Fountaine Pajot Venezia 42 Sailboats for Sale

Layouts on the Used Market

The dominant used configuration is the four double cabins with two heads, two aft cabins with athwartship doubles and forward cabins with fore-and-aft doubles whose berths run the full hull width. Some boats instead use the forwardmost sections of each hull for single berths, yielding six private cabins. The rare owner's version converts one cabin into an office or one head into a dedicated shower. The saloon enters through sliding glass doors to a galley-up arrangement with a two-burner stove, single sink, and small front-loading 12-volt fridge to port, a large oval table with wraparound settee, and a port nav station. A wraparound cockpit with shallow seats and fairly straight backs and a bulkhead-mounted starboard helm with fighting-chair-style seat complete the public spaces; each hull has wide swim steps.

Equipment and Common Upgrades

On the used market, solar, inverter, bimini, autopilot, watermaker, air conditioning, and freezer are commonly fitted, while electric winches, hot water, trampoline, and life raft are often seen. Wind generator, hardtop, teak decks, chartplotter, and starlink are sometimes or owner upgrades rather than standard expectations. The boat is powered by twin Yanmar diesels, most often 28-horsepower models though a fairly common retrofit was the three-cylinder 37-horsepower 3GM, with saildrive legs that ease removal. Factory rig included roller-furling headsail and slab-reefing main; two trampolines separate the hulls forward.

What to Inspect

The escape hatches located in each head protrude beyond the hulls and often leak with inadequate plastic handles and latches that have frequently been over tightened—prioritize these in any survey. The helm arrangement is almost unmanageable for short people, so verify seat and sightline suitability for the intended skipper. Partial backstays make it difficult to pay out the boom, and the low bridgedeck clearance produces slamming and a quick motion in a chop; inspect hulls and bridgedeck for stress from that dynamic water action. Yanmar diesels in aft lazarettes are not very convenient to work on despite saildrive removal ease, so confirm service access and history.

Availability and Buyer's Takeaway

Typical markets for the Venezia 42 include the United States, New Caledonia, France, Italy, Guatemala, and Mexico. For a used-boat checklist: confirm whether the layout is four-cabin charter or six-cabin/owner version; verify escape hatch sealing and latch condition; test helm ergonomics for helm height; check trampoline and partial backstay condition; review engine access and any 3GM retrofit records; and expect commonly fitted cruising gear while treating hardtop or teak as owner additions.