XC42

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Danish brand X-Yachts has built an enviable reputation for making quality racing yachts for more than 40 years. In 2008, it took a gamble and launched the Xcruising range with the XC45. In doing so, it proved it could make quality, comfortable cruising yachts with a turn of speed. The XC45 won European Yacht of the Year in 2009, and later the same year the XC42 was launched.

Andrew and Karen Hunt bought their XC42 in 2011, but the condition of Freya means you’d be forgiven if you thought you had turned to the pages of a new boat test by accident. She is immaculate. If it wasn’t for the polished off satin varnish on the wooden fiddles around the yacht, and the aroma that the boat heads acquire (from the shower drain), she could have come out of the X-Yachts factory yesterday.

While the XC range was aimed at cruising – with their tankage low down for great stability, a fuller hull with increased rocker for a more spacious interior, and deeper V-shaped forward sections for greater comfort – they still had the