Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
Interest in the Mistral keelboat was pretty impressive in her day as sales were high and she was performing well on inland waters. One can sometimes gauge if a Class has “come of age” if it featured on the cover of the magazine which the Mistral did in March 1974.
However, some intrepid soul entered her in a coastal race from Port Elizabeth to East London in 1974, although I have not been able to turn up any info on that!
Advertising of the Mistral took on a new dimension with line-art sketches of an exploded view of the boat over a double page spread in SA Yachting magazine, and lots of fine details, plus a detailed editorial on 1/4 Ton boats in general. All this is shared below.
Due to her impressive form it was decided to send a boat to Europe to compete in the Quarter-Ton championships in Sweden in 1974. How she fared will be revealed in the next few days.
SEE THE MISTRAL ADVERT & 1/4 TON EDITORIAL HERE: Pages from 1973 12 – SA Yachting – OCR
