Olympic Sea 42
OLYMPIC MARINE · Doug Peterson · 1985
Updated
The Olympic Sea 42 is a 12.22 m heavy displacement racing yacht designed by Doug Peterson and built by OLYMPIC MARINE, first launched in 1985. It races in Class C.
Length
12.22 m
40′ 1″
Beam
3.91 m
Draft
2.02 m
Displacement
8.7 t
Sail area
82 m²
On the podium
Where a Olympic Sea 42 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
23%
of 35 starts by 3 boats
Wins
3%
Read from 35 starts by 3 boats between 2018 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Olympic Sea 42 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
Kypello Voreiou Aigaiou2026- Aegean Regatta2025
- Apostole Paul2024
- Aegean Regatta2024
Trofeo Bottiglieri2024
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 8 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
27%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Olympic Sea 42 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
First 44.7 (7 meetings), Moody 34 (7 meetings), Xp 44 (5 meetings), Rm 126 (5 meetings), X-562 (5 meetings), Elan 31 (Design) (5 meetings), Hanse 370 (5 meetings), Optima 101 (5 meetings), Baltic 37 (5 meetings), X-442 (5 meetings), Oceanis 50 (5 meetings), First 29 (5 meetings), Hallberg Rassy 26 (5 meetings), Dufour 3800 (5 meetings), Rush 31 (5 meetings), Dromor 26 (5 meetings), First 45 (Farr) (5 meetings), Dufour 40 (5 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Olympic Sea 42 has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.12
39°
Beam reach
8.05
90°
Broad reach
8.66
135°
Downwind VMG
7.75
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
There is no obvious weak spot here. It rewards preparation and crew work more than it rewards picking the right day.
Where it gains
Its best ground is upwind in a strong breeze, where it does more than its size and sail area promise, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage across the wind as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short on a broad reach in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is weight that has to be driven rather than released.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the beam reach.
How fast is a Olympic Sea 42
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.12 | 4.41 | 4.98 | 5.12 |
| 52° | 4.85 | 6.53 | 7.13 | 7.28 |
| 60° | 5.16 | 6.78 | 7.32 | 7.49 |
| 75° | 5.36 | 6.96 | 7.52 | 7.81 |
| 90° | 5.23 | 7.00 | 7.62 | 8.05 |
| 110° | 5.25 | 7.17 | 7.85 | 8.52 |
| 120° | 5.07 | 7.06 | 7.84 | 8.73 |
| 135° | 4.56 | 6.67 | 7.67 | 8.66 |
| 150° | 3.88 | 6.00 | 7.32 | 8.29 |
| Run VMG | 3.35 | 5.20 | 6.57 | 7.75 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Roughly half carry a folding propeller. Crew weight is declared around 620 kg.
Rigging
Olympic Sea 42 rig and sail dimensions
A Olympic Sea 42 carries 13.74 m of mainsail hoist on a 4.39 m boom, a forestay 15.57 m above the deck. Typical figures across the 2 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails