44 Motor Cruiser

The 44 Motor Cruiser marked Gulfstar’s entry into the modern motor yacht market when she was introduced back in 1978. Looks can be a little deceiving—while she looks a lot like a traditional motor yacht, she’s built on a full-displacement hull with a deep keel and relatively flat aftersections. In other words, she’s really a trawler with trawler-style speeds and performance. The two-stateroom, galley-down interior is arranged with a spacious master stateroom aft and stall showers in both head compartments. The salon, which is somewhat narrow due to the wide side decks, has a complete lower helm station with a nearby deck access door. A ladder leads down into the 44’s standup engine room, and a pump room forward separates the generator and air conditioning units from the motors. Topside, hardtop protects the aft deck from the elements, and wide side decks provide secure access to the foredeck. Twin 130hp Perkins diesels were standard, and 160hp Perkins turbos were optional although they added little to performance. At a hull speed of 8.5 knots the fuel burn is 5–6 gallons per hour. A total of 105 were built.