Design and Construction
Hood laid the 42 out as a heavy cruiser in the truest sense: her displacement-length ratio of 350 places her firmly in that category, and with 10,950 pounds of lead ballast against a 27,450-pound displacement she carries a ballast-displacement ratio near 40 percent. The hull is solid fiberglass, and the stub-and-centerboard keel arrangement lets the boat sit at roughly 4 feet 8 inches with the board up yet reach 10 feet with it down. That versatility means she can enter most marinas with a loaded draft of about 5.2 to 5.5 feet while still offering deep-keel stability offshore. Her length-to-beam ratio of 3.26 and a motion comfort ratio of 43.3 describe a voluminous, easy-riding hull rather than a lithe racer.
Rig and Handling
The 42 is rigged as a masthead sloop, and her sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 14.2 under the ISO reference sail, rising to 16.9 with a 135 percent genoa. Those figures put her squarely in the moderate-performance cruising band—enough canvas to move in a breeze without being overcanvased for short-handed control. The standing and running rigging follow predictable masthead proportions: halyards run about 130 feet at a half-inch diameter, sheets for the genoa and jib stretch 42 feet at five-eighths, and the mainsheet is a 106-foot, five-eighths-inch line. A cunningham and kicking strap each run 16 to 33 feet, and the clew outhaul matches the kicking strap length. The wetted surface of the hull below the waterline is about 592 square feet, a large area consistent with her heavy-cruiser hull form.
Performance Envelope
As a displacement hull, her theoretical maximum speed is 7.9 knots, the figure set by her waterline length. The capsize screening value comes in at 1.65, a number that on its own formula would admit the boat to offshore-capable company. Her immersion rate of about 1,570 pounds per inch means she sits heavily and changes trim slowly under load—again the signature of a cruiser built to carry provisions and gear rather than to chase a rating.
Accommodations and Layout
The interior arrangement of the 42 is not described in available material, but the hull's volume—driven by the 13-foot-1-inch beam and the heavy-cruiser proportions—supports the kind of livable platform Hood designed the Little Harbor line to provide.
The Verdict
The Little Harbor 42 is a scarce, thoughtfully conceived Hood cruiser that pairs a genuinely versatile centerboard draft with the mass and comfort of a true heavy-displacement hull. She is not a performance boat, but her numbers describe a stable, marina-friendly offshore candidate built in very limited numbers.
Pros
- Retractable centerboard keel gives 4.7-foot shoal draft and 10-foot offshore draft
- Heavy-displacement hull with high ballast ratio and strong motion comfort figure
- Masthead rig with moderate sail-area-to-displacement under genoa
Cons
- Only a few hulls built, limiting fleet support and spares commonality
- Large wetted surface and modest sail plan suit cruising rather than speed
