The 4.9 is the best boat I have had - I have owned Hobies and Nacras and Taipan has the best fit and finish of any boat I have seen. It makes American boats look crude. Sure it doesn't have a half an inch of glass on the bottom of the hull so you use wheels which is a piece of cake because of the weight. I was recently trying to help a H16 with a downed mast in some heavy conditions and had the 16 hit so hard that it knocked a sailor off the 16. I dreaded looking at the damage on my boat - I got up the courage and looked over the side and I couldn't tell where we had been hit - zero damage. At the 18ht/f16hp event in the Keys lots of f18hts were commenting on the quality of the Taipan. If I buy another boat - it will definitely be another Boyer.