Ocean Yachts 44 Buying

In a 33 y.o. yacht the most important/ relevant opinions are yours of the sea trial and fit and finish and the surveyor's. What someone's opinion of the new boat was 30 years ago doesn't mean much. If she was treated right she may be far better that a more respected brand that wasn't and if she was treated poorly she may be worse than an inferior brand that was properly maintained.
I used to run a 43 with Yanmars back and forth from NY to Miami. We averaged 23 gph and ran at 29 kts., but that's not too relevant since yours has 6-71s. Hull shape though will be about the same and what I found is that she's built for speed , light with a narrow transom. The result of that is she doesn't like quartering seas and tended to slap against a small chop. But I also had her out where I was looking up at the wave tops from the helm (14'+) and she got me home each time, but I worked hard keeping her straight. I once followed another 43 out of Hilton Head who was running on autopilot in those seas. His mate was hanging off the stern chumming as first I was looking at his transom and next his bow rail until I suggested he run manually.

I'd expect you to deal with a short spaced chop there like we do in Long Island Sound (in the ocean waves tend to be more spaced) which means she'll slap under the hull a bit, but you can mitigate that by adjusting speed. We were running hard. Time was more important than comfort. I think you might find a different hull such as a Bertram from the same era more comfortable but not as fast. SF are a purpose built boat designed as a fishing platform for getting to the fishing grounds fast, then for trolling and backing down on fish. Is that your intention (game fishing)? Otherwise there might be other boats more designed for your type of usage.

I have a 87 44 with 6-71s, love the boat. I have had mine in nasty beam seas and pretty significant seas on the nose and stern and have no concerns with her sea capabilities. I love everything about the boat except she is a little noisy due to the exhaust. My fuel burn is far greater than what NYCAP123 experienced. When I cruise at 18 kts I burn about 30 gph and at 8 kts I burn 5 gph total.

That sounds about right for those motors. Yanmars are sippers. The one I ran was about a 2000 and I'm sure by then they lightened them up and maybe even narrowed the transom. I too loved running that boat. She handled head seas fine. It was the small chop (around 2') that banged under the hull. As I mentioned the only issue I had was with quartering seas and that was just the nature of the beast; very light, narrow transom. So a quartering sea would push it around. A trade off for more speed.

I have spent a fair amount of time on a 42 uni and I would say my 44 compares favorably to the 42. If there are any significant differences it would be at speeds higher than 22 kts where the dead rise of the 42 may offer an advantage in certain sea conditions.

I have an 1986 44 SS with 671 ti's. I love the boat and only big concern is she yaws quite a bit in a following sea but as long as I keep the trim tabs tucked up tight she seems to do ok. I also agree with the 30GPH at 18 Kts.

That's the narrow, light transom. It pays to keep one eye over your shoulder in a following sea, and the autopilot off.

I couldn’t agree more

I have a 1990 44 SS with 671TIB Detroits and love it. Engines a bit loud but also kind of bad ass and that's why they call them the Harley of the water. I mostly boat in smaller chop and she does pretty well. Been on several trips in the Great Lakes as well and no issues but have also been lucky and never caught in mammoth waves. I get a ton of compliments of her lines and the teak look. Super happy with it after three years of owning. Original manual says 24gph at 2150 RPMs but after 30 years of running I think 30 gph is probably more realistic. She still can run at 28.5 knots WOT but I only hit that about once a year to clean her out for a few. My salon also seems bigger then my friends with slightly bigger boats which is a bonus. Good luck on your search. Hit me up if you have any more questions.

I owned my 44 for 12 yrs. Great boat and great layout. Like Matt said, with the galley down the salon is equal to a 55 footer.