BAHATI, a Montevideo 43’, is a center cockpit cutter built in 1988 by Fred Shultz in Durban, South Africa. It is difficult to find information on these boats, but we were able to recently speak with Angelo Lavranos himself (who designed the rig), who is currently in New Zealand (as are we!). He informed us that she was designed by the original boatbuilder (Fred Scholtz) with the aid of an engineer friend of his ( see original line drawing). In Lavranos' opinion the hull has more than a passing resemblance to a Doug Petersen hull of that era. As far as we can figure, about 50 of these strong hand-laid fiberglass blue water sailing vessels were built between 1978 and 1988.

Lavranos designed the original rig for the boat and gave some ballasting advice. His own design, the Compass 47 was competing in the marketplace with the Monte and Scholtz was also building another design of his, the Tosca 36. At a later stage, the moulds passed to John Robertson Yachts, and Lavranos specified a sandwich hull laminate for them. Years later, Lavranos did a shallower "wingbulb" keel for a 3rd builder, MedMarine, who by then called her the Monte Carlo 43.

The keels were all (solid laminate) moulded fins, as part of the hullmoulding. The lead was then internally installed and glassed in place. Finally the transverse keel webs (floors) and mast step were glassed in to support everything. It is all solid fiberglass, so there are no keel-bolts.

BAHATI, which means “Good Fortune” in Swahili, was originally called WHISPER and was sailed by her first owners east-wise round the world and back to South Africa and then west-wise across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and north to Annapolis where she was sold in 2001 to Bob and Karen Witzel of Vancouver. They refit the boat (including the current in-boom furling system by Pro-Furl and all new standing rigging replaced by Steve Madden, the same rigger who had originally commissioned her in South Africa and is now based in Annapolis.) Steve told us when we met at Port Annapolis Marina, “If I were to pick an ideal boat for long-distance ocean cruising it would be the Montevideo!” He remembered her well from her early days in Durban and showed us records he has kept from the first re-rig he did for her original owners on 1998.

Bob and Karen Witzel, her second owners, renamed her BAHATI and joyfully sailed her for 4 years on a circumnavigation of the Caribbean visiting ports from the Virgin Islands to Venezuela, Columbia, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. We still have their large scale chart of the Caribbean with their clockwise route inked-in pinned to our salon bulkhead as a talisman for our own voyage. Bob has inspired us with his stories of their adventures and has been very helpful answering our many questions about their well-sailed and well-loved boat.

In the fall of 2005 we moved BAHATI to old friends’, Phin and Johanna Sprague’s, Portland Yacht Services under the Eastern Promenade at the old Portland Company, 58 Fore Street, in Portland, Maine, just below where my great-grandfather had lived when he sailed the ADA L WHITE to ports in Scotland and beyond at the end of the merchant sailing trade in the late 1800’s. Our more modern but equally seaworthy vessel underwent a complete refit before we set sail, including all new standing and running rigging, electronics, power, sails, completely re-bedded deck fittings, all new electrical and plumbing systems, and much rebuilt and some new woodwork and cabinetry in the capable, careful, & creative hands of the PYS crew. We can’t praise the good work and knowledgable attention we’ve received from this able crew enough! Under the masterful project managery of Tom Whitehead, chief systems man, Mike Smith, master carpenters, Dave Smith and Steve Higgins, rigging specialist, John Goodwin, systems support team, Peter Call, Rob Proctor, Jason Phippen, Doug Hyland and many more, we’ve been blessed with a practically new and an extremely well-found boat to begin the trip of a lifetime!

Interior and Exterior Photos (click to enlarge)