A mistico was a large sailing coaster used in the Mediterranean in the 18th and 19th centuries. Misticos were decked vessels with long, low hulls and had two masts amidships that carried two
lateen or
settee sails and a
jib. They ranged in size from 40 to 80 tons (
bm), and had crews of five to nine men.[1] They were popular with Greek pirates in the Aegean and resembled the
felucca.[2]
On 25 October 1806, the Spanish privateer misticoGeneralísimo, of four guns and 70 men, captured
HM gunboat Hannah, of two guns and 28 men, in the Straits of Gibraltar.
In 1825–26
HMS Cambrian was the lead vessel of a small squadron engaged in anti-piracy operations in the
Archipelago, at Alexandria, and around the coasts of Syria. On 27 July 1826 Cambrian's boats captured a pirate bombard and burnt a mistico on the
Cycladic island of
Tinos.[3]