You know the Swiss Army knife? The one that can handle any task from opening a wine bottle to sawing wood? Well, if there were a Swiss Army knife of yachts, then it would be the new Viking 42 Open. Whether your plans are to stalk king salmon or walleye far out on the lake, spend a lazy weekend at anchor with your family, or entertain friends with an onboard barbecue, the 42 Open fits the bill perfectly. Viking has a long and distinguished heritage of building sportfishing warwagons that populate the marinas of the Gulf Stream and Mexico, of course, but this is a breakthrough design that draws on all that fishing history to create a yacht perfect for the Great Lakes. As a starting point, the hull is designed to slice and dice those nasty square-edged seas, no matter whether they’re salty or fresh. With vacuum-bagged balsa coring in the hull, blister-resistant epoxy resins in the outer skin and composite bulkheads, the 42 Open is one tough machine. With a deeper vee (17 degrees) and plenty of flare to the nearly 16-foot beam, the 42 is soft-riding and dry. But this isn’t your usual Viking and, if you take a look 20 LAKELANDBOATING.COM O C T O B E R 2 011
at her when she’s hauled out, you’d be surprised by the absence of prop shafts and rudders. No, Viking dipped its toes into new territory with a pair of Cummins Zeus pod drives, and wow do they make a difference. This drive system frees up immense interior space, improves fuel economy, increases speed and, if that isn’t enough, makes this a no-fuss-no-muss yacht to handle. On our test run, we had to get out of one of those nasty little slips: Rocks close on one side, water so shallow on the other that the birds were standing to watch us, and very expensive yachts close ahead. Add in a strong crosswind, and this had the makings of a skipper’s nightmare. But no. We simply pulled forward and, using the joystick control with two fingers and nary a white knuckle, walked the yacht sideways into deep and unobstructed water. It was a terrible disappointment to the spectators on shore. Step aboard the 42 Open, and you can’t help but be impressed by the sheer size of the cockpit. Granted, it may have been designed to land 500-pound fish, but having a big waterlevel cockpit makes swimming off the stern easy, boarding a tender effortless and sprawling in the sun unobstructed. There are two big lockers in the cockpit sole perfect for fenders, dock lines and even the water hose. In