Design and Construction
The First 42 S7 measures 42 feet 6 inches overall, with a 35-foot-9-inch waterline and a 13-foot-6-inch beam. Displacement is 18,220 pounds, balanced by 6,283 pounds of lead ballast on the standard keel.
Construction follows typical Beneteau practice. Interior fiberglass liners provide structural reinforcement for both the hull and deck, while the bulkheads are slotted and glued into grooves molded into the deck liner. The mast is stepped through the deck for additional stiffness and security.
The lower rudder bearing is set into the hull bottom. The upper bearing sits at the top of a large fiberglass cone built up from the boat’s bottom. Cruising World’s tester found the First 42 S7 well built. Even with its subdued cruising rig, it sailed better than many of the cruising boats tested in the 1995 Boat of the Year competition.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The cruising version carries 771 square feet of sail on a fractional sloop rig. Its full-battened mainsail uses conventional slides and lazy jacks, while the jib is set on a manually controlled furler.
The aluminum Blue Label mast by Sparcraft has slightly swept-back double spreaders and discontinuous rod rigging. The cruising mast is stiff enough to dispense with runners. Halyards, reefing lines, the mainsheet, and traveler controls lead through stoppers to Lewmar 44 self-tailing winches at the aft end of the cabin. Beneteau also color-coded the control lines. Lewmar 52 self-tailing primary winches are positioned well forward on the cockpit coamings.
Testers found the boat easy to handle. In 10 to 15 knots of wind, carrying a full main and number 1 genoa, they coaxed it along at seven knots with 20 to 25 degrees of heel.
A racing version, chosen by only a few owners since 1994, adds about 85 square feet of mainsail, a spinnaker package, and a lead bulb keel drawing 7 feet 6 inches.
Accommodations
Philippe Starck styled both interior plans. Varnished pearwood follows the molded curves typical of modern French production interiors, contributing to an airy feel below.
Across the two layouts, the boat provides double staterooms fore and aft, with dedicated heads that make it comfortable for two cruising couples. In the owner’s version, there’s an aft double stateroom with an adjoining head and a forward double with its own private head. The U-shaped galley is beside the engine compartment.
The three-cabin arrangement divides the aft end into two staterooms sharing a single head. A bow cabin and second head are forward.
Ventilation comes from two Dorade boxes, four opening Lewmar hatches, and four large opening portlights on each side. The companionway ladder descends at a user-friendly 30-degree angle, and the edges of its steps curve upward to 27 degrees to help keep feet from sliding off when the boat heels. Well-placed aluminum handrails run along the interior cabin sides.
The galley is particularly well executed. It has plenty of counter space, a notably large icebox, and a propane stove that gimbals to 40 degrees on either tack. The stove sits in a recess fitted with a protective bar for the cook’s safety.
Cockpit and Deck
The aft cockpit is compact but very comfortable, with good foot bracing for the crew when the boat heels. Its lockers are very large, and Beneteau’s no-snag locker latches lock automatically when closed.
On the foredeck, a flush anchor locker contains a manual anchor winch and provides access to the under-deck roller furler. The stainless steel cabin-top handrails require little maintenance, but unfortunately they don’t extend forward of the mast.
Standard equipment included jack-line attachment pad eyes on the foredeck and aft side decks. The First 42 S7 was one of the few boats sailed in 1995 to have them, although Beneteau didn’t provide safety-harness pad eyes in the cockpit.
Known Issues
The opening portlights swing outboard, making them likely to catch lines or crew members’ feet when left open under way.
The lack of cockpit safety-harness pad eyes is a shortcoming for anyone sailing short-handed in lively conditions.
The rudder-bearing arrangement concentrates loads in the fiberglass cone built up from the hull bottom. That structure is worth inspecting for stiffness or weeping, although the original identifies no reported failure.
Verdict
The First 42 S7 is a thoughtfully executed performance cruiser that exceeds what its subdued cruising rig might suggest. Farr’s hull and Starck’s interiors produced a boat that is genuinely quick, well built, and comfortable for two couples. Its deck plan also anticipates offshore work in several small but important ways.
Pros
- Strong sailing performance, even with the standard cruising rig
- Two well-finished interior plans with private heads
- Through-deck mast step and structural fiberglass liners
- Standard jack-line pad eyes
- Large cockpit lockers
Cons
- No cockpit safety-harness pad eyes
- Outboard-opening portlights can catch lines and feet when open
- Rudder-bearing cone concentrates loads
