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Viking almost never uses the bulkhead slip at its facility in Riviera Beach, Florida — the water against the seawall is too shallow to allow you to turn a boat bow outward to leave. With the new 42 Open, however, we could pull straight out and then slide the boat sideways until we were in deep enough water to turn the stern toward shore, and then head out of the marina. Once again, the use of pod propulsion opens up another opportunity.
Performance
Wind from the northwest at about 20 knots generated little in the way of seas near the beach, but offshore — out in the Gulf Stream — the seas grew quickly and dramatically. Even in these less than calm conditions, with 300 gallons of fuel and three people aboard, the twin 600-horsepower Cummins diesels lifted us to a 36-knot top speed. With the Zeus joystick, you can generate up to 1,800 rpm, which spins the boat unbelievably fast. Your angler will be hard-pressed to reel up the slack as fast as it spins. Another advantage of pod propulsion is that you can easily cut your billfish release times in half — a distinct advantage in tournaments. If you happen to get a fish that’s barely hooked, or bill wrapped, and you need to get a release fast, you don’t have to stop trolling, take the boat out of trolling mode and then start after the fish. You just shove the throttle forward and start your turn instantly. Turning radius is throttle-related; the faster you go, the broader the turn’s arc. Tighten the arc by slowing down.
Compared to other Vikings, the 42 sports a comparatively deep 17-degree deadrise at transom. Often with a deeper vee like this, you sacrifice roll stability. However, what it does do is make up for the shorter waterline — resulting in superb head-sea ability.
The roll moment is short and transitions are moderate.
You’ve never seen tracking control in reverse like this! It easily runs 7.4 knots in reverse with total directional control. It takes a mere six seconds to plane and 12 seconds to hit 30 mph. And to meet a variety of sea conditions, the Zeus’ integral tabs offer a huge range of trim. Those who like to bottomfish will also particularly appreciate the Skyhook function.
As usual, with Viking’s first hull of any particular model, the factory installs the maximum horsepower for optimum impressive performance. In this case, it’s a pair of Cummins 600-horsepower turbo diesels. Standard power drops down to 440 horses.
Bridge Deck
An unusual design element finds the companion seats somewhat aft of the helm seat, resulting in excellent visibility in all directions from the wheel. Even with 10 people seated on the bridge deck during the sea trial, we still had plenty of room. Because the entire helm is also set back from the dash, you can walk in front of the helm to sit or go belowdecks. This design always keeps the helmsman within a step or two of the fishing action going on in the cockpit.
Viking provides huge spaces under both bridge settees, with accommodations for heavy tackle storage.
Cockpit
Mezzanines are de rigueur on sport-fishing boats nowadays, and this 42 is no exception. Freezers hide under both mezzanine seats, large storage compartments outboard offer vast storage and dedicated tackle storage is housed just above the mezzanine seats.
As with every Viking, you can design your cockpit layout any way you wish when it comes to freezers, fish boxes and the livewell. Our test boat boasts a 60-gallon transom livewell that doubles as a fish box (in addition to two in-deck fish boxes).
