Columbus Crossover 42 Review (2025 Edition) by Aquaholic

On Deck

Boarding is via a passerelle that extends out and retracts cleanly back into the bathing platform, which you can dip it into the water when needed. The whole aft end is built around a massive seawater pool with glass sides and it's a proper chill-out place with jets and benches that only look like they’re sloping because of refraction. It’s very deep at about two metres at the deep end, so it feels like a real pool rather than a token dunk. It dumps in about 5 minutes when you put to sea and refills in about 15mins when you want it back.

The aft deck itself is classic explorer territory. There’s an integrated crane section − you can vary the size when you spec the boat − so the deck will take a serious tender. This owner keeps just under a 6m (19ft) tender, but you can go right up to 9m (29ft) landed down the centreline and lashed for passage. Cruising locally you’d tow it or run it as a chase boat and for going long distance you bring it on board and away you go.

Circulation is easy thanks to lovely big wide treads on the stairs. Up a level, the upper deck opens aft as a relaxed terrace off the media lounge, with opening doors not just aft but on both sides − run it breezy and open from rail to rail. Forward on this deck you’ll find the working kit and wing stations tucked under neat housings port and starboard for close-quarters handling, life-raft storage, and clean side-deck runs.

Forward the bow feels like a little ship with twin capstans, huge bollards, big fenders, and the ship’s bell stamped 2025. Head up again and the sundeck turns into party central. The big beam and the flat run of the deck give you a simply huge social space − shaded forward, open sun right at the leading edge. There’s a proper catering zone rather than just a bar (sink, fridge, icemaker and storage) plus a TV that both retracts and swivels so you can spin the Grand Prix to wherever the crowd ends up. The dining table is timber but treated with those tactile textures that make it feel special rather than just a slab.

Above it all sits the mast stack (radar, satellite domes and antennas) with clip-on ladder points so crew can get up there for maintenance. Back at water level, the beach club hides clever structure too as the platform transformer slides away flush, and under it sits that saltwater pool, throwing mesmerising light down into the space.

The interior is absolutely stunning. You’ve got metallic finishes across the bar, pale marble that segues into light oak flooring, and it all comes together with designer lighting that makes the whole saloon glow.

There’s a big dining table with those massive windows down the sides so you’re always connected to the sea. And there’s a fireplace, which is not real; it’s water vapour rising up and catching the light, so you get all the cosiness without the risk. The owner has also added a small bar area right next to the galley, so in the mornings the family like to just get their own breakfast and sit together without bothering the crew. 

Forward, the finishes stay playful − screen-printed panels lit behind glass, metallic textures, and that striking light feature that runs vertically through the decks. Leather here, velvet there, glass and marble working against each other so the boat feels technical but warm. Even the dayheads get the treatment − accents of marble on the walls, lighter finishes across the vanity, all very considered.

Climb to the upper deck and it’s like stepping into a private cinema. It's a media or gaming lounge with sofas you can walk behind, the doors open aft, and also on both sides, so you can run it almost like a covered terrace, with breeze blowing right through.  Also, the ceilings aren’t just plain white fillers, they’re detailed with fabric and panels. 

Owner's Cabin

The owner’s cabin is on the main deck and straight away you’ve got a desk area you can use as an office if you want, shelving for your knick-knacks, and then a whole wall of wardrobes.  The finishes are playful here too. The wardrobe doors look dark and opaque, almost black, until you flick the light inside and then they glow through, so you get that trick of the senses. The carpet is edged all the way around with marble, which is a lovely touch, and the whole floor feels anchored by it.

The bed itself is absolutely enormous, and with those massive side windows, your view out at anchor or on passage is fantastic. Imagine lying there and seeing the horizon sweep past. Lighting, AV, and detail are all exactly where you want them. There are soft velvet panels that break up the darker grey finishes, so the room feels modern and technical but still warm and inviting. It doesn’t drift into old-school dark wood, and it avoids the pale-Ikea furniture trap people complain about.

The ensuite keeps the theme running. It’s got a double shower that actually works as a double shower so no awkward cold-shoulder shuffling. Marble, metallic finishes, twin basins and plenty of room. 

Guest Accommodation

On the lower deck, one of the twins has a Pullman bunk, so you can squeeze in an extra guest or let the kids pile in. That takes the total sleeping up to 11 across four twin cabins, plus the Pullman, plus the owner’s cabin.

