstar also produced a number of performance sailing yachts for the CSY charter boat fleet in the Caribbean.
In 1986, Gulfstar and Viking Yachts, a powerboat manufacturer, started talking about a merger. In 1990, Viking purchased Gulfstar's assets.[1]
Sail edit
| Model | Designer | Notes |
| 61MS | Lazzara | motorsailor |
| 60AUX | R.C. Lazzara | performance auxiliary sailboat |
| 54SC | Lazzara | sailcruiser |
| 53MS | Lazzara | motorsailor |
| 52IND | Lazzara | 52 Independence |
| 50AUX | Vince Lazzara | performance sailboat, comes in Mark II version, sloop/ketch, and two/three staterooms [2] |
| 48HOOD | Ted Hood | performance sailboat |
| 47SM | Vince Lazzara | sailmaster motorsailor |
| 45Hirsh | R.C. Lazzara | sailcruiser, performance auxiliary (built by Hirsh using purchased Gulfstar 44 plans) |
| 44AUX | R.C. Lazzara | performance sailboat, comes in Mark I,II versions [3] |
| Gulfstar 43 | Vince Lazzara | comes in Mark I, II versions [3] |
| 41AUX | Vince Lazzara | performance sailboat, start of sailing tradition in 1973 [3] |
| 40HOOD | Ted Hood | performance sailboat |
| 50SM | Vince Lazzara | Sailmaster - performance motorsailor |
| 40SM | R.C. Lazzara | Sailmaster center cockpit--performance motorsailor, 1981-82, same hull as 39SM, 12 hulls, primarily for the bareboat charter company, Moorings. |
| 39SM | R.C. Lazzara | Sailmaster - performance motorsailor, 1981-82, 60 hulls. |
| 36AUX | Vince Lazzara | aft cockpit from 1984 [3] |
| 36MS | Vince Lazzara | motorsailor |
Power edit
| Model | Designer | Notes |
| GS72 | Lazzara | motoryacht 1987-90 6 hulls |
| GS65 | Lazzara | motoryacht, extended aft deck 1987-91 6 hulls |
| GS63MY | Lazzara | motoryacht, 1987-90 28 hulls |
| GS57 | Lazzara | motoryacht 1990 3 hulls |
| GS55MY | Lazzara | Viking 55 motoryacht, 1987-90 35 hulls |
| GS53TRW | Lazzara | trawler, same hull as 53MS, 10 hulls from 1975-1976 [3] |
| GS49MY | Lazzara | motoryacht, late 1980s, Mark I and II versions |
| GS48MY | Lazzara | motoryacht, 1981-82 23 hulls |
| GS44MY | Vince Lazzara | motoryacht, Mrk I 1985 Mrk II 1986 Mrk III 1987 Mrk IV 1988 |
| GS44MC | Lazzara | motor cruiser 1975-80 90 hulls |
| GS43TRW | Vince Lazzara | trawler, Mrk I 1973-74 Mrk II 1975-77 |
| GS38MC | Vince Lazzara | motor cruiser, 1980-84 30 hulls |
| GS36TRW | Vince Lazzara | trawler, Mrk I 1972-73 Mrk II (98) 1975-76 (35)same hull as MS36 |
See also edit
References edit
External links edit
- GulfstarOC.org - an owners' club
- GulfstarOwnersClub.com - another owners' club with a library of information about models