The boat soon proved itself as both a rugged passagemaker and a competitive offshore racer. A Portland Yacht Club syndicate campaigned one in seven consecutive Transpacific Yacht Races from 1967 through 1979—a run that says more about the platform’s durability than any brochure claim could.
Design and Construction
The Cascade 42 has an exceptionally tough, hand-laid solid-fiberglass hull, built without a core and reinforced with heavy layers of woven roving. The structure was famously described as “bulletproof” after surviving extreme tests, including .45-caliber slugs bouncing off samples, drops from slings, highway trailer accidents, and mudslides.
Robert A. Smith, a former Sparkman & Stephens designer, drew a moderately heavy, stable, and stiff hull with excellent righting capability. The boat has a measured 18,000 lb displacement and carries 6,180 lb of lead ballast. It has a fin keel with bulb, an 11.92 ft beam, and a 34 ft waterline. A comfort ratio near 28 points to good motion comfort for coastal and offshore use.
Many Cascade 42 hulls were sold as semi-kits for owners to complete. As a result, interiors vary widely across the fleet, and no two boats are likely to be identical below decks. The builder’s reputation for structural honesty rests mainly on the shell rather than on standardized joinerwork.
Rig and Handling
The Cascade 42 carries a cutter/sloop rig. Its mainsail measures 438.1 sq ft, while the 376.01 sq ft jib has a 110.65% LP. The genoa measures 525.96 sq ft with a 151.66% LP, and the asymmetrical spinnaker adds 919 sq ft for downwind work.
The rig dimensions are:
- I: 48.38 ft
- J: 14.46 ft
- P: 43.25 ft
- E: 19.83 ft
Underway, the Cascade 42 is a proven passagemaker that excels in moderate to heavy conditions, with solid tracking and seaworthiness. It is under-powered in very light winds, however—a consequence of its moderate displacement and sail-area-to-displacement profile rather than any structural shortcoming. The same stiffness that makes the boat sure-footed as the breeze builds leaves it sluggish when the wind dies.
Accommodations
Because so many Cascade 42s left the factory as semi-complete kit hulls, their interior arrangements vary considerably. Owner-completed boats reflect individual tastes rather than a standard production layout, so shoppers should assess the berths, galley, and saloon configuration of each hull on its own merits.
The 42 ft LOA and 11.92 ft beam provide a credible canvas for liveaboard or long-range cruising plans. Still, the quality of the completion work—and the practicality of the resulting layout—may differ from boat to boat.
Verdict
The Cascade 42 is a bluewater-capable cruiser with a genuinely overbuilt hull and a sail plan suited to ocean work. Its racing pedigree and owner-finished interiors make it a distinctive proposition: a tough, stable platform whose greatest variable is the quality of each boat’s completion work. For a buyer who values structural certainty and is comfortable with a bespoke layout, it remains a compelling classic.
Pros
- Hand-laid, solid-fiberglass hull with no core, proven “bulletproof” in extreme tests
- Stable and stiff, with excellent righting capability and good motion comfort
- Strong tracking and seaworthiness in moderate to heavy conditions
- Versatile cutter/sloop rig with generous genoa and asymmetrical-spinnaker areas
Cons
- Under-powered in very light winds
- Highly customized semi-kit interiors mean inconsistent build quality below decks
