Solace Boats 42CS, the Two-Row Flagship From Edgewater

Solace Boats moves its flagship to two rows

Solace Boats has spent its short life rethinking how a center console should work, and the 42CS is its latest answer. Solace calls it the new flagship and sums up the idea in one line: why have one row of seats when you can have two? The boat puts a second full row of seating behind the helm, under the hardtop and behind the windshield, so more guests ride with the captain's view and out of the weather. Behind that second row is an aft cockpit bulkhead with opening glass, meant to cut wind and noise in the seating area.

The 42CS first appeared on Solace's website in October 2025, with the builder describing it as a new offshore center console to be released in early 2026, and Solace has since shown it at 2026 boat shows. Its arrival coincides with a lineup reshuffle. The 41CS, winner of a Miami innovation award, and the diesel-powered 415CS have moved to Solace's legacy models page, leaving the 42CS as the largest monohull in a range that now runs 28HCS, 30CS, 32CS, 35CS, 37CS, 37PILOT and the 40CT and 41CT catamarans.

A Boston Whaler, Edgewater and Everglades family tree

To understand Solace boats, start with the family behind them. Bob Dougherty was a chief engineer and later senior vice president at Boston Whaler, where his work on unsinkable hull designs earned him the nickname Mr. Unsinkable. His son Stephen started on the Whaler assembly line at 17 and helped set up the company's Edgewater, Florida plant when Whaler moved south in 1982.

The Doughertys went on to found Edgewater Powerboats, built from a single prototype into a company of about 100 people and eight models, and then Everglades Boats in 2001, which used Bob Dougherty's award-winning Rapid Molded Core Assembly Process. Stephen left Everglades in 2012, waited out a non-compete by running Dougherty Manufacturing with his wife Sarah, and then launched Solace. The first boat, the 345, arrived in 2019 and was named Boating's Boat of the Year.

Solace builds its boats, its tooling and plugs and many of its components on a campus in Edgewater, Florida that Sport Fishing described as 200,000 square feet on 16 acres. The company bought two five-axis routers, one able to machine a boat up to 60 feet long, so that design and tooling stay in house.

The 41CS hull underneath

The 42CS name suggests a new, longer hull, but Solace's own specifications tell a different story. The 42CS lists a length overall of 40 feet 7 inches, a 12-foot-3 beam, a draft of 27 inches with engines up and 35 inches down, 49 degrees of deadrise at the bow, 22 degrees at the transom, an approximate dry weight with engines of 22,450 lb, 6 feet 4 inches of cabin headroom and 8 feet 9 inches of bridge clearance without radar. Every one of those figures matches the legacy 41CS. In other words, the 42CS is a new deck and seating plan on a proven running surface.

That running surface is a twin-step ventilated hull, which Solace says gives a smooth, dry ride, precise handling and better fuel efficiency. On the 41CS it was built by vacuum infusion with carbon fiber, Innegra and epoxy resin, and featured reversed tracking chines and a hydrodynamic release for faster planing. Salt Water Sportsman's tester found the 41CS nimble yet steady in hard turns and avoidance maneuvers in a 3 to 5 foot chop off New Smyrna Beach, with no spray issues despite a stiff breeze.

Where the 42CS differs is in tankage and fishing capacity. Fuel rises to 700 gallons from the 41CS's 681, fresh water to 70 gallons from 60, and the twin livewells are listed at 40 gallons each rather than 50, while the two 82-gallon fish boxes carry over.

• LOA 40 feet 7 inches, beam 12 feet 3 inches
• Draft 27 inches engines up, 35 inches engines down
• Approximate dry weight with engines 22,450 lb
• Fuel 700 gallons, fresh water 70 gallons, waste 18 gallons
• Two 40-gallon livewells and two 82-gallon fish boxes

Power, and what the 41CS numbers suggest

Solace has not published a horsepower rating or performance data for the 42CS. Its renderings show the boat with a full second row of seating and quad Mercury outboards, which is consistent with the 41CS, rated from 1,275 hp with triple Yamaha XTOs to 1,800 hp with quad Mercury Racing 450Rs.

The 41CS test numbers are the best available guide. Salt Water Sportsman ran a 41CS with triple Yamaha 425 XTOs, full fuel and water, five adults and a full load of tackle. It cruised comfortably at about 38 mph at 4,000 rpm and reached 67 mph at wide open throttle. The full table shows 29.2 mph at 3,000 rpm on 43.3 gph, 38.5 mph at 4,000 rpm on 48.4 gph, 47 mph at 4,500 rpm on 60.9 gph and 66.4 mph at 5,850 rpm on 114 gph. Sport Fishing's buyers guide put the maximum range at 390 miles at 38 mph. The magazine added that quad power pushes the 41CS well into the 70s.

Expect the 42CS to land in the same territory, perhaps a little slower if the extra seating, glass bulkhead and fuel add weight. Until Solace or an independent tester publishes numbers, treat any specific figure as a projection, and ask for a sea trial with your intended engines.

Cabin, magnets and the Solace details

The 42CS keeps a cabin inside the console with 6 feet 4 inches of headroom. On the 41CS that cabin was accessed through an oversized pantograph-hinged door and included wood cabinetry with a solid-surface counter, twin settees that convert to a queen bed, and an enclosed head with an overhead rain shower and vanity. Solace has not published a detailed 42CS cabin plan, so confirm the layout on any specific boat.

Solace is known for clever solutions. The 41CS used rare-earth magnets encapsulated in epoxy to hold cushions, cutting boards and cupholders in place, and offered a fold-down tower on gas struts for low bridges and dry storage. It also introduced an electric helm riser, an electrically operated windshield, a one-piece dive door and a power-tilting transom shade. Buyers should expect much of that thinking on the 42CS, although Solace has not yet released the full standard equipment list.

What the second row changes is the social space. On a typical 40-foot center console, the helm seats three or four and everyone else sits in the bow or the cockpit. On the 42CS, the second row and the glass bulkhead create a sheltered lounge behind the helm, which matters for families running long distances or boating in cooler months.

Who should shop the 42CS, and what it will cost

The 42CS makes most sense for owners who use a big center console as a family cruiser that also fishes, not for tournament crews who want every inch of cockpit. Two livewells and two large fish boxes keep it fishable, but the second row and bulkhead trade some deck space for comfort.

Pricing has not been published. Starting from the 41CS's $1.07 million price with triple Yamahas in 2021, we expect a quad-engine 42CS with typical options to fall between roughly $1.4 million and $1.9 million. Annual running costs for a boat of this size, including service on multiple outboards, insurance, dockage, a gyro and electronics, should run roughly $70,000 to $150,000 before fuel and depreciation.

Anyone searching for Solace boats for sale in this size today will mostly find the 41CS. It is a strong alternative if you prefer a single helm row and a larger open cockpit, and it has the same hull and draft. Solace sells through a dealer network, so local dealers are the best source for current build slots and demo opportunities.