Most of the parts of a 4.3 are actually the same as the other bigger brothers... The mast is actually the same section as the 6.0 but just quite a bit shorter! The rudder castings are typical mystere... temperamental but fine once you get them dialed in. I think the boat durability compares quite favorably to the H16 (which I still have one of haning in a barn)... lighter on the hulls but it does have an aluminum strip on the skeg that means you can drag it right on the beach without wearing flat like the 16. Sail development continues especially on the jib... it is quite small and harder to get right than a larger jib but I think Mike Fahle has a new cut that looks pretty good. The class rules allow racing one up, two up, etc. all head to head. I have raced single handed at 190 lbs and with a 60-100 lb child... It does ok with 280 but certainly won't set speed records compared to one up but more than fine for recreational cruising. Downwind is much more fun with the spinnaker... you'll never go back! With the turmoil around Mystere, these boats have held their value pretty well. There are some really good racers that have dropped out of the arms race for better local one design racing and all very helpful with developing sailors.


Mike, Ohio
Former H16, H18, N20, N17, M4.3