2003 Beneteau Oceanis 42CC "AFFINITY", Alameda, CA (Richard Boland Yachts)

Ask the broker for everything in writing before any offer or survey money is spent: engine hours, rigging age and invoice, sail build years and cloth, bottom paint date, service records, prior surveys, insurance condition reports, and the full maintenance file.

This listing discloses less than any I have assessed, and after this re-audit most of the budget sits in risks rather than costs precisely because of that — one document would collapse the sail, rigging, engine, hatch, refrigeration and hose questions at once.

Why is the boat for sale, how long has it been listed, has it been on the market before, and how has it been used — private cruising, charter or liveaboard?

YachtWorld's comp set puts AFFINITY at $130,000 against US 42CCs asking $89,000, $89,900, $108,500 and $137,041 — above the median with the thinnest disclosure of the five.

What is the deck core material on the 42CC, and will the seller permit a full moisture-meter survey — coachroof, both side decks, every stanchion base, the teak toerail fastener line and every hatch frame — with the boat hauled?

I could not confirm the core material from any source I trust, and on a 23-year-old deck with through-bolted teak toerails running both sides this is the largest financial risk and the one a survey can settle outright.

What are the engine hours, and is the Yanmar 4JH3E original or a repower? Wikipedia and Yachting World both record a Volvo as standard with a 75hp Yanmar as the option, so where does a 56hp Yanmar come from — and what is the full engine serial and suffix?

Hours are undisclosed on a 23-year-old engine, and the difference between a documented recent repower and a tired original is the largest single swing after the deck.

Which keel is fitted — the 5.92ft standard wing or the 5.2ft shoal — measured at the haulout rather than read off a spec sheet? Has the boat ever been grounded, and when were the keel bolts last inspected or torqued?

Both variants clear the 6.5ft gate so this is not a disqualifier, but a model-range specification is not proof of this hull's keel, a wing keel is far more likely than a fin to catch and hold on coral in an atoll pass, and two sources disagree about which variant carries more ballast.

When was the standing rigging last replaced, and is there an invoice? If it is original 2003 wire, say so plainly. Is the inner forestay still fitted, or has the cutter rig been converted to a sloop?

The largest retained cost item, and it is explicitly conditional — an invoice retires it. The cutter-versus-sloop half decides whether the boat already has the staysail capability the Puddle Jump material calls close to essential.

Will an underwriter quote a San Francisco to Brisbane passage on this hull with a two-person crew, and what will they require — rigging age, liferaft, EPIRB, minimum crew miles, a survey within a given period?

The insurer's conditions frequently set the real refit scope and can make replacing the rigging non-negotiable regardless of measured condition, which would move that cost item's probability to 1.0.

Is an autopilot fitted at all? If so: control head, heading sensor, course computer, rudder reference, drive type and capacity, current draw, and how it has performed loaded and downwind in a following sea.

The listing is silent, which means unknown rather than absent — nothing has been credited and nothing has been costed. The answer decides whether your generic autopilot line applies in full or not at all, and the drive must be a reversing hydraulic pump rather than the catalogued linear drive.

Given hydraulic steering, get a rigger's or dealer's view: what will an EV-200 with a reversing hydraulic pump cost installed here, and can any windvane be made to work, or is an auxiliary-rudder Hydrovane the only realistic option?

Two catalogue lines change shape on this hull — the linear drive is wrong and a servo-pendulum Monitor is probably unworkable — and an auxiliary-rudder vane is dearer but doubles as emergency steering on a boat with one hydraulic circuit and no cable fallback.

What year were the mainsail and headsail built, by whom, and in what cloth? What condition are they in, and is there any other sail aboard — staysail, storm jib, trysail or downwind sail?

The single largest correction in this revision moved $11,500 of sail replacement out of the cost baseline and into a risk; this question is what resolves it in either direction, and it is now the highest-value question on the list.

Can Beneteau or the class association supply the 2003 brochure, general equipment list and owner's manual for this hull number, and is there a published limit of positive stability or RCD stability index for the 42CC?

The heritage page says a brochure and equipment list exist but I could not open them, and a capsize screening formula of 1.90 is a crude proxy — the actual stability curve is what tells you whether this is a Category A boat in more than name.

Is there measurable play at the rudder stock, does the blade sound solid when tapped along its lower third, how much does the rudder float on its thrust washer, and have the bearings ever been replaced?

A free-standing spade with no skeg, on a design where an owner has publicly reported the rudder riding up off its bush and tripping the autopilot — and bearing wear is much harder to feel through a hydraulic helm than a cable one.

How do the shrouds and the inner forestay land — hull-mounted chainplates or an inboard structural grid — and can the plates be inspected without removing joinery?

I could not establish this from any source, and chainplate condition is normally only discovered during a rig job, when the marginal inspection cost is near zero and the alternative is finding out at sea.

Is there an emergency tiller aboard? Does it fit, can it be shipped from the centre cockpit single-handed, has anyone actually steered the boat with it, and is there a bypass valve on the hydraulic cylinder?

On a hydraulically-steered boat with no cable option the emergency tiller is the entire backup, and without a bypass valve it has to push oil through the whole circuit.

What is actually fitted — house bank size, chemistry and age, start battery, charger, inverter, and the alternator's make and rated output — and is the boat wired 120V/30A US shore power or 220V?

The listing describes no electrical system, so nothing is credited and nothing is costed; the alternator is presumed fitted and deliberately not priced, and a 220V-wired hull in Alameda is a materially different refit.

