X-Yachts X4

X-Yachts, the Danish builder of high-quality, performanceoriented sailboats, recently introduced a new X line that is positioned somewhere between its Xp racing models and its Xc cruisers. The 42ft X4 (also called the X43 in some company literature) follows in the footsteps of the X6 launched last year and should find a ready market among those who aren’t quite up to the challenge of an Xp, but would still like something with a little more pep than a classically styled Xc. The result is a mashup that I found to be more than the sum of its parts, and that is an absolute joy to sail.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

With its vacuum-infused, baked epoxy construction and advanced M-foam coring (more expensive but stiffer), the X4’s basic structure is only 8 percent