Cruising World – August 2019

and there’s immediate access
to a large head to starboard.
The central saloon, also to
starboard, indeed has great
views of the surroundings,
with a large, U-shaped leather
settee surrounding a big dining
table. Opposite, to port, is an
efficient, straight-line galley
adjacent to the navigation
station. Just forward of that
dining table is a hideaway
compartment to stash a flat-
screen television; interestingly,
this feature isn’t specified for
boats going into the European
markets, the (rather hilarious)
implication being that those
folks have better things to do
with their time than we easily
bored Americans. A second
double stateroom is situated in
the bow, with its own en suite
head.
Unfortunately, during our
Boat of the Year sea trials on
Chesapeake Bay this past fall,
we were completely skunked
for breeze the day of our sched-
uled sail test. But judge Alvah
Simon was still impressed by
much of what he inspected.
“It had nice scuppers, they
thought about drainage in the
boat, in the cockpit and every-
where,” he said. “I loved the
pushpit and the pulpits; there
were three railings on each,
really stout ones. The cleats
were great. The layout of the
foredeck was just beautiful.
The jacklines were the best in
the entire fleet, I hadn’t seen
any pad eyes and jackline set-
ups that were as good as these.
So, you start to get the feeling
that whoever is setting all this
up, they’ve been to sea and
they know what works.”
For working sail, the 42
employs a traditional mainsail
and a 100 percent, non-
overlapping jib on a dedicated
self-tacking track; there’s a
fancy stainless-steel bow fitting
with a sprit for tacking down a
cruising kite or code-zero-type
genoa. There’s no traveler; this
is a cruising boat, friends.
Running rigging is led below
deck, not to the coach roof,
but rather to coamings port
and starboard, where they’re
handled by a set of Andersen
winches. There are steering

pods for each helm, with

Raymarine chart plotters on

each, and controls for the

autopilot and bow thruster on

the starboard pod (the engine

controls are at the base of

this steering station as well).

There’s a gargantuan locker

beneath the cockpit that is

accessed through a hatch

between the wheels. A good-

size cockpit table has double

leaves; the cockpit cushions

and cushioned backrests are

excellent. There’s a generous

Bimini overhead, which

provides plenty of shade but

makes it a bit tricky getting

in and out of the cockpit. The

companionway hatch slides

right into the deck, which is a

pretty nifty arrangement.

Our test boat was bound for

service on the Chesapeake and

for southbound forays down

the Intracoastal Waterway, and

was thus equipped with the

shallower of two keel options,

as well as a slightly shorter

rig than the standard one for

bridge clearance. For the very

same reasons, it was powered

by the larger of two available

engines: an 80 hp Yanmar die-

sel (as opposed to the regular

57 hp auxiliary).

For running the ICW, it

sounds like the perfect setup.

Henri Wauquiez, I think,

would approve. Yes, the

Carolinas are a far cry from

the stark shores of Algeria.

But once his wars were over,

he spent the better part of his

days crafting boats that can

cruise far and wide, which is

his true, lasting legacy. The

Pilot Saloon 42 carries it on.

There are panoramic views of the surroundings from the

raised perch of the Pilot Saloon 42’s main cabin (top). The

owner’s stateroom, aft, is a comfortable space (above).

SEA TRIAL

WIND SPEED

Zero knots

SEA STATE

Flat

SAILING

Closehauled N/A

Reaching N/A

MOTORING

Cruise (2,400 rpm) 6.3 knots

Fast (2,700 rpm) 7.5 knots

SPECIFICATIONS

WAUQUIEZ PILOT

SALOON 42

LENGTH OVERALL

42'6" (12.99 m)

WATERLINE LENGTH

38'6" (11.79 m)

BEAM

14'2" (4.34 m)

DRAFT

5'5"/7'1" (1.7/2.2 m)

SAIL AREA (100%)

973 sq. ft. (87 sq. m)

BALLAST

9,259 lb. (4,199 kg)

DISPLACEMENT

26,550 lb. (12,043 kg)

BALLAST/DISPLACEMENT

0.34

DISPLACEMENT/LENGTH

197

SAIL AREA/DISPLACEMENT

17.9

WATER

162 gal. (613 L)

FUEL

110 gal. (416 L)

HOLDING

10 gal. (40 L)

MAST HEIGHT

62'10" (19.17 m)

ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS

Yanmar 57 hp

DESIGNER

Berret-Racoupeau

PRICE

$630,000

Dream Yacht Sales

833-450-4211

dreamyachtsails.com

For a complete guide to Cruising

World’s extensive online boat

reviews and to request reprints

from our older print archives of

reviews, go to cruisingworld.com/

sailboats/sailboat-reviews.

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