Cheoy Lee Clipper 42 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Clipper 42 is built on a solid fiberglass hull with a long keel and attached rudder, carrying 9,000 pounds of lead ballast against a 23,500-pound displacement for a ballast-displacement ratio of 38.3. The deck is solid fiberglass, and the boat wears a teak overlay to evoke the wooden yachts of the era. Bulkheads are tabbed to the hull. The 42's exterior and interior timber paneling give it the look of a wooden boat, though the structure beneath is glass, and the 42 stands as an early pioneer in fiberglass construction anchor.

Rig and Handling

The 42 is a ketch with timber masts and a staysail-ketch arrangement in the family tradition; the 36 carries a cutter-ketch rig with Yankee, staysail, main, and mizzen, and both 36 and 42 could be ordered with a staysail schooner rig. The main carries roller-reefing rather than modern jiffy reefing. Owners writing to Practical Sailor advise forgetting about using the roller-reefing main on the 42. Under sail, the hull and sail design is that of a sturdy cruising boat that can cross oceans and take a pounding from the sea anchor, but it will not point into the wind very well as it tries to sail slowly, and one owner found it challenging to keep the helm balanced. The full-keel Clipper series does not back down well, a trait shared with the 36's aperture-propeller layout.

Accommodations

Cheoy Lee offered the 42 with three different interior layout options, and one owner noted that many people commented on the large head in his boat, suggesting the generous head depends on which layout was chosen. The Clipper 42s could be customized to whatever the buyer wanted, continuing the builder's practice of flexible interiors. The all-wood interior is nicely done, in the vein of the 36's lavish teak brochure description, with timber paneling inside and out. Ventilation on the 36 came from a teak and Plexiglas skylight, forward hatch, five cowl vents on the 42, and two Dorades, a scheme the 42 extends with its extra cowl.

Known Issues

The most pervasive defect on these boats is water intrusion. One owner reported never seeing a Cheoy Lee without water damage to the interior paneling caused by deck leaks, and specifically that the chainplates leak and the hatches leak. Because the ceiling is timber paneling, water runs behind it and drips out somewhere else, hiding the true path of the leak and rotting the wood from view. Engine access on the 42 is almost non-existent according to owner reports, complicating any repair below. The 42 does carry an auxiliary emergency tiller that comes up through the cockpit floor just aft of the steering binnacle with a handle supplied, contrasting with some 36s that had no emergency-rudder provision. A final limitation is the absence of anywhere to mount davits, dinghy, solar panels, wind generator, cockpit shade, stern anchor, or gas bottles without harming the boat's lines.

Refits and Ownership

Owners report the 42 was equipped with a Perkins 4-108 engine, achieving 5.5 knots at 1400 rpm and burning about three-quarters of a gallon per hour, with adequate power against strong currents in estuaries or marinas. The stuffing box is easy to access through the cockpit lockers with room to work, a rare bright spot against the engine-access complaint. Given the leak pathology, any ownership plan must budget for chainplate rebedding and hatch resealing, and the roller-reefing main is best replaced with a slab-reefing conversion.

The Verdict

The Clipper 42 is a handsome, heavily built Luders ketch with real ocean credentials and a customizable teak-lined interior, but it is a slow, tender-initial, poorly backing full-keel cruiser whose traditional rig and sealed engine bay demand patient ownership. Its leaks are chronic and concealed, and its clean decks leave no honest place for modern cruising gear.

Pros