The Lagoon 42
was introduced in 1991 at the Annapolis boat show. No question, it made a big hit and was the surprise darling upstart of the show. I climbed all over it, poked around, peered into the dark recesses of bilges and virtually inaccessible compartments, and could find only one major drawback — the boat had no rubrails. Now you may think I have a rub-rail fetish, but to prove my point about their necessity, this boat had scratches on the sides that may not have happened had there been proper rubrails. Imagine, the very first of the breed ever shown, in all her beauty, had big scratches down the sides that most likely could have been avoided with proper rub rails.
As the years ticked by, I watched several of these boats under sail in various charter operations. I was not impressed by their performance. However, I had to give them the benefit of the doubt because, after all, they were operated by charter people. I did insurance surveys on several boats, but that did not really let me get to know the boats in depth.
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My personal testing philosophy is to test-sail a boat the way it would most likely be sailed in real life. I attempt to avoid the total stripped-out ultra-light mode that most demonstrations entail. Except the ultra-committed racers, few boats ever sail with minimum weight. I test-sailed both the Dragonfly and the F-27 with a full complement and wished to do the same thing for the G-32. I estimated the weight of the five crew and our gear at an approximate total of 900 pounds, which is quite a contrast to the 1,100 pounds of designed vessel weight.
In November of 1999 I was engaged to do a pre-purchase survey and sea trials. Finally I had my opportunity to really get into the nitty-gritty. As it turned out, I surveyed that boat several additional times and gave it extensive sea trials in order to use-test the added equipment.
Plunging out in the Atlantic Ocean through Port Everglades Inlet at Fort Lauderdale, FL, into six to eight-foot seas and 30-knot winds is not for the faint-hearted. My intrepid crew, consisting of the owners and a couple of wanna-bes, made the trip. It was my second sea trial on this particular vessel. They had just completed an extensive refit and equipment installation, and sea trials were definitely in order...the tougher
the better.
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This is one sea-kindly boat. No number of tacks, jibes, rough conditions or deliberate attempts could make this boat slam its bridgedeck. A single reef in the main and a full jib gave us good speed and perfect control. No question about it, this is a boat in which you can feel safe, secure and comfortable anywhere in the world. We never missed a tack and found that the boat would tack with main alone, even with a reef in it. Despite the fact that the boat has keels rather than daggerboards, it points quite nicely. We had no trouble tacking through 90 degrees, and holding 35 degrees, apparent even in those rough and tumble
conditions.
What I do not like about the boat, a complaint I have with several of the French boats, is that too much is sacrificed for style alone. The extremely sloped cabin face turns the salon into a hot house. Outside window covers are necessary to keep the sun out. When you cover the windows, you lose one of the greatest catamaran
attributes—panoramic visibility. The extreme slope also makes it difficult to get up on the top deck and causes the loss of considerable interior space. The newer Lagoon series have a more vertical look.
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The Jeanneau Lagoon 42 was built by Tillotson-Pearson in Rhode Island. It is a bluewater boat with twin diesel auxiliary engines and a fractional sloop rig. It is a beautiful vessel with exceptionally fair lines. It has excellent deck access and a secure trampoline area. The forward crossbeam appears to be well-made. The dinghy davits are massively strong. It has a four-cabin two-head arrangement with ample room. It has a modest but adequate sized galley-down layout. Both the galley and the typical horseshoe-shaped salon are smallish by contemporary standards. Visibility from the interior is good without the exterior curtains.
One of the nicest things about this boat is the engine room access from the stern steps. This puts the engines completely outside the accommodation. Accessories such as watermakers and generators fit securely in the huge, airy, accessible engine rooms.
These are not the easiest boats to anchor but overall are not bad. Anchors can be stored in the bow rollers, and the windlass is back by the mast. This arrangement works well in benign weather. However, when the weather gets rough, or if you are in a marginal anchorage, it is not a simple task to fix a bridle or a snubber, and rigging a Bahamian moor is particularly difficult.
The fractional sloop rig with a moderate roach mainsail has both advantages and drawbacks. Mainsails of this type are heavy and hard to raise. Having a full roach with battens pressing inward makes things even more difficult. But from an ease of sailing and performance view, it is usually worth the effort.
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The price history of these vessels is interesting, and those looking for preowned boats have an expanding market. Boats are selling for as low as 50% of their original cost. They started out in 1991 in the $300,000 range with sails and engines, and now you can see them offered at competitive prices. Use caution, however, as many of the low-price boats are ex-charter boats needing major refit.
Another advantage to these boats is that even though they are French boats, they were built in the United States by Tillotson/Pearson; thhus, they are American-made boats and not subject to the restrictions on foreign boats covered by the infamous Jones act.
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