Lagoon 42 Millenium

The Lagoon 42 Millenium is a sailing catamaran of 43'4" (13.22 m) overall on a 25'2" (7.68 m) beam, drawing 4'2" (1.26 m) and displacing 26,688 lbs (12,100 kg) unladen. She is built in a single four-cabin configuration, CE certified A: 12 / B: 14 / C: 20 / D: 30, and carries 151 gal (570 L) of fuel against 79 gal (300 L) of fresh water. Nauta Design handled the interior.

The platform underneath her is the point. More than 1,000 Lagoon 42s have been built, making her the world's best-selling catamaran, and the Millenium is Lagoon's limited-edition send-off for that hull: rather than starting from a bare boat and building your own specification, you are ordering one Lagoon has already outfitted to a defined standard. She is built around carrying people — family, their friends, guests — for weeks at a time, with the space that a 25'2" (7.68 m) beam buys on a 43-foot boat.

Under power she carries Twin Yanmar (2 x 57 HP). Lagoon publishes no speed figures for the Millenium, so make a proper sea trial part of your decision rather than relying on numbers you read somewhere. What you can judge on that trial is handling: engines set well outboard on a 25'2" (7.68 m) beam make close-quarters work a matter of throttles rather than nerve, and you can walk her sideways into a slip on the engines alone.

Upwind sail area is 94 m² (1,011 sq ft), carried on a high roach mainsail at 55 m² (592 sq ft) and a self-tacking jib at 35 m² (377 sq ft). That self-tacking jib is why two people can cruise a boat that berths twelve — tacking is a single motion at the helm, with no sheet to release and no one sent forward. A square top mainsail at 59 m² (635 sq ft) and a Code 0 at 78 m² (839 sq ft) are the options for light air. Air draft is 20.6 m (67'7"), a number to check against the fixed bridges on your intended route.

Four cabins, and only four — the Millenium is not offered as an owner's-hull version, and that is the first thing to be honest with yourself about. What you get in exchange is volume spread evenly across both hulls, with berths for six to twelve. The saloon is the part that surprises people who step aboard expecting a 42-footer: panoramic glazing all the way around, easy movement past someone without a negotiation, and high-quality, sustainable materials throughout.

Outside, the aft cockpit is arranged as several distinct living areas rather than one long bench, and its large table seats up to ten without anyone climbing over anyone. From there the cockpit extends onto a large terrace flush with the saloon, so there is no step between inside and out — exactly what you want carrying plates in one hand and a toddler in the other. Both spaces are well sheltered and well ventilated, which is the combination that decides whether people actually sit outside in August.

Within Lagoon's sailing range the 42 Millenium sits between the 38 below her and the 43 above. She is barely longer than the 38 — 43'4" (13.22 m) against 43'1" (13.12 m) — but far wider at 25'2" (7.68 m), and that beam is where the extra living space comes from. Against the 43 the distinction is layout flexibility rather than size: the 43 offers three- and four-cabin arrangements, while the Millenium commits to four. Cross-brand, she lines up against the Fountaine Pajot Astréa 42, Bali 4.2 and Excess 13, and like all of them she is sized to be run by her owners rather than by crew.

Buy the 42 Millenium if you genuinely fill a boat — kids and their friends, guests who keep coming back, or a charter-friendly program — and if you would rather order from a defined equipment list than argue with an options sheet for six months. The proven platform beneath her is the reassurance you are really buying. Buy the Lagoon 43 or the 38 instead if a private owner's hull is non-negotiable, because this edition simply does not offer one. And plan a watermaker from day one either way: 79 gal (300 L) of fresh water against twelve berths is the constraint that will shape your cruising, and no amount of clever packing fixes it.