GGF,

I own a Bruce Roberts designed Mauritius 43. Mine was constructed of
steel. It has a center cockpit, raised poop, cutter-ketch rig. The
boat's name is Truelove. That ought to give you some idea of what I
think of her.

She is very strong and safe. She has gone through hurricanes 9 times.
I have ridden them out on her 3 times. She has been run aground,
banged up against pylons and docks, all without any damage at all.

She sails surprisingly well. Even in light air, which you would not
expect from a boat displacing 32,000 pounds. Of course, with a full
keel and that kind of weight, she sails like a dream when the wind
pipes up.

The deck and hull of Truelove were constructed professionally in
Kettle Creek, Ontario. She was then motored down to Patchouge, Long
Island, New York. There the previous owner spent six years building
the interior. Fortunately, he was very highly skilled and built a
beautiful interior of cream-colored bulkheads trimmed in cherry etc.
After that he motored her to the Chesapeake Bay where the spars were
set in her.

The previous owner was very complimentary of Bruce Roberts and his
plans. I have met the fellow (Aussie, now living in Maryland, US]
but don't know anything of value about him. Nor do I have any genuine
knowledge about the plans. I have heard that he is a typical artist
in that he thinks pretty highly of his plans and himself.

I did meet another fellow who built a Mauritius 43 this past fall. He
built his boat by himself. It was really beautiful. He, too, sang
its praises. I did not ask, but he did not mention anything about
problems with the plans or Bruce Roberts.

As with any designer, some designs turn out to be slugs and some are
wonderful. I agree with a previous poster that the Spray seems like
an odd design to copy. I regret that I cannot give you any
information about the 340.

If you own a certain model of vehicle, you notice how many are on the
road. Since I own a Bruce Roberts design, I seem to notice a lot of
them around. In fact, I know of a partially built Mauritius 43 for
sale in Morehead City, North Carolina right now. Might be hard to get
to Europe, though. :-)

Good luck.

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove
on the hard at Bock Marine
Beaufort, NC USA