On sea trial: what RPM does the engine reach at wide-open throttle, what is the coolant temperature after twenty minutes at cruise, is there smoke at load, and what is the oil pressure hot at idle?

With hours undisclosed this is the cheapest read available, and low hot idle oil pressure is the specific tell owners cite for bottom-end wear on this model.

Can current C-Map NT cartography covering French Polynesia, the Coral Sea and eastern Australia still be bought for the fitted L760? Does it power up, hold a GPS fix and drive the radar, and what generation are the depth, speed and wind instruments?

The chartplotter, radar and instruments are all now credited aboard, so this is the question that decides whether those credits survive — if the cartography is unobtainable, the catalogue plotter line stands again in full and the instruments likely go with it.

How many through-hulls does the boat have, what are the valves made of, are any of them gate valves, are any reachable only by emptying a locker, and were any replaced since 2003?

Servicing the valves is now the cost item and wholesale replacement is a risk, so this question is what decides which of the two you are facing.

When was the bottom last painted, what antifouling was used, and is there any blistering history? Where would the boat be berthed during the refit, and does that change the district use-tax rate from Alameda's 9.25%?

Bottom paint is a costed line at 0.70 purely because the listing does not date it, so one sentence retires it; and district use-tax rates vary enough across Bay Area counties to be worth a deliberate decision.

Cycle the hydraulic drop-down transom several times: does it operate smoothly, does the seal look sound, and can it be mechanically secured shut for an ocean passage?

A second 23-year-old hydraulic circuit in the wettest part of the boat, doing a job that is purely a convenience — and on a low counter stern a transom that will not stay shut is not cosmetic.

Have any hatches or ports been rebedded, does the boat leak anywhere in heavy Bay Area winter rain, and will the surveyor hose-test the deck?

Rebedding left the cost baseline in this revision for want of any leak evidence; a hose test both retires that risk and bears directly on the deck-core risk above it.

Have a hydraulics specialist pressure-test the steering: what make and model is it, does it hold pressure, are the cylinder and helm pump seals dry, and when was the fluid last changed?

There is no cable option on this design, so this circuit is single-point for the whole voyage, and the test is what separates the retained service cost from the reseal risk.

How old is the 150ft of 5/16in chain and has it been re-galvanised? What condition is the gypsy in, is it a G4 profile, and what make and model is the windlass? Is there a second anchor aboard at all?

Chain, anchor and windlass are all now credited aboard, so this question protects three credits at once — and if the chain proves original and pitted the shortfall goes back to the full 300ft.

Is the refrigeration working, what unit is it, how old is it, and how well is the box insulated?

Replacement left the cost baseline in this revision because the listing says a fridge is fitted and does not say it is broken; one answer resolves the risk entirely in either direction.

Shaft or saildrive? If a saildrive, what model and when was the diaphragm last replaced? What propeller is fitted, and when were the cutless bearing, shaft seal and alignment last done?

Stated nowhere in the listing or any specification I found, and the answer decides whether the saildrive risk fires at all — one photograph settles it.

How old is the potable and sanitary hose, what are the water tanks made of, what is the holding tank arrangement for two heads, and will the surveyor flood the centre cockpit and time the drains?

Hose renewal left the cost baseline in this revision, and the cockpit-drain test is one almost nobody performs — on a centre cockpit a drain failure arrives in the accommodation rather than a locker.

How many usable sea berths does this layout give a two-person watch system, and is the aft master under the cockpit habitable at sea? How hot and how ventilated is it below in warm weather?

Yachting World criticised the ventilation directly, the aft cabin sits under the cockpit where it is noisiest and warmest, and where the off-watch sleeps on a twenty-day passage is not something refit money fixes cheaply.

Is there a bimini or any cockpit shade beyond the hard dodger, and how old is the hard dodger itself?

A centre cockpit has no natural shade and the bimini frame is also the best solar location on this hull, so the canvas and the generic solar mounting should be designed as one job.

What is the actual fuel capacity, what is the tank made of, does it have an inspection port, where is it, and when was the fuel last polished or the tank last opened?

63 gallons would be a real strength for the doldrums if confirmed, and a fuel sample is what decides whether the tank-cleaning risk fires.

Given Lewmar's own chart puts a 43.5ft boat between the 22lb and 35lb Delta with a note to move up a model if in doubt, is the fitted 25lb Delta the anchor you want for a year of atoll anchoring, or do you want a size up and a modern concave design?

This is the correction I most want you to overrule me on if you disagree: I previously called the fitted anchor grossly undersized and the manufacturer's data does not support that, so it is now your judgement call rather than my asserted cost.

Will the surveyor pressure and leak test the propane system, and is there a liferaft, EPIRB, jackline hard points or fire equipment aboard that the listing simply did not mention?

The gas test is retained as a cost and component renewal is a risk conditional on it; and the rest of the safety inventory is unknown rather than absent, so the answer decides how much of your generic catalogue actually applies.

Measure the aft deck: will a 3.1m RIB sit there on passage, and are there existing pad eyes, chocks or davit mounts?

The aft deck is one of this boat's genuine advantages over the smaller candidates, and confirming it takes a tender decides whether your generic dinghy stowage line is trivial or a fabrication job.

What winches are fitted — make, model, how many, and are they self-tailing? When were they last stripped and serviced?

Never mentioned in the listing, cheap to fix, and on a 43-footer sailed by two people a winch that slips under load is a safety problem rather than a maintenance one.