FIRST TEST GRAND SOLEIL 42LC

Performance pedigree and Italian panache certainly make for stylish boats, but how do they translate into a serious cruising boat? Theo Stocker tests the baby of the range

-  Theo Stocker

Light winds may not make for the most exciting boat test images, especially when it’s chilly, the sky is grey and it’s threatening to rain, which was the weather we were dealt for our test of the Grand Soleil 42LC. There is still a surprising amount you can tell about a boat in light airs, however. A sluggish, heavy boat won’t go anywhere until there’s a decent Force 4, while a lightweight racer will be up and off in a mere zephyr, before terrifying your nervous crew once the breeze kicks in. The wind speed at which a cruising boats starts sailing is a good indicator of where she sits on that spectrum. Time would tell how this boat fared.

The 42LC is not exactly a new boat; the model was launched at the 2020 Düsseldorf boat show, a few short weeks before we were all plunged into the depths of Covid lockdowns. We didn’t manage to make the stars align until the first boat in the UK passed to her current owner. The fact that the boat is three years old but still looks factory-fresh suggests that she is well-built and well able to withstand the average knocks and bumps of the cruising life.

Nor is cruising Grand Soleil’s heartland. The Italian yard is better known for lightweight, sporty and extremely elegant performance cruisers between 40ft-80ft, unashamedly designed for the Mediterranean. Sleek coachroofs, flared transoms and more than a little Italian panache make them instantly recognisable, both on the race course, where they have found plenty of success, and elegantly bobbing in the most fashionable of harbours.