Sealine F43 Flybridge, a Used Buyer's Guide

Which Sealine F43 are we talking about?

Search for the Sealine F43 and you will hit three different things: this boat, the much newer Hanse-built Sealine F430, and a lot of unrelated results for "f43.2" and "f 43" that have nothing to do with yachts. This page covers the original Sealine F43, a 43 ft 5 in flybridge motor yacht built at Sealine's yard in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. It appears in Sealine's model list on the company website from 2002 to 2004 and in the October 2005 brochure, alongside the F33, F37, F42/5 and the T-series motor yachts. By the 2008 lineup it was gone, with the F42 in its place.

The F430 is a separate design. After Sealine went into administration in 2013, Germany's HanseYachts bought the brand and appointed British naval architect Bill Dixon to draw every new Sealine. The C430 coupe debuted at Southampton in September 2017 and the flybridge F430 followed in 2018, at 44 ft 4 in with Volvo Penta IPS 500 or IPS 600 pods. If a listing says F430 and has joystick pods, it is the Hanse boat, not the one described here.

Built in Kidderminster during the Brunswick years

Sealine was founded in 1972 by aircraft engineer Tom Murrant, and by the 1990s it had entered the US market and become one of Britain's big four motorboat builders alongside Fairline, Sunseeker and Princess. In 1998 the founders sold to an investor group led by Gerard Wainwright, and three years later Brunswick Corporation bought the company for a reported $68 million. Brunswick widened the range upward, culminating in the T60 of 2004, and the F43 sits in that period.

That matters to US buyers for two reasons. First, Brunswick ownership meant Sealines were sold through American dealers and some were delivered with US-specific equipment, though many boats on the market today were built for Europe with 220 volt systems. Second, the brand's later history was rough: Brunswick sold Sealine in 2011, the company went into administration in April 2013 and the Kidderminster yard closed. There is no factory support for an F43 today, so parts and know-how come from Volvo Penta dealers and independent yards.

An aft master suite, two helms and a mid-cabin option

The F43's layout is its main selling point. Instead of a forward master, the owner's cabin sits aft under the cockpit with a centerline double berth, a wardrobe to port, a full-length mirror, opening portholes and a window looking onto the bathing platform. It has its own en suite with a toilet and a separate shower compartment with automatic drain pump. Forward is a second double cabin with its own en suite, which also serves as the day head.

Between them, buyers could specify a mid cabin with a double or twin berths, wardrobe and porthole, making the boat a three-cabin, two-head yacht in 43 feet. The main deck has a U-shaped dinette, a galley with a 70/30 sink, Corian counters and a gas oven, grill and three-burner stove, and a saloon with a U-shaped settee to starboard and a two-seat sofa to port. A lower helm with twin seat, chart table, Raymarine ST60 instruments and a VHF sits forward, so you can run the boat from inside in poor weather.

Headroom is quoted at 6 ft 2 in. That is fine for most owners, but taller buyers should stand in every cabin and the showers before getting serious.

• Forward cabin: double berth with storage below, en suite, overhead hatch and two opening portholes
• Optional mid cabin: double or twin berths
• Aft master: centerline double, en suite with separate shower, window to bathing platform
• Galley: gas cooking as standard, which many US owners convert to electric

Cockpit, bathing platform and flybridge

The cockpit is teak-laid and self-draining with U-shaped seating, a table stowed under the flybridge overhang, a curved sliding glass door to the saloon and a transom door to port. A hatch in the cockpit leads down to the aft cabin, and moulded stairs with teak treads climb to the flybridge. The bathing platform is also teak with built-in fender storage, a swim ladder and a hot and cold transom shower.

Up top, the standard bridge has a twin helm seat behind a curved tinted windscreen, L-shaped seating with storage below, a sunbed, a radar mast and speakers linked to the saloon stereo. Access to the cockpit is through a sliding hatch. The upper helm was basic as delivered, with a compass, engine instruments, a rudder angle indicator and single-lever controls, so most surviving boats have had electronics added by previous owners. Check how neatly that was done.

Volvo diesels and what speed to expect

Sealine's 2005 specification lists three twin-engine Volvo Penta packages: the D6-370 at 370 hp, the TAMD74L EDC at 430 hp and the TAMD75 EDC at 480 hp. The factory estimated 28 to 30 knots with the D6s, 30 to 32 knots with the 430s and 31 to 33 knots with the 480s. Those are builder estimates for a lightly loaded boat with a dry weight of 10,500 kg (about 23,150 lb). We could not find an independent instrumented test of the F43 with a fuel curve, so we do not publish a cruise fuel figure.

In practical terms, plan on a fast cruise in the low to mid 20s of knots with any of the packages, and budget fuel accordingly. Earlier boats may carry other Volvo engines, since the 2002 to 2004 website predates the D6, so confirm the engine model and serial numbers on any boat you inspect. The TAMD74 and TAMD75 are older electronic diesels with good reputations but aging parts support; the common-rail D6 is newer but more complex.

Fuel is carried in two marine-grade aluminum tanks of 567 liters each, 1,134 liters in total. Sealine's British brochure gives that as 2 x 125 gallons, which are imperial gallons; in US gallons the boat carries about 300. Water is 454 liters, about 120 US gallons, in a stainless tank.

Owning a European-spec F43 in the United States

Standard electrics were 220 volt AC with a 12 volt DC system, a 45 amp charger, three 165 Ah batteries, a calorifier with immersion heater and a gas bottle locker for the galley. On a European boat, that means either a shore power isolation transformer and step-up arrangement, or a proper conversion to US 120/240 volt service, plus attention to the gas installation. None of this is unusual, but it costs money and a surveyor should look at it closely.

Also check the boat's registration and VAT history if buying abroad, and the import duty and documentation steps for bringing it into the US. A cheaper F43 in the UK can end up costing more than a domestic boat once shipping, duty and electrical work are added.

Sealine F43 values and how to judge a good one

With the newest boats now about 20 years old, condition matters more than year. A well-kept F43 with documented engine service, a sound teak deck, clear canvas and modern electronics is worth considerably more than a tired boat with original electronics and a weathered bridge. We estimate typical US asking prices at roughly $140,000 to $260,000, though many good boats are in Europe and priced in euros or pounds.

Running costs, excluding depreciation, should be planned at about $30,000 to $55,000 a year for a slip, insurance, haul-out, diesel servicing and routine refit items. Older yachts of this type often need teak recaulking, canvas, window seals and generator work in the first few seasons of new ownership, so hold back a refit reserve.