Wauquiez Pilot Saloon 42
Old salts grouse about modern aesthetics. It’s just what they do, and the hard lines and spartan interiors of today’s production boats give them many reasons to complain. French builder Wauquiez, however, seems to consistently be able to marry contemporary elements with old-school sophistication, as is evident in its new Pilot Saloon 42, winner of the mid-sized monohull cruising boat category in SAIL’s 2019 Best Boats contest.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
Wauquiez was formed in the 1960s and has been building its Pilot Saloon models—boats that have been popular as ocean-crossers due to their durability and speed—since the early 1990s.
The latest Berret-Racoupeau-designed Pilot Saloon 42 employs infused sandwich construction with a balsa core to provide stiffness, insulation and weight-savings. A composite structural grid is
