1977 Westsail 43 Factory, 119 000 USD

Katura is a factory-finished and excellently maintained example of this ideal cruising boat. Her current owners spent three years, 2013 to 2016, stripping her to the bones for a complete refit at serious expense. Every tank was replaced: two custom aluminum fuel tanks totaling 200 gallons, four new 40-gallon water tanks, and an 80-gallon fiberglass holding tank. A new electrical panel, new wiring, new hoses, and every through-hull serviced. The rudder has been rebuilt with a new core. The mast step is now solid glass. Hull, topsides, and deck are Awlgrip. She never had teak decks, and she looks near new now.

She came to these owners right off a Seattle to South Pacific cruise, where she was found for sale in Australia; shipped to Vancouver and trucked to Holland, Michigan, in 2001. Since then she has lived in fresh water, sailed about four months a year, and spent the other eight under full covers down to the waterline. You will find no trace of her saltwater years. Bilges are clean, lockers are clean, the stainless shines, and she smells like a new boat.

Below is a traditional teak interior with exposed deck beams and 6'3" headroom. Varnish is in good to excellent shape. The real teak and holly sole is a quality feature above common plywood veneers. All upholstery and foam were new at refit. The bronze portlights were pulled, polished, and rebedded with new glass and custom bronze screens, plus screens on the hatches too. Five large deck prisms bring real daylight below. She has large bookshelves with room for a proper library. There is storage everywhere, and then even more storage under the storage; every cabinet locks and latches, and many have their own lights. Lee boards on the saloon berths make them proper sea berths. Red and white lighting, oil lamps, and a handy cabinet by the companionway provide dry, quick-access gear. She has a large workbench setup forward with tool cabinets (with lights in them!) and another workbench by the engine room for quick small jobs. The engine room itself is a crawl-in with good access all around, and ample lighting from a prism and LED.

On deck she carries a new 2026 Lofrans Tigress windlass, 60 lb and 45 lb CQRs with 300' of 3/8 BBB chain, dodger, bimini, and spray panels. Solar is mounted on tilting arms to chase the sun angle. Garmin electronics include the GPSMAP 741XS, GMR18HD radar, GHP12 autopilot, and SiriusXM weather. A Monitor windvane, stored off the boat, comes with her. The backstay is already insulated as an SSB antenna if you want to add a radio.

Sails: the main is still very nice. The jib and staysail are older but the cloth is good. Canvas is good throughout.

For power, she has the highly regarded and eminently reliable Perkins 4-236—original and running like a top, and with continued proper care it always will. Parts are abundant and economical too.

The design’s reputation speaks for itself. Only 61 Westsail 43s were completed, all on the hull Crealock drew as a no-compromise passagemaker. She has a Ted Brewer comfort ratio of 44.16 and a capsize screening value of 1.65, numbers that put her firmly in serious offshore territory. Full keel, 31,500 lbs, cutter rig with small, manageable sails. She can take the ground without drama, carries a load without complaint, and her 62.5' air draft clears the ICW bridges.

If your plan is coastal exploring with bluewater legs between the good places, and you want to leave this season instead of in three years, this is the boat.

Contact me for more info or to get your offer in today — #####@bviyachtsales.com