It’s not unusual for a production sailboat builder to make a foray into the powerboat market. One of the earliest examples was Bristol Yachts, which debuted the Bristol 42 Offshore Trawler in 1969.
Bristol Yachts got its start in 1964 after Clinton “Clint” Pearson, who had founded Pearson Yachts with his cousin Everett in 1956, left that company, bought out Sailstar, and hired Carl Alberg to design the Bristol 27 sloop. Alberg had previously designed the hugely successful Pearson Triton 28. Bristol Yachts rapidly became known for solid craftsmanship and a line of well-finished, stoutly built sailboats drawn by Alberg, Halsey Herreshoff and Ted Hood.
Between 1969 and 1981, Bristol Yachts built two trawlers, a 38 and a 42—both displacement hulls with diesel propulsion. Clint Pearson tapped the venerable firm of Eldredge-McInnis to design the 42. That company’s naval architects conceived a two-stateroom layout with aft and forward cabins—each with private head compartments— separated by a raised salon. The salon had facing bench seats and a dining table aft, a portside galley and a lower helm to starboard. Two wooden sliding sidedoors gave easy access to the weather decks, the foredeck and the aft cockpit for safe line handling or docking.
Like other aft cabin trawlers already on the market, access to the flybridge was attained from the side deck aft, which led to the top of the aft cabin, and then up a short ladder. The upper helm was positioned on centerline, providing good visibility for docking to either side. A mast and boom aided in launching a dinghy from the aft cabin hardtop.
The 42 had a full-length keel with an attached rudder and a draft of 4 feet. In a grounding, the keel was deep enough to protect the running gear. Usually the 42 had twin prop shafts, but sometimes a single. Rounded bilges optimized the rolling motion and flatter aft sections provided clean water to the propellers.
Standard fuel capacity was 350 gallons, offering an 800- to 900-mile cruising range. An optional 150-gallon tank gave it a range of well over 1,000 miles. Depending on propulsion and tankage, displacement ranged from 26,000 to 30,000 pounds. According to Ed McKnew’s PowerBoat Guide, standard power was either a single 130-hp Perkins or a 120-hp Lehman diesel, but most Bristol 42s were sold with twin Perkins diesels that gave the trawlers a 7- to 8-knot cruise with a 12-knot top speed.
At first, Bristol Yachts advertised the 42 Offshore Trawler with an emphasis on the handlaid “completely American-built, all fiberglass construction.” But in the early 1970s, production was shifted overseas to India, where labor was less expensive and the reach into the West Coast and Pacific markets was more cost effective. Bristol Yachts went out of business in 1997.
December 2024