Even the “smallest” of these cabins feels massive. Wardrobes are sleek, push-to-open with no handles sticking out, and each has its own ensuite. AV kit is neatly built in, bathrooms are properly finished with marble, and everything feels integrated.

One cabin runs as a double with a really wide bed. You might think there’s no TV, but there is − it drops out of the ceiling and hinges down so you can watch in bed. 

Go aft and the cabins get bigger again, with proper hull windows flooding them with light. The ensuites here are almost owner standard − twin sinks, big showers, pocket doors to keep the space open. And the finishes keep pace with the rest of the yacht with things like velvet panels to soften things up and dark woods offset by lighter flooring. Safety hasn’t been forgotten either. Down here you’ve got a watertight compartment with the buttons ready if you ever needed to isolate sections of the hull mid-Atlantic. Hopefully you’ll never use it, but it’s reassuring to know it’s there.

Crew Accommodation

The crew quarters has four cabins, all two-berth, and all a really nice size. Each has its own heads with a separate shower, and this is important as this is an explorer yacht designed for long passages, so the crew need to be comfortable. Even down here you get the sense it’s been built for the long haul.

There’s a crew mess too, a good size, with laundry facilities right alongside. Total crew is up to nine, with an ensuite captain’s cabin by the bridge. 

There are a couple of ways into the machinery space: one is through the beach club with a watertight door, the other is a side-deck stair so engineers can get down there without stepping onto the platform in heavy weather. However you go, you end up in an absolutely colossal engine room - just what you’d expect on a 42-metre.

Main power comes from a pair of Caterpillar C32s. They’re 740kW each, which works out to about 1,000 horsepower a side. That doesn’t sound massive for a yacht this size, but this isn’t a planing boat. It’s a steel-hulled displacement hull, so instead of lifting onto the plane, it just pushes steadily along.

Performance figures are right in line with that. Flat out you’re looking at about 14.5 knots. Slow down to 12 knots and you’ve got an easy, comfortable cruise. Drop it further to 10 knots and the numbers open right up to roughly 5,500 nautical miles of range. That’s transatlantic range, properly big league.  

The engine room itself is a pleasure to move around. You can walk all the way around the blocks, get at everything. Instrumentation screens are mounted neatly on the bulkheads, and the control systems are all lined up across the back. On one side you’ve got a massive generator, on the other another one, so you’ve got redundancy built in. There’s a Watermaker down here too, again properly installed and labelled.

When you step into ownership of a yacht like the Columbus Crossover 42 you’re not just buying the steel and aluminium, you’re taking on the ecosystem that keeps it moving. Crew are the biggest single piece of that. You’ll need up to nine of them, from the captain down to engineers, deckhands and stews, and they’re not optional extras. Salaries, food, training, uniforms, the whole lot adds up, and on a yacht of this size crew typically account for a quarter of the running budget. 

For insurance, you’re looking at comprehensive cover for hull and machinery, liability for guests and crew, plus P&I cover to keep you protected wherever you roam. It’s measured in the tens of thousands every year, and as this is an oceangoing explorer with long legs rather than a coastal dayboat, underwriters will price accordingly. Also for fuel, twin Caterpillar C32s aren’t thirsty for the fun of it, as they are pushing a steel displacement hull with the weight of a superyacht. At a steady 12-knot cruise you could be looking at several hundred litres an hour.

Beyond crew, insurance and fuel, you’ll also want to budget for the smaller but relentless costs that keep a yacht this size in top trim. Annual yard periods bring haul-outs, antifoul, class surveys and regulatory inspections. There’s the constant churn of maintenance and spares − from air-con chillers and watermakers through to galley kit and AV systems − plus upgrades to keep pace with tech. Dockage and shore power in prime Med marinas are never cheap, and catering for guests, from fine wines to fresh produce flown in, soon mounts up. Even the tenders and toys bring their own servicing bills.

The Columbus Crossover 42 feels absolutely magnificent from the moment you step on board - the seawater pool, the vast tender deck, the sundeck that turns into a party zone. Inside it’s light, modern and technical but still warm, with an owner’s cabin that’s as inviting as it is impressive and guest spaces that never feel like a compromise. Add in crew quarters that are genuinely comfortable and an engine room built for transatlantic range, and you’ve got a yacht that feels dramatic on deck, cosy inside, and in the big leagues when it comes to long-distance cruising.