FairKeel → Buyer's guides → Lagoon 42
2015–present · designed by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost (VPLP) · built by Lagoon
Modern cruising catamaran with a self-tacking jib and side helm, arranged for small-crew sail handling and shared cockpit/saloon living. Lagoon dates the start of assembly to 2015 and the public launch to 2016. Evaluate actual access, visibility and accommodation with the intended crew.
Check this first — This is the modern design launched in 2016, not the unrelated 1990s Lagoon 42 TPI. It includes later Millenium editions only where this same platform is confirmed. Preliminary and later specifications differ: the dimensions here use Lagoon's later published 13.22 m overall length, not the 12.79 m hull length. Original engine, sail and equipment options must follow the hull's documents; do not override a documented early specification with this later baseline.
This is a general read on the Lagoon 42 class — informed background, not a verdict on any individual boat. Condition, refit history, and how a particular hull was sailed and stored matter far more than class reputation. Use it to know what to look for; for a read on a specific listing, run a free FairKeel report on that boat.
Looking at a specific Lagoon 42? Run it free → We grade that listing's own claims against what's known about the class, and flag the gaps a survey would catch. Free, no account.
Request make, model and service documentation for each engine and saildrive. Confirm any replacement or upgrade rather than deriving machinery from model year alone.
Demonstrate tacking, furling and reefing with the intended crew. Ask the rigger to examine control runs, attachments and modifications that affect access or loads.
Locate moisture or repairs against the original laminate schedule. Include the areas around glazing and equipment attachments; distinguish a finish crack from a structural finding.
Check both rudder assemblies and the connecting controls. Demonstrate emergency steering and ensure access is not obstructed by stored equipment.
Inventory batteries, charging, watermaking and climate equipment. Ask how additions affected weight, service access and the original electrical design.
This guide is the class. A report is that hull. Paste the listing you're looking at and FairKeel grades every claim in it against what's known about the Lagoon 42 — where the evidence is thin, the red flags worth a second look, the costs likely to land in your first season, and whether the boat suits the plans you describe in a few short questions.
It won't read the photos or put a number on the boat — that's the $249 Deep-Dive, and for the real answer, a surveyor. It will tell you when a Deep-Dive isn't worth buying. Free, no account, usually a minute or two.
Run a free report on your listing →See something that doesn't look right? We'd love to know — email us about the Lagoon 42 →