Fairline 43 Targa Buyer's Guide and Specifications

The Fairline 43 Targa traded berths for breathing room

Fairline launched the Fairline 43 Targa at the Southampton Boat Show in September 1997 as the new star of a 29-to-48-foot open-cockpit range. Its brief was unusual. Instead of cramming a third cabin into 45 feet, Fairline gave it two cabins and two washrooms plus a concealed dinghy garage, and promoted it on serious powerboat performance and long-range cruising.

Magazines approved. The German title Meer und Yachten said it was built to make the pulse race, Spain's Skipper praised the choice of offering cabins for only four in exchange for a sense of space, and Motor Boats Monthly reported that the watersports-oriented two-cabin cruiser turned heads at its launch.

It sold well: Yachting and YachtBuyer both put production at about 300 hulls between 1997 and 2005. That makes the 43 one of the easier big Targas to find, and the 2001 boats that searchers often ask about sit right in the middle of the run.

Inboard diesels rather than sterndrives

Where the smaller Targas used Volvo sterndrives, the 43 has inboard diesels. Fairline's original spec sheet recommended 740 to 960 hp in total and listed four packages with its own performance estimates: twin Volvo Penta TAMD63P at 370 hp for 30 to 32 knots, twin Caterpillar 3126 at 426 hp for 33 knots, twin Volvo TAMD74L at 430 hp for 33 knots, and twin Volvo TAMD74P EDC at 480 hp for 35 knots. YachtBuyer also lists the later TAMD75P EDC, quoting 37 knots.

For a US buyer the Caterpillar 3126 boats are attractive because parts and technicians are everywhere, but the Volvo TAMD74 and 75 engines were the most common and are well understood. The 63P boats are the slowest and usually the cheapest.

Fairline published no fuel curve that we could find, and no instrumented test from the period is online, so we have not quoted fuel burn or range. Ask sellers for engine-hour and consumption records, and run a sea trial with a fuel flow display.

• 2 x Volvo TAMD63P 370 hp: 30 to 32 knots (Fairline estimate)
• 2 x Caterpillar 3126 426 hp: 33 knots (Fairline estimate)
• 2 x Volvo TAMD74L 430 hp: 33 knots (Fairline estimate)
• 2 x Volvo TAMD74P EDC 480 hp: 35 knots (Fairline estimate)
• 2 x Volvo TAMD75P EDC: 37 knots (YachtBuyer)

Garage, passerelle and a C-shaped cockpit

The aft sundeck hides a hangar for a dinghy and outboard, opening onto the teak-laid bathing platform; Fairline's recommended extras included a Zodiac 285S Cadet with an 8 hp Yamaha. An optional telescopic hydraulic passerelle is concealed beneath the port walkway, and Fairline also offered optional jet ski stowage.

The cockpit centers on a self-draining C-shaped dining area with a height-adjustable folding table, a bar with sink, hot and cold water, wine cooler and an optional electric griddle, and a two-part hood whose forward section converts to a sun canopy. The wraparound windscreen is curved toughened glass in an alloy and GRP frame.

At the helm, Fairline fitted a seat that adjusts horizontally and vertically, a tilting wheel and a reorganized dashboard, all highlighted at launch as new features.

Below: two cabins, two heads and an S-shaped dinette

The saloon has standing headroom, an S-shaped dinette with a high-low table, a bar unit with two stools stowed in the dinette base and an underfloor stowage hold. The galley has a two-burner hob with oven and grill, an 85-liter fridge and a sink with mixer tap.

YachtBuyer lists the master cabin with an en suite and a twin cabin using the second, shared bathroom. Joinery came in lacquered American cherry with eucalyptus, or maple with bird's eye maple, and Fairline noted that US-market boats had different standard features from European ones.

Four guests sleep in real cabins, with the dinette taking two more in a pinch. If you need three cabins at this size, look at the Targa 47 or a flybridge Phantom instead.

An Olesinski hull built the old way

Fairline's specification describes a deep-V forward running to 18 degrees of deadrise aft, full-length molded spray deflectors, isophthalic gelcoat backed by resin-rich powder-bound mat, all laid up by hand with unidirectional and woven rovings, and transverse and longitudinal stringers throughout. The hull-to-deck joint is bolted and bonded.

That construction is one reason so many 43s are still in commission. Survey them as 20-to-28-year-old boats, but expect a sound structure if the boat has been maintained.

Not to be confused with the 2018 Targa 43 Open

In 2018 Fairline revived the number for the Targa 43 Open, an Alberto Mancini-styled hardtop express with twin 435 hp Volvo Penta IPS600 pods, a resin-infused hull and a sunroof Power & Motoryacht measured at nearly 8 by 11 feet. It won Best Exterior Design at the World Yachts Trophies that year.

Power & Motoryacht recorded a two-way average of 30.1 knots and noted it planed at just 11 knots; Yachting reported a 32 to 34 knot top end. It carries a Williams 280 Minijet in its garage, offers the master forward or amidships, and has a galley down. It is a newer, pricier boat with pod drives; this page's 43 is the 1997 to 2005 Targa with shafts.

Running costs and finding one in the US

Budget roughly $20,000 to $40,000 a year for a 45-foot slip, insurance, twice-yearly diesel servicing, shaft seals and cutlass bearings, bottom work and canvas. Shaft-drive inboards avoid sterndrive bellows costs, which helps over the long run.

Very few Targa 43s were sold new in America, so most purchases will involve importing from the UK or the Mediterranean. Factor in transport, US electrical conversion and duty when comparing a European boat at 160,000 euros with a domestic express at a similar price.