[Lindsay Turvey]

I couldn’t find any Data on the Gitana 43 designed by Oswald Berckemeyer. It is said 20 hulls were built in South Africa.
As an owner of a Gitana 43 (since December 2000), I’m keen to see it included in the Sailboat Data site.
I Spoke with the designer before he passed. Oswald told me he designed the Gitana 43 as a fast, easily handled and comfortable ocean cruiser for a young family. Originally designed as a Schooner, only one still has the Schooner rig. The others I know of are cutter rigged sloops.
Here is some data relating to my Gitana 43:

• Length; 43 ft / 13 m
• Construction; Fibreglass Hull, wooden decks and fitout.
• Designer; Oswald Berckemeyer
• Class; Gitana 43
• Weight; 13 Ton
• Draught; 6 foot /2.1 meters
• Rig; Schooner/Cutter Rig Sloop, Aluminum Spars
• Keel; Fin with stainless steel bolts
• Rudder; Spade – Balanced
  Here is a link to my blogspot web page for “Blue Heron”; http://yachtblueheron.blogspot.com/2007/04/introducing-blue-heron.html

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[Bruce_Sailboatdata]

Hello Lindsay, thanks for posting! We’d love to include the Gitana 43 in our database but we are having trouble finding what we would consider is verified information. For example, we found specs posted on another Gitana 43 which states the LOA is 13.1m, draft is 2.2m. Seemingly small differences but we strive for accuracy. (It also states a beam of 3.87m.). If you happen to have any more detailed information you would like to share, perhaps from a manual, brochure, review, book, etc, please feel free to contact us.
BTW, we also love the pic of Blue Heron. We’d include that in the record as well if that’s okay with you.

[Author]

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