Grand Soleil 43 (Design)
Cantiere del Pardo · J&J Design · 1998
Updated
The Grand Soleil 43 (Design) is a 12.89 m displacement racing yacht designed by J&J Design and built by Cantiere del Pardo, first launched in 1998. It races in Class B.
Length
12.89 m
42′ 3″
Beam
3.99 m
Draft
2.13 m
Displacement
8.5 t
Sail area
90 m²
On the podium
Where a Grand Soleil 43 (Design) finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
15%
of 26 starts by 4 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 26 starts by 4 boats between 2016 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Grand Soleil 43 (Design) was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Loro Piana Giraglia2026
Ναο Λαυρεωτικης-Ναο Αναβ.& Π Φωκαιας-Ναο Λεγραινων Αρσιδ2026- Νικος Γκρανιας 20262025
- Campionato Invernale dell'Argentario - Coastal Race2025
- Νικος Γκρανιας2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 1 race of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
16%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Grand Soleil 43 (Design) actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Comet 51 (7 meetings), Comet 38 (Vallicelli) (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Maletto) (7 meetings), Albin Ballad (7 meetings), Oceanis 331 (7 meetings), Swan 47 (6 meetings), Farr 40 (6 meetings), Este 39 (6 meetings), Elan E5 (6 meetings), Sun Fast 40.3 (6 meetings), J/35 (6 meetings), Farr 30 (6 meetings), Dufour 455 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 46 (Carkeek) (6 meetings), Azuree 46 (6 meetings), Grand Soleil 343 (6 meetings), Sun Odyssey 42.1 (6 meetings), Yca 29 (6 meetings), J/122 (5 meetings), First 35 (Berret) (5 meetings), Sinergia 40 (4 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Grand Soleil 43 (Design) has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.60
38°
Beam reach
8.65
90°
Broad reach
9.39
135°
Downwind VMG
7.94
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It is an upwind boat first. Windward-leeward courses give it more of what it is good at than a coastal race does.
Where it gains
Its best ground is upwind in a strong breeze, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short off the wind when it blows, giving away time it never gets back. That is a displacement hull working to its designed speed.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Grand Soleil 43 (Design)
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.48 | 4.81 | 5.42 | 5.60 |
| 52° | 5.38 | 7.03 | 7.62 | 7.82 |
| 60° | 5.69 | 7.25 | 7.79 | 8.04 |
| 75° | 5.90 | 7.41 | 7.97 | 8.41 |
| 90° | 5.78 | 7.47 | 8.09 | 8.65 |
| 110° | 5.74 | 7.63 | 8.42 | 9.23 |
| 120° | 5.59 | 7.54 | 8.38 | 9.50 |
| 135° | 5.00 | 7.14 | 8.12 | 9.39 |
| 150° | 4.21 | 6.38 | 7.68 | 8.75 |
| Run VMG | 3.65 | 5.52 | 6.79 | 7.94 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 620 kg.
Rigging
Grand Soleil 43 (Design) rig and sail dimensions
A Grand Soleil 43 (Design) carries 14.03 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.65 m boom, a forestay 15.79 m above the deck and a 5.10 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 6 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 102 to 127 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.
Other designs under the same name
The name has been carried by more than one design. They are different boats.