Cabo Rico 42 Pilot Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

Owner three-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available. The standard interior places the inside steering station to starboard in the pilothouse with a table and shallow C-shaped settee across from it that lifts to reveal a workshop, a surprisingly large double aft cabin to starboard, a down-and-to-starboard galley with Corian counters and a separate pantry opposite, and a forward owner's stateroom with an island queen bunk and en suite head with a separate shower stall. The space across from the galley can be configured as a third sleeping cabin or an office, which means the two-layout difference often comes down to how that third space and the aft cabin were finished for a given owner.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

On the used fleet, bow thrusters, life rafts, EPIRBs, chartplotters, autopilots, AIS, radar, cockpit showers, dodgers, biminis, electric winches, furling mains, inverters, lithium batteries, solar, heating, air conditioning, watermakers, freezers, and Starlink are commonly fitted, and hardtops, swim platforms, dinghy davits, teak decks, and short-handed setups are often seen. Teak decks are not standard on the 42PH unless an owner specified them, so teak decks on a listed boat are an owner choice rather than original equipment. The standard package itself is comprehensive—ranging from a large inverter to an SSB counterpoise system laid into the hull, an electric windlass, oversized deck hardware, double stainless steel anchor rollers, a 56-horsepower naturally aspirated Yanmar diesel, and a 72-gallon fuel tank with integral baffles and an inspection port—so a buyer should distinguish factory-standard gear from later owner additions in the commonly fitted tier.

What to Inspect

Documented construction on the 42PH removes several classic failure points, but inspection should still confirm the specifics. The hull is laid up to massive scantlings with Core-Cell foam between fiberglass layers, and all through-deck fittings are mounted in a radius of solid laminate so fasteners don't puncture the core, eliminating the potential for delamination. The hull and deck are joined with a classic boxjoint bonded chemically and mechanically to create a joint that won't leak, and a solid fiberglass subfloor with solid stringers eliminates any chance of wood rot in the bilge. Even with these protections, a survey should verify that no owner modification has pierced the deck core and that the internal lead ballast cavity remains sealed, since the ballast is fiberglassed over rather than bolted.

Availability and Buy Takeaway

The typical market for these boats is the United States. Because the fleet is semi-custom and ex-charter examples are common, a shopper should treat each hull as a unique specification and confirm whether teak decks, a third cabin, or short-handed rigging were owner additions. Check the through-deck fitting radii and hull-to-deck joint for any unauthorized penetration, confirm the internal ballast cavity is intact, and verify the standard Yanmar and fuel-tank details before committing.

• Confirm layout type (three-cabin owner vs alternative) and whether teak decks are owner-specified.
• Inspect through-deck fittings for core puncture and the boxjoint for leak integrity.
• Verify internal lead ballast cavity is sealed and bilge subfloor is sound.
• Distinguish factory-standard equipment from commonly fitted owner upgrades.