Sail area / displacement
How much sail the boat carries for its weight — its power in light air.
- 20.2· Performance
How it is worked out
sail area (ft²) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅔
mainsail + genoa, added up
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Rustler 42 sailing — Rustler Yachts
Design
- Designer
- Stephen Jones
Summary
- Length overall
- 42 ft
- Beam
- 13.3 ft
- Draft
- 6.2 ft
- Displacement
- 25,995 lb
- Cabins
- 2
* A standard reference image, not the actual boat — shown to help visualise this model's published dimensions.
Best Suited For
- Bluewater Cruising
From the published figures: CE Category A · LOA 12.81 m
- Short-Handed
From the published figures: LOA 12.81 m · mainsail 40.88 m²
Tags are derived from certified class, length, sail area, accommodation and tankage using the criteria described on the Sources page; an editor may add or remove one.
Sailing Ratios
Classic yacht-design ratios worked out from the builder's published figures, each shown against the bands designers read it by.
Displacement / length
How heavy the boat is for its waterline length. Lower is lighter and quicker; higher is steadier and roomier.
- not published: waterline length
How it is worked out
displacement (long tons) ÷ (0.01 × waterline length in ft)³
Ballast ratio
The share of the weight carried in the keel — a rough guide to stiffness, though how deep that weight sits matters as much.
- 40· High
How it is worked out
ballast ÷ displacement × 100
Comfort ratio
Ted Brewer's measure of how gently a boat moves in a seaway. Higher means a slower, easier motion.
- not published: waterline length
How it is worked out
displacement (lb) ÷ (0.65 × (0.7 × LWL + 0.3 × LOA) × beam^1.333), lengths in ft
Capsize screening
A guide from the inquiry after the 1979 Fastnet race: below 2 was taken as suited to ocean passages. It ignores hull shape and where the ballast sits.
- 1.80· Below 2
How it is worked out
beam (ft) ÷ (displacement as ft³ of seawater)^⅓
Hull speed
Roughly the speed a displacement hull reaches before it has to climb its own bow wave.
- not published: waterline length
How it is worked out
1.34 × √(waterline length in ft), in knots
Most builders publish a light displacement. The ratios were defined on a loaded boat, so every boat here reads a little lighter than a surveyor's figure would — all alike, which keeps them comparable.
Design Category
Certified CE design category A (Ocean): the wind and waves the EU Recreational Craft Directive says this boat is designed to take.
- D
Sheltered waters
- Wind
- up to Beaufort 4
- Waves
- up to 0.3 m
- C
Inshore
- Wind
- up to Beaufort 6
- Waves
- up to 2 m
- B
Offshore
- Wind
- up to Beaufort 8
- Waves
- up to 4 m
- AThis boat
Ocean
- Wind
- above Beaufort 8
- Waves
- above 4 m
Design limits set by the EU Recreational Craft Directive (2013/53/EU), in significant wave height. A category covers the conditions of those below it. It is the limit the boat was designed to, not a promise that it is safe in any conditions within it — that judgement stays with the skipper.
A figure marked with a quote mark was read from the builder's page. Open it for the exact line, the page and the date.
Dimensions
- LOA
- 42 ft (12.81 m)
- Hull length
- —
- LWL
- —
- Beam
- 13.3 ft (4.06 m)
- Draft (min)
- 6.2 ft (1.89 m)
- Draft (max)
- 6.2 ft (1.89 m)
- Air draft
- —
- Displacement
- 25,995 lb (11,791 kg)
- Ballast
- 10,298 lb (4,671 kg)
- Cabins
- 2
- Heads
- —
- Berths
- —
Sail Plan
- Main sail
- 440 ft² (40.88 m²)
- Jib
- —
- Genoa
- 670 ft² (62.25 m²)
- Sail area
- —
- Downwind sail area
- —
- Rig type
- —
Engine and Tanks
- Engine
- —
- Engine count
- 1
- Engine manufacturer
- Yanmar
- Propulsion type
- —
- Fuel capacity
- —
- Fresh water capacity
- —
- Black water capacity
- —
Construction
- Mast material
- —
- Hull material
- GRP
- Deck material
- —
- Keel type
- long fin keel
- Rudder type
- —
- Steering wheels
- —
Builder's Own Figures
- Yankee
- 49.80 sq.m
- Staysail
- 16.63 sq.m
Figures read fromwww.rustleryachts.com/rustler42/· Principal Dimensionsread 9/20/2026
Brochure
Download the official Rustler 42 brochure (PDF)About Rustler Yachts
Semi-custom
British builder of hand-built, bespoke cruising monohulls, based in Falmouth since the early 1980s.
The first Rustler 36 was built at Falmouth in the early 1980s, and Rustler has been building there ever since, by hand, in a mixture of traditional method and current technology. Hundreds of owners have had a boat designed and built for them in that time, and no two have ever been specified alike. The yachts are manufactured on the premises rather than assembled from parts: the engineering, the moulding and the joinery are all done by the yard's own staff, and nothing is outsourced. The company is deliberately small and personal, and an owner deals directly with the people building the boat, from the tailored design through the handover trials.
Visit brand pageThe Rustler Yachts Range
Every model Rustler Yachts publishes, by length — where this one sits in the range.
- Rustler 5757.1 ft
- Rustler 4444.3 ft
- Rustler 42· this model42 ft
- Rustler 3737 ft
- Rustler 3334 ft
- Rustler 2424.4 ft
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