The ClubSwan 42, also called the Club Swan 42 and the New York Yacht Club 42 (NYYC 42), is a Finnish sailboat that was designed by Germán Frers as a one design racer-cruiser and first built in 2005.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
The class was conceived by David Elwell, of the NYYC as a boat for club cruises, regattas and offshore racing, including the Newport Bermuda Race and International Rating Certificate competition. The class concept was promulgated as a competition with Oy Nautor AB winning.[10][11]
The ClubSwan 42 is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of glassfibre, with wood trim. It has a 9/10 fractional sloop rig, with a keel-stepped mast, two sets of swept spreaders and a Hall Spars carbon fibre mast with an aluminium boom. The hull has a slightly raked stem, a reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by dual wheels and a fixed fin keel with a weighted bulb. It displaces 15983 lb and carries 7046 lb of lead ballast.[1][2][3][10]
The boat has a draft of 8.86 ft with the standard keel.[1][2][3]
The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo Penta diesel engine of 40 hp for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds 39 u.s.gal and the fresh water tank has a capacity of 84 u.s.gal.[1][2][3]
The design has sleeping accommodation for six people, with a double "V"-berth in the bow cabin, two straight settees in the main cabin and two aft cabins each with two berths. The galley is located on the port side just forward of the companionway ladder. The galley is L-shaped and is equipped with a two-burner stove, an ice box and a sink. A navigation station is opposite the galley, on the starboard side. The head is located just aft of the bow cabin on the port side.[1][3][10]
For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of 1991 sqft, flown from a retractable bowsprit.[1][2][3]
The design has a hull speed of 8.16 kn.[1]
The boat is supported by an active class club that organizes racing events, the Swan 42 Class.[7]
In a 2007 Sailing World review, Barrett Holby wrote, "in light air the boat showed a good turn of speed. It sailed upwind very easily and excelled downwind. The 26.63 sail-area-to-displacement ratio explains why it does so well in light air, and although we sailed it in a 6-knot breeze, it required maximum crew weight on the rail [the one-design class maximum crew weight is 1,870 pounds]."[10]
In a 2007 review for Sailing Magazine, John Kretschmer wrote, "the CS 42 has been described by her maker as a club racer-cruiser with adequate amenities for weekend adventures and sleeping aboard, make no mistake, she's a thoroughbred meant for dashing through the waves, not hanging on the hook. To paraphrase the great writer Gertrude Stein, rose is a rose is a rose, by any other name, and this one is a race boat."[11]