Design and Construction
Jerry Cartwright's mid-seventies design pairs a solid fiberglass hull with a solid fiberglass deck, both straightforward laminates rather than cored structures. The long-keel arrangement and attached rudder give the 42 a directional steadiness that suits a cruiser, while the 5.5-foot draft — ranging from 1.68 to 1.78 meters dependent on load — keeps her within reach of most marina entrances despite the hull's size anchor. Her displacement-length ratio of 321 places her firmly among heavy cruisers, and the immersion rate of about 235 kg/cm (1,320 lbs/inch) tells you how stubbornly she sits once loaded for a long trip.
Rig and Handling
The Cartwright 42 is built with a cutter rig, a sensible choice for a boat of this displacement and a rig that lets a watch-keeper shorten sail in steps without going forward in a seaway. The standing and running gear is sized for the loads: jib and genoa sheets run about 12.8 meters at 14 mm diameter, the mainsheet is a 32-meter, 14 mm line, and spinnaker sheets are 28.2 meters at the same 14 mm anchor. Below the waterline, roughly 39 square meters of wetted surface (419 square feet) gives her the tracking and comfort of a full-bodied cruiser at the cost of some acceleration. The theoretical maximum hull speed works out to 7.6 knots, and the capsize screening value of 1.65 together with a comfort index of 38.3 describe a vessel engineered to steady her crew in rough water rather than to win buoy races.
Accommodations and Cruising Character
What the design record gives us on the Cartwright 42 is a picture of volume and stability rather than a berth-by-berth tour. The 32-foot waterline and heavy-cruiser displacement support tankage and stowage for extended independence: the known specification background lists 90 gallons of diesel and 300 gallons of water, figures consistent with the boat's immersion rate and load-dependent draft. A Motion Comfort Ratio in the high 30s is the kind of number that, on a 23,500-pound hull, translates into a settled motion offshore that lighter boats simply cannot match.
The Verdict
The Cartwright 42 is a period-correct heavy cruiser: a Jerry Cartwright design from the mid seventies with a solid glass hull, long keel, and cutter rig that favors passage-making over pace. Her numbers — a 1.65 capsize screen, 38.3 comfort ratio, and 321 displacement-length ratio — describe a boat engineered for steadiness, not sparkle.
Pros
- Solid fiberglass hull and deck, no core to degrade
- Heavy-cruiser proportions with a 38.3 Motion Comfort Ratio for offshore steadiness
- Cutter rig suited to short-handed sail reduction
- Moderate 5.5-foot draft keeps her into most marinas
Cons
- 39 m² wetted surface limits light-air acceleration
- 7.6-knot hull speed caps pace under power or sail
- Long-keel, attached-rudder layout is less maneuverable than a fin-and-skeg configuration
