Rhapsody 43 Royal, ZIROCCO

Broker’s Comments

A long distance cruiser in a class of its own.

The Rhapsody 43 Royal is specially designed, calculated and built to sail on the high seas. The technical description shows the hull’s strength, torsional stiffness, stability and sailing characteristics.

The yacht is designed by Göran Dahlström who is known for designing sailing yachts with very good cruising characteristics when sailing windwards. The sail plan is carefully calculated for the yacht’s length, width and displacement and therefore the rig is calculated with a mainsail of 44 square meters and a jib of 45 square meters. This results in very good height-taking ability and at the same time is easy to handle for single handed or small crews. In addition, the yacht is equipped with both Code Zero and spinnaker for downwind sailing.

Göran Dahlström is also known for being very careful that materials and craftsmanship in every detail should be suitable for the purpose of the yacht. He has written a book about his various yacht designs and the 43 is described in detail with sketches, calculations and objectives to get a sleek, strong and rigid hull. He emphasizes that the Rhapsody 43 must meet the expectations of those who appreciate ‘real’ sailing.

At his boatyard in Karlshamn in southern Sweden, sailing yachts of various sizes were built during the 80s and early 90s, but the 43 was only built in 4 copies and ZIROCCO is the 3rd yacht. The yachts were built to order, so layout and equipment may vary.

ZIROCCO has a forward and an aft cabin, both with a double berth and each with its own toilet. The forward cabin also has an upper berth and there is an extra cushion to add to the port sofa in the saloon, so it can become an extra berth. That gives a total of 6 berths on board.

Two companionways lead down below the deck! Yes, on the low superstructure there is a small cockpit just aft of amidships with direct access to the navigation table and saloon. The main cockpit with steering wheel, engine controls, table and benches and large sprayhood is located at the far end. It is very common on yachts of this type but one important thing sets ZIROCCO apart from most others. Here there is also a companionway from the main cockpit with direct access down to the aft cabin. It will be much safer and drier for the crew to be able to get up and down from the main cockpit without having to go on deck.

The current owner bought the yacht in 2011 and planned, among other things, for Atlantic sailing. Therefore, from 2012-2017, the yacht received a comprehensive refit and upgrade to modern standards of equipment on board. (see ‘Key Facts’ for the biggest upgrades). They then sailed the ARC in 2018 and spent the next two years sailing in the Caribbean and the US East Coast. The pandemic caused them to sail back to Europe in 2020 and have since been sailing in the Mediterranean.

ZIROCCO is 34 years old and it is unusual for a yacht of that age to be so upgraded to modern standards and so well maintained that she can be compared to a yacht that is only maybe 7-8 years old. Based on a balance of all these factors with the extensive and well throughout equipment, our assessment is that ZIROCCO is in excellent condition.

Key Facts

• Classic solid built offshore cruiser with excellent sailing characteristics.
• The Royal version with lead keel, hydraulic system, satin varnished teak interior.
• Upgraded to modern standards (2012-2017).
• Epoxy treated, 5 layers (2017).
• Aft and forward cabin, both with double berth and private head. A total of 6 berths including extra berths in forward cabin and saloon.
• Two companionways from deck, one directly from cockpit.
• Standing rigging has been changed to Dyform (2017) and professionally checked (2023).
• All halyards in Dynema (2017).
• Fully battened main sail and jib, tri-radial Hydranet (2013), Code Zero (2018), Stay sail (2019).
• Single line reefing system for the main sail, operated from the cockpit.
• Engine, Volvo Penta D2-55 (2017) and after a thorough refit (2023) as in new condition.
• Propeller shaft and 4-bladed propeller (2017).
• Electrical system upgraded with various parts from (2014 to 2020).
• B&G electronics throughout.
• Hydraulic system for anchor windlass and 2 x winches.
• Hydraulic system flushed and new hydraulic oil (2024).
• Teak deck in good condition, refurbished with new caulking (2021).
• Heating system, Wallas 40 Dt 4000 W (2015).
• Dinghy, AB Lammina 9 UL Hypalon with aluminium bottom, 4 x persons (2020).
• Outboard motor, Yamaha F6, four stroke motor, 6 hp (2017).
• Updated good set of safety equipment.
• Lithium domestic/ service battery, 24V/ 200Ah, recharging at up to 100A.

Owner’s Comments

In 2010 our kids had grown up and we decided to look for an offshore cruiser that had been our dream for a long time. In the 1980s we had sailed most of Sweden east coast and Stockholm archipelago in our A22 (22 Square meter rule) and now wanted to go for an extended cruising.

We loved the classic offshore style of yachts from the 80s/90s and started searching for such a yacht to rebuild for shorthanded ocean cruising. After sailing an A22 for many years we wanted a yacht with excellent sailing properties that was also ocean going.

In 2011 we found the perfect yacht for our plans, a Rhapsody 43 launched 1990. Rhapsody Yachts with Göran Dahlström had a solid reputation of building sailors’ yachts with great sailing performance. We did an extensive investigation of the yacht and found that the hull, rigg and interior were of great quality, but found most equipment obsolete.

We decided to buy the yacht and made a 5-year plan for a refit and update of the yacht for our plans to leave Sweden and sail south. We were about to downscale our consultancy business and had time to spend on a refit.

Over the next years we sailed extensively in the Baltic Sea in the summers and in the winters, we worked on the yacht. We refurbished the teak deck with new caulking, toilet system, hydraulic system, LPG system and more. We invested in new sails, new deck hardware, new engine, new B&G electronics added an aft companionway and much more to be found in the specification.

In 2017 we sold our house and finally started our extended cruising. We spent one year sailing down to Portugal and sailing eastern Mediterranean. 2018 we joined ARC for a transatlantic crossing via Gran Canaria and Cape Verde. We spent two years sailing the Caribbean, Bahamas and US east coast.

In 2020 we were sailing the Caribbean down to Trinidad to leave the boat for the hurricane season then Covid started to lock down the world. We were stranded at Antigua when all countries in the Caribbean closed their borders. After 3 months we gave up and decided to sail home to Europe joining the ‘OCC Atlantic Crossing West to East’ Facebook group. Some 300 yachts migrated at the same time home to their countries from Caribbean to Europe in May/June sharing positions on Facebook.

We have been through many adventures in our sailing years. The most memorable is all wonderful sailing in the Caribbean and Bahamas, a thunderstorm outside Georgia US, hard weather sailing from the Azores to Lagos Portugal, meeting a lot of interesting people and much more.

The yacht has fulfilled our requirements as a safe and good sailing yacht in all conditions, especially good at beating. She is easily handled by a crew of two or even single handed. The well protected cockpit with its sprayhood and companionway directly down to the aft cockpit makes her very safe in hard weather. The single line reefing system and control lines led aft to cockpit means that we never have to leave cockpit in bad weather.

It also doesn’t hurt that we often get comments in marinas that she is a good-looking yacht.

Sadly, we are getting older and have to give up owning our own yacht. We reluctantly sell her and will miss her a lot but now it is time to pass her to a new owner.